First Butt smoke

bigjoesimpson · Apr 6, 2013

So Food Lion had Boston Butts this week for .99/lb. I got the last one Thursday, a 7 lb'er. Rubbed her Thursday night, injected a little apple juice/soy sauce, wrapped it plastic wrap, and I'm putting it on this morning. Here she is sitting in the aluminum pan, about to go on.

CIMG0701.JPG

bigjoesimpson
Apr 6, 2013

My question for later in the smoke is about foiling: Do I do it or not? And if I do, do I wrap in foil, or just seal the pan with foil on top?

Thanks and more photos to follow during the day.

davidhef88 · Apr 6, 2013

If you decide yo foil, its a personal preference, you can just seal the pan.

austinl · Apr 6, 2013

If you just cover the pan you have it in now you can save the juices for later. A lot of people will use the juices in a sauce or simply toss it back with the pulled meat. I can tell you from experience however, if you cook directly on the grates instead of in the pan until you want to foil, the meat will still let go of a lot of juices.

bigjoesimpson · Apr 6, 2013

CIMG0703.JPG

bigjoesimpson
Apr 6, 2013

2.5 hours into the smoke; looks & smells great! Gotta find some AAA batteries so I can try out my new wireless thermometer. With the mods I did to the smoker, I'm able to hold the temp right around 225. It initially spiked to 325, but I adjusted bottom damper and added some ice to the water pan and have been holding low-mid 200's since.

I lifted the top rack out to take the picture. It has some of the dry-rubbed fat trimmings rendering down on top of the butt. I'm thinking after cooking, I'll remove the fat and throw the juice into the pulled meat.

I made the sauce found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/lexington-north-carolina-bbq-sauce-422946 with a few modifications:

-- 1.5X the recipe to yield 3 cups

-- cooked the sauce down to about 2.5 cups

-- added 1.5 tblspn of sugar

pgsmoker64 · Apr 6, 2013

If you like bark on your pork then you don't want to foil.

I am not a foiler but would do so if I needed to get through the stall quickly...still, it ruins the bark.

Bill

bigjoesimpson · Apr 6, 2013

Thanks for the info Bill. I like the bark. I'll get the wireless thermometer going soon and see how the stall goes.

rdknb · Apr 6, 2013

Many do foil, but I love the bark so I do not. Best way is to do it one way and then smoke another the other way and then you can decide on your way. I also got a butt from food lion, could not pass on that price.

bigjoesimpson · Apr 6, 2013

I just wish Food Lion had more, I got their last one Thursday. I'll go back before the sale ends Wednesday and see if I get a couple to throw in the freezer. Hard to beat at that price.

seenred · Apr 6, 2013

Either way makes a good eatin' pp sammie. I've done both but prefer no foiled for plenty of bark. Good luck, and don't leave us hangin'...

bigjoesimpson · Apr 6, 2013

Decided not to wrap it, so I'd get the awesome bark you see below. And here's the finished product off the grill:

CIMG0705.JPG

bigjoesimpson
Apr 6, 2013

I foiled, toweled, and let it set in the cooler for an hour, then picked it. Soaked in some of the sauce I made (see earlier post above), and it was awesome!!! I always a loved a vinegar sauce from a local BBQ shop, but the guy retired a couple years ago and you can't buy it any more. My modification of the recipe I found online came very close and is, in my opinion, much better for pulled pork than a thicker tomato-based sauce.

Here she is pulled and in the pot, ready to be sauced.

CIMG0708.JPG

bigjoesimpson
Apr 6, 2013

Total time in the smoker to get to 190F was 11 hours, just about right on the 1.5 hour/lb rule-of-thumb. One basket of charcoal in my modded Master Forge vertical charcoal/water smoker nearly made it, but I did add a about half a chimney of briquets at the 9 hour mark.

I was very satisfied for my first butt smoke.

seenred · Apr 6, 2013

Success! Way to go, BigJoe! That's some tasty lookin' pulled pork. Congrats on a good maiden butt smoke.

kathrynn · Apr 6, 2013

you did great! Good qview! Made me drool!

Kat

pgsmoker64 · Apr 7, 2013

Great job Joe!

Fantastic looking PP!

Bill

First Butt smoke

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