Boston Butt Pulled Pork (Step by Step)

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So Saturday was a HUGE success. Everybody was saying that this was the best they ever had. The only difference from what I've done and what you talk about doing is wrapping my meat near the end and adding the awesome dripping back in the next day. I never thought about adding in the drippings. Also since my smoker has is small and has a stupid shape I can't add a pan for the meat to sit in so I put some in foil and wrap it.

Here's what it looked like going into my crappy smoker, I REALLY want to get a side smoker.

Near the end I flipped it so that I could spray the bottom half with my mix since I started with the fat/ skin side up.
Here's how it looked when it came out. The meat practically fell apart in my hands.
 
Gonna be cooking a butt tomorrow. I'm gonna try following most of the steps you listed. The only one I'm not gonna mess with is starting at so low a temp. I'll probably start around 240. Since this is a cook for Saturday I'll be able to mess around and see exactly how long it will take for me to cook. Never thought about saving the juices and fat. Can't wait to see what those will taste like.
So Saturday was a HUGE success. Everybody was saying that this was the best they ever had. The only difference from what I've done and what you talk about doing is wrapping my meat near the end and adding the awesome dripping back in the next day. I never thought about adding in the drippings. Also since my smoker is small and has a stupid shape I can't add a pan for the meat to sit in so I put some in foil and wrap it.

Here's how it looked when it came out. The meat practically fell apart in my hands.
 
Looks Real Good, Chris!!

Glad it worked good for you!!

Bear
 
Originally Posted by Bearcarver  
 

I never probe a big hunk of whole meat before it's been in my smoker for at least 3 hours. That way the Nasties on the outside were killed, and can't be driven into the meat by the probe.

I don't know anything about a gasser, but if you can do the same temps & times as I did, I wouldn't change anything.

Bear
 
I know the USDA has it's regs, but I'm not worried about the probe issue.  I've probed all my meats right at the start, no issues.  I will continue to do this until the Grim comes for me again.  One thing though, I do clean my probes well after each use. 
 
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Can you follow the same instructions with a traditional wood or charcoal smoker?
Sure!!

It doesn't have to be exactly like I did it in this Step by Step, but you could use the same instructions, as long as you can maintain pretty much the same Smoker Temp. Higher temps would be quicker, but putting a Meat Temp Probe in after the first 3 hours would keep you out of trouble. Go by Internal Temp---Not Time.

Bear
 
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My 2 cents worth     I know Bear uses a MES (as do a lot of members)  I have taken his Step by Steps and done then on my RF I have followed his directions pretty darn close and everything I have done comes out great. The probe issue is  totally a mute point with me since I don't use any type of probes. I will check my meat near the end to get an idea of where I am, using an instant read..  Bear has spent a lot of time and trial and err to document his Step by Steps,   These are tried and true methods that work. Like anything you can tweak them to your own taste, but I wouldn't stray to much.

Off my Soap Box now

Gary
 
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I'm thinking about trying foil on my next butt.  Once foiled and you insert the probe, how do you seal the hole?
I cover mine with the probe already in, and tuck the foil under the 4 sides. 

No holes to seal.

Bear
 
So you foil in your kitchen, insert your Mav probe, but then how do you snake it through your MES vent again without burning yourself or worrying about the Mav jack touching something hot?
 
 
So you foil in your kitchen, insert your Mav probe, but then how do you snake it through your MES vent again without burning yourself or worrying about the Mav jack touching something hot?
LOL---No,

I don't remove it from the smoker & bring it in.

The Probe is already in the Roast at an angle so it isn't sticking out of the roast much. 

I take the folded, Double Foil out to the smoker, open the door, and reach in above the roast (centered).

Then I drop it straight down, shape the foil around the Roast, and tuck the foil up under all 4 sides of the Foil Pan.

If you try to stick the probe through the foil, it's hard to tell when the tip is in the Center of the Roast.

Bear
 
Looks good John.

I borrowed some of your ideas yesterday on my new MES 30 and mine turned out real good.  I've tried using a foil pan (without success).  The tinfoil pan I used was pretty heavy duty--maybe too heavy duty--and I had a lot of temp problems with it.  Maybe I need a light pan??

points.gif


Thanks

Gary
 
 
Looks good John.

I borrowed some of your ideas yesterday on my new MES 30 and mine turned out real good.  I've tried using a foil pan (without success).  The tinfoil pan I used was pretty heavy duty--maybe too heavy duty--and I had a lot of temp problems with it.  Maybe I need a light pan??

points.gif


Thanks

Gary
Thank You Gary!!

This Step by Step is pretty old, before I started using a wire cooling rack under the meat in the pan.

That allows the smoke to get around the whole roast, and the meat doesn't sit in the juices.

You might want to try that. It shouldn't matter how heavy the pan is.

Like I have this with a Chucky:

http://s836.photobucket.com/user/Bearcarver_2009/media/DSCN1558.jpg.html

Thanks Again, 

Bear
 
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looks great. but why is it a bad thing to have the meat probed at the beginning of cooking and just leaving it in the whole time?
Thank You Earl !!

If you inject or probe a whole piece of meat, it has to be treated like Ground Beef, which means you have to take it from 40° to 140° IT in no longer than 4 hours. If you put a probe in it or inject it before  it's been cooking for awhile (I wait 3 hours), you take the chance of pushing bacteria from the outside of the meat into the center. If you wait to insert the probe, the bacteria on the outside will be killed before you push the probe in.

I know you would think it would kill the bacteria in the center later in the smoke when you take it to 200°, and it does, but it may not kill the Toxins that are heat resistant.

Bear
 
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I have a question , I'm doing my first Boston butt. The smallest I could find was 9.7 lbs.
How long should I figure per pound ? I really want to use your instructions but now it's kinda screwed up because of the weight.
Also is the fat cap up when smoking ?
Any help would be appreciated would like to eat around 4 in the afternoon.
 
I have a question , I'm doing my first Boston butt. The smallest I could find was 9.7 lbs.
How long should I figure per pound ? I really want to use your instructions but now it's kinda screwed up because of the weight.
Also is the fat cap up when smoking ?
Any help would be appreciated would like to eat around 4 in the afternoon.
That's really hard to say:

My 7 pounder in this thread took about 11 hours, using an average of 230° Smoker Temp.

If I was doing a 9.7 pounder, I'd go with a higher temp---At least 260°. If using an MES, might as well go with the Max of 275°.

It's still going to take at least 12 hours, so I would probably smoke it the day before, and stick it in the Fridge, until near time to eat---Then Heat it up.

You could also slice it in half the flat way, so instead of having a 5" thick roast, you would have 2 pieces about 2 1/2" thick, which would cut your time way down to maybe 10 hours with a Smoker temp of 240°. It's the thickness that takes time, not actually the weight.

Whatever you do, figure to get it done a couple hours early, because you can always wrap it in foil & towels in a dry cooler, and hold it hot for hours, if you have to.

Bear
 
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I know this is a old post but just checked it out and have to say thanks for the info. Going to attempt to do a butt and a couple slab of ribs Saturday in my MES 40 (first time trying different items at the same time) and going to follow your procedure as much as I can.

 One question, you find it not necessary to inject the butt?

Thanks again for the great post.

Smell Smoke
 
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