Smoking pork butt roast for first time Saturday.

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smoky mike blu

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Original poster
Mar 2, 2015
44
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Hi everyone,
I will be smoking a pork butt roast for the first time Saturday. Do you all have any tips for a newby?
I will be doing it on 250 for 1.5 hours per pound. Figuring on mustard and rub the night before. Figuring once IT gets 165 covering it with foil until IT 205. Figuring on hickory and Apple chips together. Figuring on putting small handful of chips in my MES every hour for first five hours.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions on rubs will be too.
Thanks
Mike
 
Don't need the mustard just the rub.

5 hours of hickory/Apple will give it a good smokey flavor.

Don't worry about how long it'll take. Just bring it up to about 198-200 then wrap it in foil and a few towels and off to a cooler rest for about an hour. It'll keep cooking in the foil while resting.

And monitor your mes temp with a different thermo cause the mes are NEVER correct. Mine can be off almost 40 degrees at times.
 
Also relax and have a few brown pops. It's impossible to mess up a pork butt. Just don't over cook it. Monitor your temps and enjoy the day.
 
Thanks
So you wouldn't wrap in foil once IT gets to 165?
You are asking the right questions.

Foil is a personal thing. Some like it some don't. When foiling you soften the bark but shorten the stall. You want the stall that's when you are rendering the fat and breaking down the collagen's. If I have time I like unfoiled butts (naked) but if I am in as hurry I do foil. You need to try them both ways to see what you like. I cook at a little lower temp.

hillbillyrkstr was on the money about the controller temp but you have herd that already. Keep your damper open and cook by the Internal meat Temp. Give your self more time than you ever though you needed. You can always let it rest for hours wrapped in foil then in towels in a cooler. The rest is very important.1.5 hours per pound is pretty fast I would figure at least 2 if I foil more if naked.

Since this is your first try to find a small Boston butt. Tell the butcher it need to be small. They will cut a Boston butt in half. It won't matter which end you get There is great meat in both. If you get the end w/out the bone you get the money muscle if you get the bone end you have the meat under the bone that is almost as tender and the bone for seasoning. Don't worry about the bones weight it is not very big. The big bone is the shank and I would get some cooks under my belt before I tackle that one all tho it is not hard just big.

The forum members love to hear about first time cooks. Please let us know about your success.  Jted
 
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I agree with your plan and it's good but like someone said 2 hours per pound and 2 hour rest. I don't know who started the whole 1 to 1.5 hours thing but it must have been to play a joke on some poor guy who invited 20 in laws over to eat at a certain time. KNOW THIS!  Even that may not be enough time.... or..... the exact opposite could happen and it could get done real fast. I had a 6 pounder take 17 hours at 240 not that long ago. Butts have a mind of their own so allow plenty and I mean plenty of extra time. You can always reheat if you do it the previous day if you can. I suggest Bear's step by step Boston butt recipe to give you an idea that you are on the right track. I would guess that you may have seen it though looking at your plan. Good luck and have fun doing it!
 
Just allow PLENTY of time so you are not rushed at the end. If it gets done early Great! it holds really well

Gary
 
I'll suggest purchasing Jeff's rub and Bbq sauce recipes! It helps support the forum and I hear there great, I just got mine for a birthday gift. Then you can adjust the rub as you learn what you like. Start the butt early as everyone says, we ate my first about 10:00 at night not 5 or 6 ish.
 
Sorry I forgot the foil part.

ive done it both ways but I prefer to not foil. By not foiling you get better bark. In my opinion the foil really just speeds up the cook time. So if I'm behind on a scheduled dinner with guests ill foil. It's really good both ways. Try both and let me know what you think.
 
It is true though that a butt has a mind of it's own. Could take 45 minutes per pound or up to two hours. Like I said though if your behind you can always foil and crank up the heat to finish it. Unless you over cook it it's really impossible to screw up.
 
There are a lot of suggestions. But the biggest and most importants is one word, Patience. Everything is logical when you think about it. The pigs can't tell time, so NEVER try to cook on the clock. Its all about Patience with a butt. You can't force it, you can guide it and await its pleasure and you will be rewarded.

The crutch, foil, is a way to use the steam in the foil to attempt and force the meat more quickly thru the stall which should occur are 165 IT. That stall may take 10 mins or 6 hours. Just relax its part of smoking, relax and contemplate the origins of the universe ( cold liquid refreshments may be and are incouraged during this period.).

One word and all will be fine. Patience. 80% patience, 15% preparation, and 5% just dumb luck.

I always allow 24 hours for a 10lb butt, and anything less than that and I am happy. Patience.

Did I do good OldschoolBBQ?
 
Hi everyone,
I will be smoking a pork butt roast for the first time Saturday. Do you all have any tips for a newby?
I will be doing it on 250 for 1.5 hours per pound. Figuring on mustard and rub the night before. Figuring once IT gets 165 covering it with foil until IT 205. Figuring on hickory and Apple chips together. Figuring on putting small handful of chips in my MES every hour for first five hours.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions on rubs will be too.
Thanks
Mike
I say go with the mustard base under the rub. I wasn't a mustard fan until I started using it on pork ribs and it made a huge difference. You don't really taste the mustard but it enables the rub to cling to the meat and also adds moisture.

You're going to be putting the wood chips in more often than once every hour. Wood chips only last about 20-30 minutes before they've been reduced to ash. That's why I use the AMNPS with wood pellets. I get constant thin blue smoke without the hassle of adding wood chips all the time.
 
 
I say go with the mustard base under the rub. I wasn't a mustard fan until I started using it on pork ribs and it made a huge difference. You don't really taste the mustard but it enables the rub to cling to the meat and also adds moisture.

You're going to be putting the wood chips in more often than once every hour. Wood chips only last about 20-30 minutes before they've been reduced to ash. That's why I use the AMNPS with wood pellets. I get constant thin blue smoke without the hassle of adding wood chips all the time.
I agree but..... one time I was out of mustard and used mayo. It worked the same. Just in case that ever happens to anybody.
 
Man foam hit it spot on, I like that 80% patience, 15% prep, 5% dumb luck, that's funny but oh so true, but butts are the best thing to learn on, easy peasy, good luck smoky and keep us posted on your cook, we all learned at one point and you picked the best place for guidance
 
You really have to try hard to mess up a Butt   Just allow PLENTY of time as With all the smokes. Better early than Late.   My #2 son was the world's worst about trying to hurry it up at the end and finely figured out ALLOW plenty of time.

Gary
 
You all are the best. I have an 8 pound butt roast was planning on putting on around 6:30 to 7 tomorrow morning. Figure I will not foil it this time. I will just take my time. When my wife heard about me needing to put chips in every 30 mins or so she said you better hurry up and buy a A maz N pellet smoker. Doing 8 chicken legs and 8 thighs tonight to get the hang of it. Figuring 250 for two and a half hours with a mix of Apple and Hixory. Any advise if I should keep the smoke rolling as much with the chicken as I would with the butt?
Thanks again
Mike
 
Look into making a mailbox mod for the Amazn pellet smoker. I have one and it's the best option. Makes cold smoking a breeze as well.
 
I usually keep the smoke going the whole time but it's because I don't have to worry about it with the mailbox mod. Chicken is quick a few hours should be enough. Some advice on chicken is to brine it first. Keeps it extra juicy. For any fowl smoking brining always helps.
 
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