Smoked 1st Pork Butt

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 16, 2017

Last weekend I took a shot at my first pork butt. Sorry, forgot pictures for Q-view. I smoked it at 250 on my MES 30 and it was a 13.5 hour smoke without wrapping it (I like a hard bark). Took it off at 197 and pulled very easy. It was super tender and juicy. If I ate only pulled pork for the rest of my life I would die a happy man. We had people over that evening for supper and it tasted good. However, I heated some of the leftovers up the next day and it was much better. The smoke flavor was much more prevalent the second day with the leftovers and the flavor of the rub too. I was wondering if that has been the experience of others? Or is there something I'm missing to give it a better flavor right out of the smoker (after resting, of course)? If this is normal, then I need to start planning some of my smokes a day before I plan to serve it because there was a huge difference in the flavor.

FYI - I've done chicken and ribs before and those meats didn't seem to have the flavor difference the pork butt did on the second day.

atown25 · Feb 16, 2017

How big was the pork butt?

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 16, 2017

It was 8 pounds.

ab canuck · Feb 16, 2017

That's a nice long smoke time for the butt. In the past how long were your other smokes? Was it a continuous 13.5 smoke? It must have a good permeation of the smoke I'm thinking due to the longer smoke time.

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 16, 2017

That was my first pork butt, so no other smokes to compare it to. It was a continuous 13.5 hour smoke.

ab canuck · Feb 16, 2017

How long did you smoke your chicken or ribs for? That was what I thought you were comparing to. That's why the stronger or more prevalant flavor.

HalfSmoked · Feb 16, 2017

My .$02 your pulled pork mixed together would exposed all the meat to the smoke not just the outside kind of like marinade the rest of the meat. Always said soup taste better second day again because all the flavors mix together. It works the same for me and I do plan ahead and smoke the day before for that reason.

Warren

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 16, 2017

AB Canuck said:
How long did you smoke your chicken or ribs for? That was what I thought you were comparing to. That's why the stronger or more prevalant flavor.

. Ribs are usually 5-6 hours and chicken usually 2.5 - 3.5 hours. I'm not complaining about the more prevalent smoke flavor, I love it. Just wondered if this was normal for pulled pork because it was significantly more flavorful the second day.

smokingwxman · Feb 17, 2017

I've always thought that all of my pulled pork tasted better the next day. Completely agree that smoke flavor seems more prevalent and just, seems to have even more flavor.

SmokinAl · Feb 17, 2017

When you are around the smoker all day you get a little desensitized to the smoke.

So when you finally get around to eating, you really don't taste the smoke flavor as much as the other people do.

That's why it always tastes better the next day.

Sometimes a nice shower before dinner will help also.

Al

GaryHibbert · Feb 17, 2017

I agree totally with Al. Pulled pork always tastes better to the COOK the next day. It has to be the long exposure to smoke while you're cooking.

Gary

HalfSmoked · Feb 17, 2017

GaryHibbert said:
I agree totally with Al. Pulled pork always tastes better to the COOK the next day. It has to be the long exposure to smoke while you're cooking.

Gary

You think it could be caused by the adult berverages we consume while smoking?

Warren

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 17, 2017

Al and Gary, that's an interesting thought. That never occurred to me that you can get used to the smoke so then you are not as sensitive to it when you are eating it. It makes sense because every time you open the smoker to check temp, spray, etc. you get a face full of smoke and smell, which is glorious, but something you get used to over the course of the day. Thanks for the input. I'm new to the forum and have only been smoking for about a year. Thanks for the unbelievable wealth of smoking info on this forum. It really helps the learning curves for newbies like me.

atown25 · Feb 17, 2017

How long do you have to let it set before you can start pulling the pork apart. Sorry this is my second pulled pork and the first didn't come out very well. Mine has been going all night and looking very good so far. It's almost up to the IT just didn't know when it would be okay to start pulling if it's not gonna get eaten for another 8 hours

hsfootballfan66 · Feb 17, 2017

Here is what I did, although I'm sure there are better ways to do it from more seasoned pitmasters on here: I let it rest an hour and then pulled it. I pulled it in a big roasting pan so it caught all of the juices and everything stayed right in the pan. I put that in the fridge. Then when it was time to serve it I heated it up in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half.. I saved the drippings from the smoker and also poured those over the meat when I reheated it to serve. Stir it every so often as it reheats so the juices mix throughout the meat. It was really juicy this way. Again, I'm a newbie so there might be a much better way, but that's what I did and it was very moist and tender when served.

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