Overnight smoke

homebrew & bbq · Oct 22, 2007

This isn't quite the way I had it planned, but I ended up doing an overnight smoke last night with four pork butts. I used the "Perfect Picnic" rub from "Smoke & Spice". For wood I used a mix of hickory and cherry. Spritzed with apple juice every hour or so for the first 8 hours.

The butts went in the smoke about 4:00 Sunday afternoon.

Here they are rubbed and ready, about 30 pounds altogether.

About 4 hours in

And here they are after 15 hours

After 15 hours the two biggest butts were between 205* and 210*. The two smaller ones (that had been on the lower shelves) were both around 195*. They are in a 250* oven now to get them up to 205 for pulling.

I didn't foil them at all in the smoker and I have already been informed that the bark is too thick. Guess I'll take the time to cover them next time, but at 1 A.M. I was just too tired to bother.

vlap · Oct 22, 2007

Looks good to me. Feel free to send some down here so I can taste and see what "bark to thick" is like

cowgirl · Oct 22, 2007

I was going to say that Vlap.

Send any bark my way...I love the stuff.
Thanks for the Qview, that looks awesome!

ron50 · Oct 22, 2007

Too much bark? Is that even possible?

pigcicles · Oct 22, 2007

By the time that meat is pulled and mixed they will never know there was "too much bark". Looks great to me. Thanks for sharing.

jts70 · Oct 22, 2007

Great pictures! Looks like you did yourself proud!

placebo · Oct 22, 2007

Looks delicious! How did they pull? I never thought of putting the butts in a foil pan like that. Did that help keep the meat moister?

homebrew & bbq · Oct 22, 2007

I just got done with the initial "disassembly". The two butts that were done this morning are now in pieces, but not pulled to where they are usable for sandwiches yet. The bottom half of each butt was so tender and juicy I couldn't even pull bigger pieces off. It pulled apart as I tried to get hold of it. Some of it won't even require teeth for eating.

The other two butts are resting from their oven time. My wife will deal with those this evening since I will be leaving for a 3-day conference shortly.

The pans also give us the juices to put back on the pulled pork when we bag it and freeze it. Thanks for all the folks on this forum that showed me the way toward these results.

placebo · Oct 22, 2007

Thanks for the info! I think I'll try that on my bext butt smoke with a mid smoke flip.

homebrew & bbq · Oct 22, 2007

Yeah, I wondered about turning the meat over, but wasn't sure what that would to do the bark. I'm sure there are folks around here who have tried turning the meat and leaving it alone. Any feedback on what kind of results you get?

Btw, my wife is the one who thinks there is too much bark on these, but I like it.

geek with fire · Oct 22, 2007

My wife doesn't like the bark at all, so what I do is chop it up really fine and put it in with the beans. Boy, she loves that "special seasoning" in the beans, I just hope she never asks what it is.

richtee · Oct 22, 2007

"Yes, Honey..it's pork roast..."

fatback joe · Oct 22, 2007

Turning the meat over while in a pan just leaves you with mushy bark IMO. Only tried it once though......I am not a pan kind of guy, period.

Try it and see what you think.

placebo · Oct 22, 2007

Well, "mushy bark" sure doesn't sound very appealing. Maybe just covering at some point would suffice.

Deer Meat · Oct 22, 2007

I have never heard of to much bark as a problem. If you got complaints about that, you are feedin the wrong group...LOL

They look awesome to me, Great job

fatback joe · Oct 22, 2007

I you flip while in a pan, I would suggest emptying out some of the juices that collect. That will help with the "mush".

Really, the next time you cook mulitple butts, flip one and compare with one that you didn't. That will give you good info on which direction you want to go.

Just a thought.........not even 2 cents. LOL

geek with fire · Oct 22, 2007

(Credit: I think Chris mentioned this some time back, and I have been following it with great success.) I don't apply rub to the fat cap anymore, because you cut it off anyhow. Also, I smoke them fat cap down and don't flip them; ever. The concept of the fat melting through the meat can be argued all day on a brisket, but with a pork roast, there's plenty of moisture to work with. I just let them hit 140. Then foil them and put them in a pan (in case the foil leaks) until they hit 200-205. Like Forrest said, "I'm not a smart man, but I know what good pulled pork is"..... well, he said something similar anyhow; you get the point.

fatback joe · Oct 22, 2007

Yeah, I am a fat down, no flipper, no pan personally............but have tried many different ways to get to the way I do things now. Seems like the best thing you can do to a butt is leave it alone. LOL

jaynik · Oct 22, 2007

There is no factual condition known as too much bark. Send it to me if you can't sell it to your wife! :-)

meowey · Oct 22, 2007

WOOF - This cat likes the bark! I personally don't rub the fat, smoke fat down, no pan, and no flip. I do foil wrap at 165F. A lot is personal preference. You'll develop yours as you go along. The good thing is that the eats are real good along the way.

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

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