First butt and now questions

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jasper

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
8
10
Hello all! This weekend, I took the plunge and did my first pork butt. Actually, you'd probably call it more of a butt-let since it was only 3 lbs and a bit. I figured it would take 1.5 to 2 hours per pound and I had it on the smoker for about 5 hours. I have no idea if it plateaued, or what temp it was when I took it off. And since it was my first one, I might have been a bit in a hurry to consider it Done. But it pulled nicely (as far as I know, since I've never had pulled pork before) and had good bark.

Yeah, yeah, I know: pics, or it didn't happen
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So here's some questions:
I've got two people to eat this stuff and this three pounder is going to make three meals for us. I picked up this small chunk of meat at the grocery store because I wanted to try smoking it and it was on sale. But its about a quarter of the amount of meat I'd get in the cryovac butt packs at the wholesaler stores which are a much better price per pound. So, what am I going to do with the leftovers? (Other than sending them to one of you?) How does pulled pork freeze? Should I freeze it before or after pulling it?

I need to find a better rub than I used, which is the Southern Succor Rub from the Smoke and Spice cookbook. It had waay too much black pepper and cayenne in it for my taste. Any suggestions for other things to put in my rubs? Has anybody used green chile pepper powder in a smoking rub?

And the big question: Should I try again? I thought the finished pulled pork was okay, but nothing to rave about. If you love pulled pork, what is it you love about it? Any suggestions about things I need to do to make mine better?
 
Fer sure try again. Look on the left side of the SMF pge and you will see times/temp. tables. Use these and try foiling your meat. Its mention here a hundred or so times. It really works. Go to the search engine and look at what someone else did and duplicate it. You will have success. Good luck.
 
welcome to the site Jasper, pulled pork is piggy heaven if done right. Once you get it figured out you'll be soon to agree.
I would suggest doing a little reading on the Pork forum, there are dozens of pages of posts/threads about smoked butts, shoulders, pulled pork, pork BBQ ect. They will get ya alot of info, and meowy's sticky about how to do the basic pulled pork, will be your best reading to start with.

Make sure you get a couple larger ones next time, do a little bit of reading, ( its so inspirational ) and let us see what you ended up with.
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I've used that same rub before and hated it too. In fact, just get rid of that book. That is the one I started with too and I've actually thrown it in the trash since I found the wealth of info on this site. There are tons of great rub recipies here if you don't want to purchase Jeff's. But his is a great place to start. It also sounds like you did not use a thermometer in your meat. You should seriously consider getting one for the grate temp and one for the meat. In fact don't consider it...just do it.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. Season the roast the night before the smoke. Smoke till internal temp of 170, wrap with foil (or a roasting pan covered with foil), Continue cooking IN THE SMOKER till it reaches 200. Wrap the whole thing in towels and place in cooler to rest for two hours. Remove from foil and the roast will just about pull itself. Keep the juice from the pan/foil and skim off the grease, add the juice back to the meat and ENJOY!

Deffinetly keep trying!

Dave
 
Thanks for the encouragement to try again with the butts. Its quite possible that with a larger butt to begin with, I'd get a different result. For instance, I was just reading Vince's question here: http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=22027
and seeing comments about finding a lot of fat in butts. My buttlet seemed quite lean by the time I was done with it and I certainly didn't find any identifiable fat in the meat as I pulled it.

Meanmytwodogs, I had to laugh when you suggested throwing out the Smoke and Spice book. It was given to me a present, and is what started me on this smoking saga, so that isn't going to happen. But I think I'll take their recipes with a large grain of salt.

I'll certainly keep reading everything I can find on this site about pork butts . It sure is inspirational AND educational. It was from reading enthusiastic posts here that I was inspired to give it my first try. But I'll consider it my first try and try again one of these days. Sadly, not until sometime in the second half of September, because I've got agility trials for the next two weekends. I'll keep you posted on my search for "piggy heaven."
 
Butts are the bomb!
Meoweys thread gives you it all in detail..
Now i did 3 the past two weekends and froze them for the tailgate party we are having for the races...it is so easy to reheat...pull it first...freeze it in heavy duty zip locks in your serving size make sure you put some finishing sauce in there, then when your ready to use it drop it into a pot of boiling water...in my case for the races, I have frozen it in tin pans so all I have to do is plop it on the bbq there to reheat...you have to cook to temp not to time however that is really IMPORTANT..get a good thermo...you will be very happy with the results...also don't go for the smaller ones I got two 5# butts this weekend and in my opinion they were not as juicy as the large say 8# I usually do its basically two of us here and my pp doesn't last long in the freezer.....
Happy smokes
 
Agree with everything other have said in this thread and strongly suggest you try Jeff's finishing sauce for pulled pork. This is the single trick that took my pulled pork from "good" to "fricken unbelievable". I feel confident that the stuff I now produce is as good as you will find anywhere. Ill be serving it to 20 good friends next Saturday at our first tailgate of the year at the University of Nevada and can't wait to show off my new found skills thanks to the folks here at SMF. Thanks!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...read.php?t=487
 
If that rub is from a recipe, you can cutdown on the black pepper/cayenne. When you say green chile pepper powder, which type of chile/pepper are you refering to? You can use almost any type of pepper powder, it's all in your taste. Don't give up on the pulled pork, the more you smoke, the better it gets. Good Luck my friend.
 
As for leftovers I smoke enough to always keep some in the freezer. I use a vacuum sealer and put meal size portions in each bag seal it up and throw them in the freezer but you can use ziplock bags too. When you don't have the time or need a quick meal take the package out of the freezer and throw it still sealed into water in the sink. I then use a rice steamer to put the meat in and reheat but you can reheat many ways. I like the steamer because it keeps it very moist and you can pick one up for under 30 bucks. If you follow Meowy's thread for "basic pulled pork" then add some "finishing sauce" that is right there in the pork section you'll be very impressed with yourself I'd bet. I keep pulled beef in the freezer too and I always cook extra chicken and freeze some for smoked chicken ceasar salads.
 
What leftovers
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Second the get a digital temp guage. You need that to be constant. Jeffs rub and sauce would be good to consider. Some decent ones at the store are Durkees Chicken and Rib Rub and Bad Byrons Butt Rub.
I am pretty sure the finishing sauce was Southflquers not Jeffs. Personally, I just add some Blue Front or Dewey's Dirt Road sauce to my pulled pork for sammies. It don't get no better.
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