Basic Pulled Pork Smoke

[jmonty580]

Thanks RecClaymud!

I rubbed them both down and wrapped them and put the into individual tin pans for the smoke. I'll probably smoke them in those pans too. Got my mop ready, cooler, thermos, I think i'm good to go.  Got a bunch of chicken thighs too, going to marinate them tonight so they'll stay nice and tender while being smoked.  Got around 20 people coming over on Wednesday so I hope things go well, otherwise i'm screwed lol. Tomorrow night after work and after doing some other stuff i'm gessing I'll get to fire my smoker up around 9 or 10 pm.  And I think its supposed to be raining. I dont think i'll get much sleep.  Gotta have the pork ready for a party Wednesday evening arodn 6:30 pm. I dont want to take any chances that I wont have enough time to finish it so I'll just get it done as soon as I can and if I have to reheat in the smoker later when i'm cooking the chicken thighs I'll do it that way.  really looking forward to this, it should be an adventure!

 

[redclaymud]

Once your butts are ready, double wrap in foil and then double wrap in towels or the equivalent newspaper.  Place the wrapped butts in a small ice chest and they'll stay perfect pulling temperature for 4 hours or more.  No worries.

I did a catering a while back, using this method for 8 butts.  I finished smoking and wrapping them 4 hours before the event.  Keep your lid sealed and they do remain pulling temperature hot.  I would guess they could have gone 6 hours in my Igloo cooler but everyone's cooler varies..

 

[jmonty580]

So the whole wrapping in foil and towels thing.  The juices arent going to run out of the foil and into the towels?  I'm guessing you want to keep those extra juices and add some back into the pulled pork after you remove the fat.  Or do you not add that and just do a finishing sauce?

 

[redclaymud]

Most of the juices will be absorbed back into the meat by the time you serve.  If you're careful in your wrapping you won't make a big mess.   My towels have never gotten messy but they have gotten spots of grease on them.  I think we use the towels or papers to protect our cooler walls from melting. 

Don't get me wrong.  This juice we're talking about is not liquid gold.  It's pretty much liquified fat and any wee amounts remaining at the bottom of your foil wrapped roast can and I think should be considered fat that the roast didn't need to re-moisten itself.

Pulled pork is very forgiving.  If you intend to shred, take each butt up to 190 degrees. 

 

[redclaymud]

One other thing and it's important.  When you pull your butt off the smoker, let it rest a good half hour before wrapping.  A couple important things happen during this time.  The roast begins to stop cooking and starts to pull moisture back into itself.  Don't worry about there not being any liquid in the pan.  The roast knows where to find it a heck of a lot better than us bbq guys.

I like to let mine rest with what remains of the fat cap up, thinking that gravity will help the remoisture process..  Don't know if there is a preferred or better way at this point..  Personal preferences kick in and then it becomes your bragging right

btw:  take good notes and refer to them the next time you bbq.  Thing like snow, rain hail, -20 degrees or +40 degrees can greatly effect the outcome.  It's man against nature with an outside smoker.  Two of my brothers compete all the time.  One is a bit more organized and takes great notes.  He can punch in the weather and it will pull up his notes from the last time he competed in that kind of climate. 

Wow.  Wouldn't it be nice to know that kind of information ahead of time.

 

[jmonty580]

8 hours in. Put 2 butts on at 8:50pm, nows its 4:50am. One is at 177 the other one is at 152. Pouring like cats and dogs outside and its windy, temp keep dropping down to around 200, gotta keep going outside and adjusting the temps.  The one at 152 hasnt moved in some time now. going to try to be patient, I would think it would have came up to the 165 at least by now. I'll be patient though.

 

[jmonty580]

Smaller one finished around 9am.  The bigger one is STILL going.  It no more than 9 pounds tops.  put it on at 8:50pm and now its 12:01pm and its still going? Thats a really long time for such a small sized butt.

 

[redclaymud]

Smaller one finished around 9am.  The bigger one is STILL going.  It no more than 9 pounds tops.  put it on at 8:50pm and now its 12:01pm and its still going? Thats a really long time for such a small sized butt.

Wind and rain can be the delaying factor.  If you feel you've got enough smoke in the meat, finish it in the oven.

 

[jeremy cole]

How do you feel about High Heat for butts?  I'm smoking 2 shoulders right now for a friend of mine.  They have been on the smoker since 4:30am.  I'm using a firebox style smoker.  I usually like to smoke low and slow, but I had a temperature drop during my last nap.  (I thought I would be bold enough to nap for and hour).  It only dropped to about 150.  I usually keep the temp anywhere from 225-275.  In your experience, what time do you think these should be ready?  Should I just let it crust well and finish off in the oven?  Thanks!

 

[fielies]

I am smoking a Boston shoulder right  now, a bit too  big for me, so i prepared half of it, and when i started the fire, decided to smoke them both together, i have a home built fire smoker, so far it seems fine, plan to smoke overnight, 18 hours or so,i have them in separate low buckets, is now half time,the inside temperature gauge is darkened by the smoke, i clean it often.

tomorrow i'll check the heat of the meat with a probe, can't wait to taste this, i have never prepared meat this way.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Good shot , I will vbe doing mine on Wed. I leave mine closed until almost time and then open, I like to let the Smoker flavor the meat , once in the smoke it stays unopened until temp. is near , then out to shred.

I'll be doing 180# this year.

 

[bravery]

Now, just so happens that the last ones I did got stuck there for upwards of 3 hours, but I really had too many of them in my smoker (had 8 ten pounders jammed in there, 2 to a shelf) and they were extremely fatty cuts. Had so much fat dripped down into my smoker that I had to pressure wash it all out the next day. Two in an ECB isn't a big deal though, and I wouldn't expect you to have any problems.

If this is for a party make sure your portions are accounted for too - for pulled pork the yield is 50% meat when you're done, so if you have an 8lb'er you'll end up with 4lbs of pulled pork. Plan on 1/4lb per sandwich/serving - so if you have two 8lb'ers you'll end up with 8lbs of pulled pork that'll serve 8/.25, or roughly 32 people, one serving each.

This post raises a couple of questions in my mind.

First, if I have more Butts in my smoker will it dramatically increase the time needed for cooking? I have two 9 lbs butts. If I could smoke them one at a time would it take less time than if I smoke both of them at the same time? How much time do you think I will need to add? I am trying to figure out how much cook time I should account for. I need to plan things out so I can feed everyone.

Second question... Did I read this right? I can only use 50% of the meat I smoke? Why? What do I do with the other 50%? Do I throw it out? I have to say this is the most discouraging thing I have read all day!!!! Or is the 50% fat that is cooked away?

I really love this board!!!

 

[bravery]

I plan on cooking the Bone-in Butts using temperature as the guide not time... but I need to know when to start cooking which is the reason for my questions about cooking times.I have

Another set of questions I have is ... do I cut some of the fat cap off? Do I leave it on? HOW much do I cut off? Do I put the Butt directly on the grate? Do I put it Fat Cap down? ( this question was answered at the beginning of this post... I just want to make sure that I am doing it right and to see if there are any other ways to do it?

 

[smoke king]

Quote:

I plan on cooking the Bone-in Butts using temperature as the guide not time... but I need to know when to start cooking which is the reason for my questions about cooking times.I have

Another set of questions I have is ... do I cut some of the fat cap off? Do I leave it on? HOW much do I cut off? Do I put the Butt directly on the grate? Do I put it Fat Cap down? ( this question was answered at the beginning of this post... I just want to make sure that I am doing it right and to see if there are any other ways to do it?

Budget at least 1.5 hours per pound of meat as far as time, maybe more if intended eating time is important. If they get done early, double wrap them in foil and then a towel and put in an empty cooler to keep them warm (or hot!) until time to pull.  You can do them both at the same time - it might take a little longer to cook than a single butt, but it will be much faster than doing them separate. There are a lot of opinions on the fat cap, some leave it, some trim all but a 1/4" of it.  If you want, do one each way and see what turns out better. I think most put the fat cap up so the fat marinates the meat as it cooks, but others think the cap should be down to provide a "heat shield" to the meat. Again, you could experiment both ways. 

In my experience I doubt I have lost 50% of the weight after cooking, but I have never weighed it after either. If you are concerned about not having enough, get another butt or make lots of side dishes.  But if you weigh before and after, you will know for next time if you lost 50%.
 

Good luck with your smoke!

 

[davidhef88]

When I smoke two or more at the same time I figure close to two hrs per pound of the heaviest piece ( not a combined weight ).  I do fact cap up. And finally the other 50  percent of the meat needs to be frozen and overnighted to me. Lol  good luck  

 

[bravery]

Forgive me if I ask a question that has been asked before!!! I have been reading the board about smoking Butts for quite a while and I still haven't found the answer. 

I started cooking two butts (around 9-10 lbs each) at 5pm last night. At 4 hours I hit an internal temp of 140 degrees. Some time around 12-1am I hit 165 degrees so I pulled them out and wrapped them up in foil. I tried to keep the smoker temp around 250 and under.

So with all this information... my problem at 9am I hit 200 internal temp, but I'm cooking this for a Superbowl party today at 6pm. 

I know that I can pull the meat off the smoker and wrap it in blankets and put them in a dry cooler for a while but can I keep in there for 8 hours? I read on the board that you could do that but that is really a long time to be sitting there. I have the smoker at 210-to 220 now. Is it better to keep the meat in the smoker for a while at 200 to 220 degrees or to wrap them up and put them in a dry cooler??? My two concerns are Health (don't want the meat to go bad) and Dryness (no one wants to eat dried out meat).

Thanks for your help and input!!

 

[upsman]

Hope everyone has a great Super Bowl Sunday! Go Giants! Marinated a 9lb one over night and on the smoker at 8am this morning.

 having coleslaw, baked beans, deviled eggs, cucumbers n onions in vinegar for the Super Bowl today. how about yah'll?

 

[bravery]

upsman,

That is one nice looking butt (lol...  I had to say it). I would love to see the pics after it has been smoked, that or an invitation.

 

[upsman]

Hehehehehe! Thanks Bravery. oh yeah adding more pics later this evening. if you live close come on down!!!

 

[upsman]

4 hours in and about 4 to go Man this is gonna be a good one

my tongue is slapping my brains out! Hehehehehehe