Big Butt

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mike49107

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 26, 2014
30
20
Buchanan, MI
The anticipation has been killing me. I've been trying to get my GMG Jim Bowie dialed in for a couple of weeks now. I have been holding off on doing any long smokes until I got a better feel for things. I've also been holding off on getting the ThermoPro TP20 until Prime Days on Amazon. (Only 3-1/2 more days to go for the TP20 and 7-1/2 days for the TP18!)

Anyways, we snagged a deal on butts for $1.19/lb (twin pack). One butt is 9.5lbs, the other is 6.5lbs. So, in goes the big butt! It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this is one massive hunk of hog. I've never smoked one this big, so I have no idea how long it is going to take. I usually start them around midnight for a late lunch the following day.

Rubbed and ready:
Butt1.JPG

And here it is on the rack at 225° at 9:00pm.
Butt2.JPG


I don't foil at the stall. I just let it keep chuggin' away until it hits 205°. Fingers crossed that it makes for a great lunch tomorrow instead of a late snack!
 
Look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Did a 8lb Dr cherry pepper pulled pork for the 4th.

Any plan to spray or mop it as you go?
 
Any plan to spray or mop it as you go?

ksblazer, no. I don't spray or mop. I usually won't come back to it until it hits temp.

I just woke up to check on it. It's been in for 7-1/2 hours now.
It's about 4:30am, and I'm reading 175° IT. (Fingers crossed that my probe is reading correctly.) It was reading 105° two hours in. Seems it may be reading a little hot again.
 
A 9 lb. butt could take 18 hours at 225.
I usually smoke them at 270-280, then your looking at about 1 hour per pound.
You also don't experience much if any stall.
But I'm with you on not wrapping them, we love that thick bark mixed in with the PP.
Al
 
A 9 lb. butt could take 18 hours at 225.

I'm beginning to think my temp readings are way off. I just double checked chamber temp with my trusty oven thermometer and grate temperature at the meat is holding right at 225°, which is what I want. But, my meat probe is now up to 185° after only 10-1/2 hours.

I'm no expert, but that seems like an awful fast cook for this big of a butt. I suppose it's possible. It's kind of looking like I may just have to go by feel on this one. (I don't have a backup meat thermometer yet.)
 
Looks like yours is fairly flat, which cook faster for me than really thick hunks. So that could be about the right internal temperature. Smoke on!
 
Looks like yours is fairly flat, which cook faster for me than really thick hunks. So that could be about the right internal temperature. Smoke on!

Yeah, I'm going to try to quit being so critical. I think it's due to just replacing a faulty meat probe that went from accurate one day, 10° hot the next day, +150° the day after that. This one was reading accurate ambient temp before the cook, and accurate grate temp during warmup. I just tend to over-think things.
 
+1 on the flatter cooking faster. Very similar to you about temps (ocd) and you mention a backup therm. Great idea. On a whim bought the tiny Thermopro TP03 and have fallen in love with it. Practically no longer using my Maverick. I take measurements at a few locations in a few seconds and I feel much more confident.
 
On a whim bought the tiny Thermopro TP03 and have fallen in love with it.

I almost bought the TP20 and TP18 when I noticed they offered a 20% forum discount. Then I noticed they are both going on sale during Amazon's Prime Days sales. I figured I would wait and see if I could score an even better deal!
 
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