Last week I smoked a couple of Berskshire pork boston butts. I had mixed results though decided to post anyway. They were 8 lb. each, brined 30 hours before cooking.
Fresh, set to go into brine
Rubbed & ready to go into the cooker
About done @ 10.5 hrs./165 deg.
1st roast, pulled & with finishing sauce
I started these at about 2:00 in the afternoon. And it took about 11.5 hrs. total time to cook up to 170 deg. When I set them in I was at about 240 degrees with the cooker then it settled into about 230. At about 2.5 hrs. I checked temps and they were just about 125 degrees. And then at hour three I bumped up the cooking temp to about 250-260 and it was right at four hours in the cooker before the temperature reached 140 when I reduced heat back down to the 230 area.
Both the butts I wrapped in foil at around 10.5 hours and then removed them from the cooker about an hour later to 170 deg. before I put them both into a cooler wrapped for 30 min. One was rested inside for an additional 30 min. before pulling with finishing sauce added. The other one I put out in the cold garage to chill before moving it into refrigeration as I had planned on slicing.
Well anyway, this is about what transpired according to my recollection.
What surprised me about this pork is that it seemed to take a bit longer to get up to speed cooking. They were pretty good-sized though and, I found them to be a little more greasy to my liking especially the second one that I was going to cut up into slices. The fat didn't transform really like I wanted. I think the next time I would use a slightly higher temperature around 240-245 out of the gate steady and keep it there. These could probably use a little more heat cooking, I think. With the second one, I ended up slicing it and then pulling the slices apart. Before adding barbecue sauce, I poured about about a gallon of near boiling water into a container with the meat in it and strained it a minute or two later to clear out the grease a bit. Not something I typically do though thought necessary. Most all of the meat was put into individual containers froze for later use. And now seems to have turned out better than I originally thought.
The brine used was a simple mixture of kosher salt with a little bit of brown sugar, a dash of rice vinegar and various spices. I rinsed the meat off prior to coating with Trim Tabb's Pig Powder and a little bit of Blues Hog seasonings. Pecan and almond woods were used with a little bit of hickory and apricot. I cooked these the same cook I barbecued the ribs I previously posted.
Fresh, set to go into brine
Rubbed & ready to go into the cooker
About done @ 10.5 hrs./165 deg.
1st roast, pulled & with finishing sauce
I started these at about 2:00 in the afternoon. And it took about 11.5 hrs. total time to cook up to 170 deg. When I set them in I was at about 240 degrees with the cooker then it settled into about 230. At about 2.5 hrs. I checked temps and they were just about 125 degrees. And then at hour three I bumped up the cooking temp to about 250-260 and it was right at four hours in the cooker before the temperature reached 140 when I reduced heat back down to the 230 area.
Both the butts I wrapped in foil at around 10.5 hours and then removed them from the cooker about an hour later to 170 deg. before I put them both into a cooler wrapped for 30 min. One was rested inside for an additional 30 min. before pulling with finishing sauce added. The other one I put out in the cold garage to chill before moving it into refrigeration as I had planned on slicing.
Well anyway, this is about what transpired according to my recollection.
What surprised me about this pork is that it seemed to take a bit longer to get up to speed cooking. They were pretty good-sized though and, I found them to be a little more greasy to my liking especially the second one that I was going to cut up into slices. The fat didn't transform really like I wanted. I think the next time I would use a slightly higher temperature around 240-245 out of the gate steady and keep it there. These could probably use a little more heat cooking, I think. With the second one, I ended up slicing it and then pulling the slices apart. Before adding barbecue sauce, I poured about about a gallon of near boiling water into a container with the meat in it and strained it a minute or two later to clear out the grease a bit. Not something I typically do though thought necessary. Most all of the meat was put into individual containers froze for later use. And now seems to have turned out better than I originally thought.
The brine used was a simple mixture of kosher salt with a little bit of brown sugar, a dash of rice vinegar and various spices. I rinsed the meat off prior to coating with Trim Tabb's Pig Powder and a little bit of Blues Hog seasonings. Pecan and almond woods were used with a little bit of hickory and apricot. I cooked these the same cook I barbecued the ribs I previously posted.
