First Boston Butt is off but there's no bark!

[dtsdowntosmoke]

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• dtsdowntosmoke
• Feb 10, 2013

So this is my butt before I put it in the fridge Friday evening. Yellow mustard and Jeff's Rub!

 

[dtsdowntosmoke]

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• dtsdowntosmoke
• Feb 10, 2013

So this is the finished product. Prior to resting. Unfortunately there was no bark but it was very juicy.

 

[dtsdowntosmoke]

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• dtsdowntosmoke
• Feb 10, 2013

This is the final result after being pulled. I'm not going lie. I thought that it really was excellent. Next time I'm going to use no foil or water as I really want some bark. Unfortunately I am going to be out of town next weekend so no smoking for me.

 

[smokeusum]

Con

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• dtsdowntosmoke
• Feb 10, 2013

This is the final result after being pulled. I'm not going lie. I thought that it really was excellent. Next time I'm going to use no foil or water as I really want some bark. Unfortunately I am going to be out of town next weekend so no smoking for me.

Congratulations!!!! Great job!!!

 

[stanton]

Bigger is better! Don't forget your friends. They like BBQ too. Use an 8 to 10 lb. butt. Give it a good coat of Lawreys, garlic salt, and a light coat of coarse pepper. You should not be able to see much if any meat through this coating of spices.

Cook it fat side down at 265. Spray with water, apple juice..... Or whatever liquid you like every 20 minutes or so. In about 4 hours, the bark should be looking real nice. Lay out a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and put the butt on it. Cover it with a few passes of honey and about a TBSP of Louisiana Hot sauce ( or whatever your favorite sauce is) and wrap up the foil tightly around the butt. Continue the cooking until the core temp is 198. Stick the probe in to the middle of the butt, but don't come into contact with the bone. You need the core meat temp. The bone conducts heat better than the meat and may register a higher temp if the probe is touching the bone.

When the core hits 198, take it off the cooker, opens the foil, and glaze it with your favorite sauce (I like meat flavor, not sauce, so I don't sauce), but most people seem to like the added sweetness from the sauce. Once the sauce sets (about 5 minutes), you can now pull the butt. Put the butt in a large bowl and add 1/4 cup brown sugar and a TBSP of garlic salt. The easiest way I know to pull the meat is to put on cotton gloves, then pull surgical gloves over the cotton gloves, and just squish the meat. There is some white meat around the bone that is long and stringy, and may have to be torn into smaller chunks, but the rest should just fall apart into nice sized chunks. If you hit the 198 ending temp, the meat should just fall apart. A good meat thermometer like the Thermapen is a great investment if you are going to do much BBQ. It is a fast reading temp probe that allows you to get into the cooker, stab the meat, and get out in under 5 seconds.

If you go much higher than 198, the pork tends to be too tender, actually mushy. Novice BBQ fanatics think it is great, but get smarter with time and realize that quality degrades when the meat is overcooked.

 

[vtmecheng]

Biggest thing here is you need a bigger butt (hehehe) and no foil for nice bark.  A larger section of meat will need a lot longer in the smoker so the outside of it will have a chance to harden up.  You smoked a small piece of meat, which I am still surprised finished so fast, and it was only exposed to smoke for under 3 hours.  Get a bone-in butt that's around 8 lbs and give her some love for 12 or more hours, smoking for at least the first 5.  I'm a fat side up guy but others go fat down, not sure it really matters as the marbled fat is what really keeps things juicy.  Actually, I cut most of the external fat off because it keeps the bark from forming and blocks smoke from getting to the meat.

For a good and easy recipe try a google search for "Alton Brown Pulled Pork."  I'm a big fan of how this turns out when a little extra chili powder is added but again everyone has their own tastes (which is probably why so many BBQ restaurants sell what I consider to be bland).