First Butt, Best Butt

[skipatc]

I bought a 6.9 pound butt (bone in) at Whole Foods and have prepared it using Jeff's Naked Rib Rub recipe. My weapon of choice is the MES 40. Will be getting up at 3 AM to start the cooking and aiming for 5 PM dinner, if all goes well.

Because of the comments I'm reading in the forums about inaccurate temperatures, I bought a secondary temperature gauge to place inside the smoker and will compare the two readings when it reaches the test setting.

I have some questions and a comment.

1. First, this is a large piece of meat.  In fact, it's huge. Considering there is only my wife and I (and her not being much of a meat eater), any suggestions for leftovers?  I probably should have gone with a smaller project for my first attempt but...
2. Can these things be sliced in half for smoking and still achieve desired results?
3. I would like to confirm the internal temperature that I'm shooting for here.  Is it 165?
4. I will be cooking without wrapping the butt in foil. To achieve the desired internal temperature, what's the recommended smoking temperature?  Assuming my gauges read accurate, am I going for a cooking temperature of 225?
5. For those of you using an MES 40, how often do you find you're adding wood chips?
6. Finally, if I'm understanding the process correctly, when the desired internal temperature is reached, I remove the butt and place it in foil, wrapped in wet towels and let it sit in a cooler for 1-2 hours. 

My comment concerns spices. At the last cooking class I took, the chef said spices start losing their flavor 3 months after they've been opened. For that reason, I opted for all new spices for Jeff's rub.  Some of what my wife had in the cabinet seems to have been around for several years or more. Perhaps some of the pro chefs here can comment on their experience with this.

Input is appreciated. Pics to follow.

 

[skipatc]

My MES 40 has reached the test temperature of 200. The secondary gauge I placed inside is reading right on at 200. The internal probe which is sitting loose in the unit is reading 218 (not sure if that makes a difference at this point or not).

 

[gotbags-10]

I probably would not split the butt in half. In pork butt terms its actually a little on the small side. I would be concerned it may possibly dry out if you cut it. It wont really save you as much cooking time as you may think either to split it. You said you were shooting for an internal temp of 165. Normally thats when you would foil your butt then place it back in the smoker or an oven until it reaches 200-205 for pulling. Some guys don't foil the butts at all and take it all the way to 200 in the smoker. I've done both ways. A "no foil" butt is by far my fav way to go but it  adds a descent amount of cook time. But you get some to die for bark. You could go to 180-185 if you plan on slicing the butt. To me all the glory is in the pulled pork though. You are right about wrapping in foil and putting in a cooler for 1-2 hours. Dont worry if it gets done too early, I've left my butts in a cooler for 5 hours before and still were scalding hot when i pulled them out. As far as your spices obviously fresh is best if you got it but you should be all right.Only major exceptions would be paprika and brown sugar just because they are a major ingredient in the rub. I had some paprika over a year past exp and it was very bitter. Your smoker sounds like it could have a hot spot in it, very common. Try to stick it in a spot where its reading close to 225. A temp swing of 10 degrees either way won't kill you. Good luck with everything.

 

[jzampier]

I bought a 6.9 pound butt (bone in) at Whole Foods and have prepared it using Jeff's Naked Rib Rub recipe. My weapon of choice is the MES 40 Great Choice!!. Will be getting up at 3 AM to start the cooking and aiming for 5 PM dinner, if all goes well.

Because of the comments I'm reading in the forums about inaccurate temperatures, I bought a secondary temperature gauge to place inside the smoker and will compare the two readings when it reaches the test setting. What temp gauge did you get?  I purchased a Maverick ET732 due to the issues with temp inaccuracy with the MES's.

I have some questions and a comment.

1. First, this is a large piece of meat.  In fact, it's huge. Considering there is only my wife and I (and her not being much of a meat eater), any suggestions for leftovers?  I probably should have gone with a smaller project for my first attempt but...6.9lb is a good weight, figure 2hrs per pound.  You will have a stall in temp rise, just keep at it. Pulled pork will last for a week or so.  Sandwiches as left overs are good.  There are lots of options to do with it too, eggs/burro's/salads, etc.
2. Can these things be sliced in half for smoking and still achieve desired results?  I wouldn't slice it, just do the whole thing.
3. I would like to confirm the internal temperature that I'm shooting for here.  Is it 165? 185* for slicing, 205* for pulling.
4. I will be cooking without wrapping the butt in foil. To achieve the desired internal temperature, what's the recommended smoking temperature?  Assuming my gauges read accurate, am I going for a cooking temperature of 225? 225* is the norm, compare both gauges and go with the most accurate one.
5. For those of you using an MES 40, how often do you find you're adding wood chips? The chip loader is a pain in the a**, 20-30 minute refills will be more trouble than what its worth.  I know its late but get the AMAZ N PS, it can smoke pellets or sawdust.  They are advertised here too.
6. Finally, if I'm understanding the process correctly, when the desired internal temperature is reached, I remove the butt and place it in foil, wrapped in wet towels and let it sit in a cooler for 1-2 hours. Cook to 205*, remove and double wrap in foil and then in towels, doesn't have to be wet.  Put in cooler for a few hours to let all the juices render back in.

My comment concerns spices. At the last cooking class I took, the chef said spices start losing their flavor 3 months after they've been opened. For that reason, I opted for all new spices for Jeff's rub.  Some of what my wife had in the cabinet seems to have been around for several years or more. Perhaps some of the pro chefs here can comment on their experience with this. Spices, fresh is best.  Try coating it lightly with mustard, then throw the rub on and rub it in well.  Try and let it soak overnight or for atleast 4 hours.

Input is appreciated. Pics to follow

 

[rabbithutch]

I don't know what your altitude is, but that makes a difference to cooking. Here is one thread with a link to an article by the USDA. Might be worth your while to read up a bit on the subject.

My MES 40 was taking new chips every 20-30 minutes. That got very old very quickly; so I popped for the AMNPS. Although it's too late for you to use one on this butt, I join others who suggest you get one. It makes all the difference in the world on a long smoke and is very useful for cold smoking fish, cheese, etc.

On my first butt, I used Jeff's rub and just went for it. I did not foil it and I got impatient and took it off before reaching 200-210*. As a result it was drier and tougher than I wanted. BUT(T), I learned a lot and the MES insured that I didn't spoil it and have to throw it away. I will definitely foil from now own and wait for that IT.

Don't forget your camera. We like Qview.

 

[smokinhusker]

Nice size to start with. For leftovers, I vacuum seal a meals worth with some of the defatted broth/drippings. Makes for a quick dinner. 

Figure 2 hrs per lb due to the altitude and if and when you hit the stall...ride it out. 

 

[skipatc]

So, I've run into a bit of a problem today and it concerns the built-in thermometer.

Here are my internal temperatures/times:

5am - 40 degrees

7am 103

8am 141

9am 162

10am 173

11am 186

noon 194 - at noon I opened the cabinet and placed the baked beans into the smoker

1pm 194

2pm 197

2:45 200 - at this point I'm concerned because this butt should be no where near getting done so I'm off to buy another thermometer to double check the temp.

3:45 205 - I remove the baked beans (which are amazing) and insert the new thermometer. It hasn't been checked against anything else but it's reading 175 vs the 205 from the built in. My altitude and size of butt (6.9 pounds) are both telling me this should take about 14 hours minimum to complete and it's only been 8:45.

 

[skipatc]

My math was off. It was 10 3/4 hours at that point and now 12. Built in has been repositioned and reads 201. Second thermometer reads 185.

 

[smokinhusker]

Sounds like you fixed your problem! My built in thermometer is only 2* off from my other two therms I use. You might have hit a fat pocket and caused a wrong reading. 

Anyway, 12 hrs, sounds pretty good and you are at 201*. Did you foil at 165* or not? Let it rest and pulled pork will soon be yours.

Did you take pics for us? LOL

 

[skipatc]

Pulled the butt at 6:20, after 13 hours and 20 minutes. Wrapped in foil and towels and placed it in a cooler to rest for another hour. After that, I cracked it open and began to pull the pork.  I found it tasty and not dry but yet I think I was expecting more flavor.

I noticed in some other photos that people were pouring liquid onto the pulled pork. Can anyone explain what that is? 

Some lessons learned...

1. I will definitely be buying one of those Maverick thermometers.
2. I will also be buying the AMAZ N PS because adding chips every 30 minutes for 13+ hours tends to limit your activity for the day.
3. I will spray Pam on my shelves so the food doesn't stick to it next time.

 

[smokinhusker]

Awesome! I use the de-fatted drippings from the pan I put under it and some of the juices that seeps out from the rest. We like Gates Original BBQ Sauce on pork...I order it by the case online. The last pork butt I made for PP I did a twist on Chef Jimmy's Au Jus recipe by using some of the dripping/juices mixed with some ham base broth paste, I added fresh tomatoes and bell pepper to the smoked veggies. Turned out fantastic.

Oh and 

 

[skipatc]

As you can see from the 2nd photo, it doesn't take long for a brand new smoker to look like it's been used for years. My wife didn't understand the purpose of the window because it was pretty much opaque once the process was done (profanity omitted to maintain the PG rating). I told her the purpose of the window was to have something else to clean.

 

[jzampier]

Looks like some nice bark there.  Your IT temp posting is about right, 40-140 in 3hrs, nothing wrong with that.  I wrapped my drip catch tray with foil yesterday just to keep from cleaning so much.  When I'm done smoking, the smoker gets turned off and left that way till I smoke again.  So its kind of a pain to do all that cleaning but its part of the job and I don't mind. 

Smoker looks good, I like the new style.  For some reason I never get a heavy smoke flavor with my MES either.  I thought it was because my AMNPS doesn't get rolling smoke till a couple hours in so I lit both ends of the tray last night, had it rolling out heavy smoke for a half hour or so, put the butt back in and it went back down to light smoke.  We'll see with this butt I guess.

When you get your AMNPS, buy PitMaster Blend dust or pellets from him too.  Pick up an assortment of woods to try.  I like Pecan, Apple, Hickory.  I have so many different woods to try still.

Oh and look up SoFlaQuers finishing sauce, add it after you pull it next time, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes after putting the sauce on to let the vinegar do its work.

I think this is it below:

Finishing Sauce:
 3 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
 1 Bottle (12 oz) Killians Irish Red or Guiness Beer
 1 TBSP Salt
 2 TBSP Red Pepper Flakes
 1 TSP Ground Black Pepper
 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

 Mix all sauce ingredients in saucepan, bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer 30 minutes, uncovered.

 

[beltfedmgs]

 I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!!

 

[eman]

Tip for the window.

 Get yourself a single edge razor blade scraper. After you finish your smoke ,clean the window w/ vinegar / water and let dry. Use the scraper to remove any build up off the glass and clean again.  I have quit worrying about the window as i  put the meat in ,trust the thermo and don't open untill it's close to done time.

 

[pops6927]

One of my online buddies (Crazy Ray) sprayed his window on the outside shiny enamel black, said he didn't have to bother cleaning it that way, he never looked at it anyways, only the temp gauges, lol!