first pork butt and ribs on new smoker

[matte1782]

Hey all, I’m new to this community. I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of the posts, and am excited about joining the forums. I recently got a new Wood Pellet Grill smoker and am having friend over for a BBQ this weekend. I’m smoking a 3.5 pound boneless boston butt and 2 slabs of pork spare ribs or St. Luis ribs (haven’t decided yet and am open to suggestions). My real question though is smoke times. I’m going to use a mixture of hickory and apple wood pellets (unless some suggests that I should only use Hickory or only use apple). I plan on cooking between 225 degrees and 250 degrees. I’m anticipating the cook time for the boston butt to be about 90 minutes to 2 hours per pound. I’m expecting the ribs to be about 1 hr per pound. Historically I’ve smoked the meat for about half the cook time, then wrapped in foil for the other half in fear of over smoking. However, I’ve read a few forums that makes me second guess my decision to wrap in foil. Long and short, the forums suggested wrapping in foil can was similar to boiling, and while it helps with tenderness it can hurt flavor. I think I want to try not wrapping the meat. My question is, with my grill and the wood combination, the temperatures and times I’m anticipating cooking, do you think the ribs or pork butt are endangered of being over smoked if I don’t wrap? Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[schlotz]

Combo smoking can be a bit tricky but doable. For St. Louis ribs I normally find at 225 it's somewhere between 5-6 hours BUT.... meat doesn't tell time too good.  It's done when it wants to be. Some have taken longer and a few shorter. BTW: I spray them with apple juice every hour starting with hour #2.  Key to doneness is the bend test . Hold just less than half with tongs the remaining should bend significantly and cracks should appear across the meat at the bend.  At that point sauce if you want, let 'em set up for 15 min or so then pull.

Butt is smaller than our normal 8-9 #'r's. Regardless you are looking to get it's IT in the range of 200-205 then pull and rest it in an alum pan placed in a cooler with towels for at least 2 hours.  Rest time is important as wonderful things happen in there. Again, I spray it with apple juice like the ribs. Our normal 9# butt's are smoked until they reach 155-160 (4-6 hours), then wrapped in foil and placed in a 300 deg oven for approx 2 hrs or so until they reach 200. Got to monitor its IT carefully while in the oven. With rest time the process is around 10 hrs - approx. Just a guess, with a 3.5# and this process, maybe 7 hours ??? Hopefully others who have done smaller butts will chime in with their experiences.

Good luck and lets us know how it went!

Matt