First Port Butt (shoulder) a Few Questions - With Updates

[SquattingHen]

Hello all. I have read a lot, but I feel like I still have a few questions. I plan on trying my first pork butt this weekend. I purchased a small one, 6lbs, to try out as they tend to take a while.

1. General Smoking Question - When everything says to get the smoker ready to 225 or so, when I open it up (propane vertical smoker) place the meat inside and close the door, I lose quite a bit of heat. Waiting for it to get back up to 225 can take a long time. Should I be (I have) bumping the heat up a bit to get it settled back at 225?

2. Port Butt - Fat Up or Down? I have read both, so maybe it doesn't matter? Fat down says to protect the pork from temp spikes. Fat up, says to glaze the pork as the fat melts.

3. I really don't want to wrap the butt, especially for my first time. Just about all the suggestions I have come across, even the sticky on the top of this page, suggest it. It wrapping preferred on these?

4. I really wanted to place it and leave it. I see many of the suggestions say to spray it every so often. Is that really necessary?

5. I have the Smoke by thermoworks to monitor the temp of the smoker and the meat. General question, do you all insert the probe in the meat at the beginning of the smoke? I read something about contamination and that you should insert it after it has cooked a while. It is just much easier to insert the probe when the meat is first placed in.

Thank you.

 

[gmc2003]

Here's my take.

1) Put it on at 225*, your smoker should recovery fairly quick,

2) On my WSM which heats from the bottom, I put the fat cap down. To help protect the meat, others do it fat cap up to help baste the meat. I guess it's a personal preference.

3) No need to wrap if you have the time and propane. Your bark will soften with wrapping.

4) I don't spray or mop. So not necessary to me anyway.

5) Don't insert your probe until your a few hours into the cook. No sense in introducing any little nasties to my meat.


This is just how I smoke butt's and shoulders. Everyone does things a little different. Ask questions and take from the answers what you think will work for you and your particular smoker.
Chris.

 

[SquattingHen]

Thank you for the reply. Have have been inserting the probe at the beginning. It was easier since I have to thread it through the vent in the back. I will start inserting after it has been on a little while. Thanks again. All helpful.

 

[oldsmokerdude]

I always insert my clean probe at the beginning of the smoke as this is the easiest time to do it. To me this is no different than using a clean fork, spatula, tongs, or placing it on often times less-than-clean grates.

 

[GATOR240]

gmc2003 has you pretty well covered although for #5, I wipe my therm probe with an alcohol wipe and insert it at the beginning of the smoke.

 

[Smkryng]

Hello all. I have read a lot, but I feel like I still have a few questions. I plan on trying my first pork butt this weekend. I purchased a small one, 6lbs, to try out as they tend to take a while.

1. General Smoking Question - When everything says to get the smoker ready to 225 or so, when I open it up (propane vertical smoker) place the meat inside and close the door, I lose quite a bit of heat. Waiting for it to get back up to 225 can take a long time. Should I be (I have) bumping the heat up a bit to get it settled back at 225?

2. Port Butt - Fat Up or Down? I have read both, so maybe it doesn't matter? Fat down says to protect the pork from temp spikes. Fat up, says to glaze the pork as the fat melts.

3. I really don't want to wrap the butt, especially for my first time. Just about all the suggestions I have come across, even the sticky on the top of this page, suggest it. It wrapping preferred on these?

4. I really wanted to place it and leave it. I see many of the suggestions say to spray it every so often. Is that really necessary?

5. I have the Smoke by thermoworks to monitor the temp of the smoker and the meat. General question, do you all insert the probe in the meat at the beginning of the smoke? I read something about contamination and that you should insert it after it has cooked a while. It is just much easier to insert the probe when the meat is first placed in.

Thank you.

1. I don't think bumping the temp up is gonna hurt anything
2. I always do mine fat cap up
3. I have never wrapped and always cook to an IT of 197 to 203 and have never had one dry out
4. I have also never mopped or sprayed
5. I also insert a clean probe at the beginning of the cook. I figure its getting cooked to a high enough IT that any bacteria is gonna be taken care of anyway. Now if it were beef and i was going for rare or med rare I would definitely wait.

I also quit doing my shoulders at 225. Took to long and I cant tell a difference doing them at 260 other than the hours it shaves off a cook. Just my two cents though. When I first started I would just find someone else's detailed cook on here and follow it. That way I knew I would have something that turned out great and can adjust to make it fit my style from there.

 

[schlotz]

Sound like you've got most of your questions answered. There are many ways to smoke a butt and each one works. Find one you like and give it try. It's very difficult to mess one up. See signature for one example.

 

[SquattingHen]

Thanks to all. I have discovered with smoking there really isn’t a set way, mostly a rough outline, and deviations are not only encouraged but required. Being new, I somewhat expected to follow a recipe to the T , which has been a bit challenging as that really isn’t how it works.

 

[Smkryng]

Thanks to all. I have discovered with smoking there really isn’t a set way, mostly a rough outline, and deviations are not only encouraged but required. Being new, I somewhat expected to follow a recipe to the T , which has been a bit challenging as that really isn’t how it works.

There is so much great info on this site. The best advice I can think of is make sure and take advantage of it. I always research in depth here and take notes and make a plan before I try something new and so far I’ve had nothing but good luck. The few times I have gotten in a jamb the replies were quick and got me right back on track.

 

[chef jimmyj]

There are recipes for sauces, rubs and sides. But no such thing exists for smoking meat. I can give a, minute by minute tutorial on a Butt I smoked and it is nothing more than a guide to what you may see occur. There is no way you will see the exact same result or timing as your pork will come from a different animal, of a different age, fed a different diet resulting in a different fat content and a different muscle density. You may or may not have the exact same smoker as me and even if you did, are you at the same elevation as me? Are you smoking in the same weather conditions, with the same ambient temp and relative humidity as when I smoked me meat? There is just no way your 9lb roast will cook the same as the, say, 7lb butt I smoked and posted on last year. There are lots of great posts here on what others have experienced giving you a the various benchmarks you are likely to see but for actual smoking time and specific results, Your Mileage will Definitely Vary...JJ

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I was going to chime in but seems every one beat me to it. The only thing I have to say is I always insert thermal probes before the smoke after one to many times of waiting, going out, opening my MES and promptly blinded for 30 seconds by smoke and my glasses fogging up!

There is also plastic fiber scrubbing pads out there, about the size of a large sponge; before I insert the probe I dip them under water, a quick scrub over with the fiber pad <I cut them in 1/4 sizes> and then wipe with a cleaning pad <I got plenty of micro cloth eye cleansers> then a quick trip under water to make sure none of that is behind and insert. Sadly I can't tell ya where to buy the scrubbie pads I speak of..I get them at GFS which is an open to public food service industry supplier/distributor.

Let us see them pictures as you go along!

 

[SquattingHen]

I can’t believe I forgot to take a picture before it went on this morning, oh well.

Buy hey, it’s been sitting between 155-159 for about two hours now. Wahoo! My first ever smoke stall! Now I can give myself “The Stall” patch. Lol.

Put it on at @ 7:45 this morning. Hopping it will be done for dinner.

 

[SquattingHen]

Now I am starting to question my process. I didn’t want to wrap, but every video (I know...) I watch shows them wrapping it through the stall. There was one where they wrapped close to the end of the cook, at 190.

I wanted to power through the stall. Should I be wrapping at any point? Once it hits about 200-205 I was going to take it out, let it sit uncovered for about 30-45 minutes, pull and eat. Am I missing something?

Should I wrap it when I pull it off at 205? If so, for how long?

IT is now at 169 and the smoker temp is at 259 as I bumped it a little to help push through.

 

[Smkryng]

Now I am starting to question my process. I didn’t want to wrap, but every video (I know...) I watch shows them wrapping it through the stall. There was one where they wrapped close to the end of the cook, at 190.

I wanted to power through the stall. Should I be wrapping at any point? Once it hits about 200-205 I was going to take it out, let it sit uncovered for about 30-45 minutes, pull and eat. Am I missing something?

Should I wrap it when I pull it off at 205? If so, for how long?

IT is now at 169 and the smoker temp is at 259 as I bumped it a little to help push through.

Wrapping I think depends on personal preference. If it stalled at 155-159 and you are gaining temp again I’d say you are probably okay without the wrap. I never wrap when it’s done unless I’m goingto put it in a cooler covered in towels to hold the temp for a meal. I always cook to the temp I want pull the bone, peel the fat cap and pull and meat mixed with it and continue pulling without any kind of rest to speak of.

 

[Bearcarver]

Here's my take.

1) Put it on at 225*, your smoker should recovery fairly quick,

2) On my WSM which heats from the bottom, I put the fat cap down. To help protect the meat, others do it fat cap up to help baste the meat. I guess it's a personal preference.

3) No need to wrap if you have the time and propane. Your bark will soften with wrapping.

4) I don't spray or mop. So not necessary to me anyway.

5) Don't insert your probe until your a few hours into the cook. No sense in introducing any little nasties to my meat.


This is just how I smoke butt's and shoulders. Everyone does things a little different. Ask questions and take from the answers what you think will work for you and your particular smoker.
Chris.

^^^Agree with Chris on #1, #2, #3, #4, #5.^^^
As for #3---Try it one way this time, and the other way next time. See which you like best.
And on #5---I usually wait 2 or 3 hours before sterilizing my Meat Probe & inserting. You know it's gonna take a lot longer than 3 hours, and it only takes a couple seconds to insert the Probe. Why not wait & be extra safe.

Here's one of mine:
Pulled Boston Pork Butt

Bear

 

[crazymoon]

SH, Wrapping will soften the bark a bit but will speed up the process to hit an IT of 205*, No wrap after that temp unless it's to early to eat ! :)

 

[SquattingHen]

Thanks everyone. IT temp is only at 182 (been increasing very, very slow still, almost like another stall), and honestly, I assumed it would have been done or just about done by now. Started at 7:45 am, so it's been about 9 hours. It was only just under 6lbs and with a temp at around 250, I estimated 1.5 per lb.

 

[SquattingHen]

This thing is cooking much slower than I expected. It been nearly 13 hours and the IT temperature shows 199.5. It is only a little less than 6 lbs. Double checked with a thermapen to be sure I didn’t probe incorrectly and it matches, so....

Looks like I will be eating late tonight. Everyone else though (and myself) will be having leftovers tomorrow.

 

[crazymoon]

SH, that does seem like a long time for a 6# butt,maybe the smoker temp was off? Anyway I hope the PP was good and worth the wait ! :)

 

[SquattingHen]

SH, that does seem like a long time for a 6# butt,maybe the smoker temp was off? Anyway I hope the PP was good and worth the wait ! :)

Temperature was good, unless my new Smoke sensor unit isn’t accurate. I know it’s not ideal, but I also stuck my thermopen through the vent and temp was within a few degrees of the smoke. The temperature gauge that came with the unit was about 40 degrees lower.

Took a total of 13 hours and 45 minutes to get to 205. The last 20 degrees took over 4 hours, which I didn't expect at all.

I ate quite a bit while I was pulling it, and I thought it was great. I discovered I love the bark.

Not really sure what went wrong with the time though. Jeff's book says 1.5 hours per pound, I had about 2.25 hours per pound.