I am really confused on this pork shoulder butt

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shea1973

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
172
15
From Vandalia Illinois
I went out today and bought a 8lbs bouston butt.  I plan on to start smoking it at 3:00am saturday morning.  The part I am confused about are the temps?  In the chapter 5 lesson I got it says to Smoke the pulled pork at around 240°F if possible for 1-1/2 hours per pound or until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.  Does that 240 mean the outside of it or the inside as well?  But then it says Continue to cook the pork butt until it reaches an internal temperature of 200°-205°F at which point you can remove it from the smoker and set it aside to rest for about 30 minutes.  So I am really confused on the internal temps?
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I am also confused on the on the foil as well, what temp do you wrap it in and when you do wrap it, does it go back into the smoker or do you just set it on the counter or oven for and for how long after you put it in the foil?

I am going to be using hickory logs to cook it.  I also have Apple chips and cherry chips, which of the chips do you suggest?

Thank you

Shea
 
My experience, I would smoke until internal temp of 195-200 for pulled pork. The tin foil I will usually wrap after 6-7 hours of smoking and leave in smoker until temp is reached. And then place in a cooler w/ towels for an insulator for approx an hour. pull and enjoy.

I like to use apple for everything. But these are just the way that we like it at home. The most important is a well calibrated thermometer for a succesful smoke, and Im sure you will get alot more real good advice from people who really know. Hope this helps and LOL.
 
What its saying is smoker temp at 240*. Then smoke the meat until 160* internal, quit using smoke and take it to 200*205* then let it rest.
 
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And don't get nervous if/when the temperature stops rising, it is called a plateau or a stall and is a natural phenomenon.  It's at that point people want to throw the heat on but don't do it!  You will be rewarded!

Mac
 
Yep smoker temps at 225-250 until it reaches around 165-170 then I foil it and put it back on the smoker until it reached 200-205 then I add another layer of foil (so the juices don't drip out) and put it in the cooler with towels all around it for 1-2 hours to make it nice and juicy. Good luck and have fun with it. Like others say don't freak out if the internal temp sticks at the same temp for a long time or actually goes down in temp a bit you are just fighting the plateau and you just have to wait it out don't give in and try cranking up the smoker temps.
 
Well it has been in the smoker for a little over 6 hours now.  I lust now finally checked the temp on the pork butt and it was at 185.  So I put some foil on it and stuck it back into the smoker. 

Been having some trouble with the temp gage on the smoker, I had the fire box full of wood and the fire was going, but it didn't seem to get up to 225, just keep staying on 175.  So I put in the meat thermometer and it said 275 for the temp inside the smoker.  Don't think the gage is working right.  now both gage on smoker and meat thermometer for the temp in the smoker are reading the same around 175.  So stuck another log in to get the heat back up.
 
Most of us here use a temp sensor that is not part of the smoker as most of them are not accurate - I have a Maverick ET73 with a sensor for the smoker and one for the product in the smoker. It has a sending unit and a reciever so I can look at the receiver when in the house and monitor the temps.

Here is a link to their unit

http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et73.htm

You can find them cheaper on Amazon and some other places but they are the best I have found so far 
 
Most of us here use a temp sensor that is not part of the smoker as most of them are not accurate - I have a Maverick ET73 with a sensor for the smoker and one for the product in the smoker. It has a sending unit and a reciever so I can look at the receiver when in the house and monitor the temps.

Here is a link to their unit

http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et73.htm

You can find them cheaper on Amazon and some other places but they are the best I have found so far 
Thanks dor providing aniother member with some good advise/suggestions.

Rich
 
Welcome to SMF and you made a great buy on the ET-73 just got one and used fo the first time last weekend and it worked great! I then thought and began to sob uncontrolably and immediatly reach for my beer when I realized how many fine piece of meat I destroyed before
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!  I am gonna do pulled pork on Sunday and use it again. Let us know how your's turned out and take pics to show off!

Good Luck!!
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Excellent! What was the internal temp when you stopped cooking it? Nice bark. What did you put on the outside? I hope it tasted as good as it looks!
 
Excellent! What was the internal temp when you stopped cooking it? Nice bark. What did you put on the outside? I hope it tasted as good as it looks!
The enternal temp was at 204.  The rub is called Baron Grill Seasoning.  It turned out tasting great.  I used Hickory wood and apple chips.  The hickory had a strong flavor, but hardly tasted the apple flavor in it!
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  I read that hickory usally over powers other flavors of wood, I guess that is true?
 
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Awesome butt!
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It's the ultimate reward when you take that first bite and the tastebuds start sounding an alarm!! YYUUMM!

That looks really good, here a toast to many many more succesful smokes! Good job
 
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