if at first you dont succeed..

[showlandy]

I want to thank everyone for their advice and insight as to what may have gone wrong with my 1st pulled pork attempt... I have a couple of things that I am a little hazy on and want to get this right so I hope you can help me out. I have a 4lb piece of pork that is ready to go.. all coated and overnighted.

1. What about this spritzing I hear of? I am guessing its like a blend of apple juice, soy, or something.. Is this like a once an hour deal?

2. So I get the meat to 170, wrap it in foil and put it back until it hits 200 to 205... someone mentioned liquid..does this go in while on the grille and wrapped or after it comes off? how much liquid are we talking about.. I may need a class in unleakable meat wrapping!! so then I wrap the foiled up meat in a blankee and put it in a cooler or micro for 2 hours.. and presto I am in the clear!! Right?

I am going to give myself (and the meat much more time, I am planning on firing up the grille at 10 am)

Thanks so much for any tips offered!! I am hooked on this!!!

P.S.
I am actively looking for the camera cable to give some Qview

 

[chisoxjim]

some spritz with apple juice, etc, some dont, some foil @ 170 and put it back on the smoker and some dont. Its all good whichever way you go.

I plan on 2 hours per pound for a bone in butt, I inject, and rub the pork butt the night before, then re-apply rub before I put it on the smoker. I dont spritz, and I dont foil, I take my bone in butts to 195, pull them off the smoker, then foil with a little apple juice then wrapping the now foiled butt in a towel then putting the butt in a sealed cooler for a few hours.

good luck.

 

[mr mac]

I am one of those who does spray on some apple juice plus whatever else is handy (in some cases, bourbon) every hour, after the first hour. Any sooner and you'll wash off your rub. I also pull the butt at 170* and wrap in doubled up foil and add maybe a half cup of the apple juice to the package and return to the smoker until the internal temp reaaches 200*. At that point I remove it from the smoker, wrap it in towels and drop it in a cooler for a minimum of one hour.

 

[gnubee]

Do yourself a huge favor and buy a roll of the heavy duty aluminum foil. The regular stuff gets punctured far too easily. You just want a small amount of moisture in with the foiled meat.

When I spritz , which I find to be easier and quicker than mopping on the applejuice/whiskey mixture I use an elcheapo spray bottle that you can get at the dollar store.

I find myself using mops and spritz less and less the more times I smoke stuff. You don't really need them. Even adding a tiny bit of juice in the foil with the meat seems to be mostly a waste of time. The juices from the meat will keep it moist while in the foil.

The best advice I can give you is to start the meal 3 hours earlier than you think it will be done. Then if its early no big deal. It will keep hot and fine for hours in a foil, towel, wrap inside a cooler. Even after 2 or 3 hours when its unwrapped it will be steaming hot and tasty.

 

[bman62526]

HA! I was going to say the same thing as the post above...invest in heavy duty foil - much better...
I don't spray/spritz at all during the first 3 hours...then maybe every 90 min. or every two hours. I put the pork butt on top of the foil, add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup apple juice mixed with 1 teaspoon of my rub, then wrap it all up tight so the liquid is inside the foil with the meat.

 

[bluefrog]

I do butts just like chisoxjim and they come out great every time. Opening the smoker to spritz lets out too much heat in my opinion. I will spritz when I add wood chunks to the smoker sometimes but not always. Don't see any difference.

Scott

 

[got14u]

No spritz here until I foil...one thing to remember is if you have a mes or a smaller unit and it is cold out side opening the door every hour to spritz is going to pro-long the cooking time greatly. The biggest thing is temps...make sure to take it all the way to 200ish and then let rest. I have found with resting if you want a better bark don't let it rest so long probably 15 minutes or so. When you get more smokes under your belt you can try to unfoil later in your smoke and finish uncovered for a better bark also. but just to get you going I would stick with the foil all the way through 205. good luck and I'm sure you will succeed.

 

[chrisr]

There is some great info on this thread. I am hoping to smoke my first butt this weekend, and now I know what I am doing. Thanks!!!

 

[jirodriguez]

Just remember the min. 1 hr. of resting in a cooler is critical, do 2 hours if you can. If you dont have a cooler I did see one post that took the double foil wrapped but, wrapped it in a towel and then put it in the microwave (DON'T TURN IT ON!

) for the two hour rest. You basically want a small enclosed and insulated space that will fit the butt wrapped ina a towel, and then fill up the rest of the space with more towels or a pillow (wives generally don't like it when you use the "good" towels or pillows - trust me!)