My 1st smoke.

[qrkid]

So I wanted to get into smoking meat. I only owned a small Char Griller propane grill. After reading the forum I saw that I can still giving smoking a shot.

Now I am someone who does not even own a hacksaw and am more liable to cut my hand off with one than the actual thing I am sawing.

Well I have got my rudimentry effort ready and today I am, as we speak, smoking my 1st Pork Butt.

Got a locally raised 3.5lb bone in butt that I rubbed with Jeff's rub. Got a mix of hickory and Cherry in the mail box and have my fingers crossed for a good result.

butt.jpg

• qrkid
• Mar 3, 2013

smoker.jpg

• qrkid
• Mar 3, 2013

Ok so here was the end product. I kept the temp right around 220 for 4hrs. When I got to about 160 IT I took away the smoke and pushed the heat up to 250-260 range for another 3hrs until the butt reached 200. Seemed like a really long time  (7hrs) for a 3.5lb butt. Taste was great, even had a nice little smoke ring. My only thing was that it was still pretty tough to pull. The meat did not just pull away from the bone. I figured after 7hrs and getting to 200deg it would all just fall apart, but it was tough.

Oh well I ended up making what I called Southern Redneck Nacho's. I layered fries with the pulled pork,some pimento cheese and Jeff's recipe sauce. Man they were good. The sauce was awesome aith the cheese and the pork had a ton of great flavor.

Overall my 1st smoke was a positive, although I obv still need to work out some things.

endbutt.jpg

• qrkid
• Mar 3, 2013

 

[kathrynn]

Looking good so far!  Good luck...and keep us posted with q-views!

Kat

 

[pgsmoker64]

Like Kat said...lookin good so far!

Keep that q-view coming.

Bill

 

[qrkid]

Bumping this (hope that is ok) so maybe someone can comment on time and toughness.

 

[gmc2003]

"Ok so here was the end product. I kept the temp right around 220 for 4hrs. When I got to about 160 IT I took away the smoke and pushed the heat up to 250-260 range for another 3hrs until the butt reached 200. Seemed like a really long time  (7hrs) for a 3.5lb butt. Taste was great, even had a nice little smoke ring. My only thing was that it was still pretty tough to pull. The meat did not just pull away from the bone. I figured after 7hrs and getting to 200deg it would all just fall apart, but it was tough.

Oh well I ended up making what I called Southern Redneck Nacho's. I layered fries with the pulled pork,some pimento cheese and Jeff's recipe sauce. Man they were good. The sauce was awesome aith the cheese and the pork had a ton of great flavor.

Overall my 1st smoke was a positive, although I obv still need to work out some things."

That's a different setup. Any reason for smoking at 220 for 4 hrs. and finishing at 250 - 260? I usually smoke mine at 250ish for the whole smoke and foil at 160 - 170 to get over the stale(my family doesn't care for the heavy bark). 7 hours isn't considered a long time for 3.5# butt. You can bank on anywhere from 1.5 to 2ish hrs per pound. You really need to rely on your internal temp. Check your thermometer for accuracy. It may be off a few degrees. Different butts act differently and their cook times will vary. 205 is the temp I shoot for when doing a butt for pulling. After I take it off I usually let it sit foiled in a cooler for an hour or so before pulling. If it's a bone in butt - I usually wiggle the bone to see if it can be removed easily. I hope this helps.

Chris

 

[qrkid]

Thanks for the comments.

No real reason to go 1st 4hrs at 220. I got the temp settled there so I just went with it. I then cranked it up because the wife was threatining to order pizza b/c she wanted dinner. I guess I figured 1.5hrs/lb so that is why I thought it was long. now I know.

I think maybe a big thing was that due to the wife moaning for food, I only rested the butt 10min before pulling it. I just checked my thermometer and it now appears I actually took the butt off closer to 195IT.

Oh well I guess I can look forward to a better go of it next time.

 

[pgsmoker64]

7 hours is about right for a 3.5# butt.  I keep my temps between 225 and 240 the entire smoke allowing that variability.

200* IT is just an indicator - check it with a toothpick - if it slides in & out like through hot butter then you have achieved max tenderness.  I have smoked many butts that took way longer than they should have...you just have to be patient.

Question: Did you remove the fat cap?  How was the marbeling in the meat?  Fat is what makes the butts so tender, juicy, and flavorful.  If you don't have a lot of fat the butt will dry out during the cooking process.

Also, your setup looks like you may have exposed the butt to some direct heat, which could also cause it to dry out a bit.

Good luck on your future smokes and I hope this helps some.

Bill

 

[qrkid]

Bill

Thanks.

I did remove the fat cap prior to cooking. I am reading that some folks leave it on and face it up, so that it renders back into the meat. In that case I guess I would just score it some to allow smoke to get through.

As far as my set up goes. I have the smoke from the mail box coming in the right side and I place my meat on that side of the grill. I use the far left burner as my heat source. I have also taken a aluminum cookie sheet and created a sort of baffle to try and force the heat from that burner to go down and then across the bottom of the grill as it rises.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

As you mentioned your therm is off. So pulling at 195* would have been part of your problem with the tenderness. You also mentioned a short rest. That could have contributed to it too. Taking it to 205* and the checking the bone and probing with a toothpick is a must. I always smoke mine with the fat cap on, and facing up. No water pan. I would say next time do the butt a day prior to the day you want to have it. Then re-heat. I personally think having pulled the next day is better than the first anyways!