Hello everyone! I've never been a big fan of spiral cut hams for the holidays. They are too darn salty. This past x-mas I started smoking a ham in addition to the spiral cut my parents buy (we spend the holidays at my parents).
Anywho...I've got a concern about the 40-140 in 4hr rule. I have to admit, I was not really aware of this until recently. My prior thoughts were....if it gets above 160...all the bad stuff is killed off anyways. Now I know about toxins, etc.
Last x-mas I smoked a large picnic ham. I injected it with a mixture of melted butter and dark brown sugar. The injection was to add flavor, not moisture. I also glazed it with a mixture of brown sugar and maple syrup. It turned out fantastic. I was going to repeat this for Easter but the 40-140 rule dawned on me. Last time it took about 6 hours to reach 140 degrees on a 225 degree smoker! Thankfully, nobody got sick!
My question...
Will injecting a pork butt with butter/sugar or even just juice add that much flavor? Or did the deliciousness come from the glazing? If injecting only adds a wee bit of flavor I'll probably skip it and focus on the glaze at the end.
If it does add as much flavor as I thought it did...in your experience...am I playing with fire (pun intended) if I exceed the 40-140 in 4 rule? It is a 11lb butt so unless I cook at 350 it probably wont hit 140 in 4 hours.
Thanks!!!
Anywho...I've got a concern about the 40-140 in 4hr rule. I have to admit, I was not really aware of this until recently. My prior thoughts were....if it gets above 160...all the bad stuff is killed off anyways. Now I know about toxins, etc.
Last x-mas I smoked a large picnic ham. I injected it with a mixture of melted butter and dark brown sugar. The injection was to add flavor, not moisture. I also glazed it with a mixture of brown sugar and maple syrup. It turned out fantastic. I was going to repeat this for Easter but the 40-140 rule dawned on me. Last time it took about 6 hours to reach 140 degrees on a 225 degree smoker! Thankfully, nobody got sick!
My question...
Will injecting a pork butt with butter/sugar or even just juice add that much flavor? Or did the deliciousness come from the glazing? If injecting only adds a wee bit of flavor I'll probably skip it and focus on the glaze at the end.
If it does add as much flavor as I thought it did...in your experience...am I playing with fire (pun intended) if I exceed the 40-140 in 4 rule? It is a 11lb butt so unless I cook at 350 it probably wont hit 140 in 4 hours.
Thanks!!!