My Plan for pulled pork (2 -9lb butts), now with Q-view

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hunter1979

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 22, 2011
11
10
Hello,

It's been a while since I've smoked anything or I posted, so I'm trying to "re-learn" everything and read through all the stickys to make sure I've got everything down.  The last time I smoked, I had bought the "new" A-MAZE-N sawdust tray...and now I just upgraded to the pellet version...I have the previous model of the MES-40.

So, I'm planning on smoking two 9 pound butts (for pulled pork) on Sunday for our Easter dinner, which starts at 3.

Here's my plan, please tell me if I'm missing a step of if everything I remember is true.

1.  "Rub" my meat Friday night, wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge.

2.  I'm guessing at 1.5 hours p/pound + a 1 hour resting period, I'm looking at 15-19 hours of total cooking time.  So, since we want to eat at 3, I'm guessing I need to start cooking these somewhere between 8pm and 12am on Saturday.  I'm leaning more towards starting to cook around 9 in case there is a long stall.

3.  Take meat out of the refrigerator at 8pm.  Pre-heat smoker (set to 225).

4.  Put in pellets (hickory and cherry).  Put in foil wrapped water tray (no water) and drip pan on bottom of rack.  Open pellet tray about a 1/4" for air movement.

5.  Put meat in smoker (fat cap down) at 9pm.

6.  Around 8am insert temperature probe and bump temperature up to 240.

7.  Pull, wrap in foil, wrap in towel and put in cooler when internal temperature reaches 200.

8.  Eat.

Okay, so am I missing anything and should this work?

A couple of questions I am searching for (not sure if it matters much)...

Should I put the meat on two separate racks, or put them both on the same one?

Mixing 2 different types of pellets (hickory and cherry), is that a dumb idea?

**It looks like it may rain on Sunday morning, I just plan on using a patio umbrella to cover the smoker.  Not calling for much wind and temps in the 40's overnight, so I'm hoping it doesn't mess with my temperatures too much.

Thank you for any suggestions/advice I may get.

EDIT:

Thank your for the help, both butts are in the smoker now.  I'll be posting pictures in a few...
 
Last edited:
Hi Hunter,

Your plan looks solid to me.  One suggestion you might consider, especially if there's a chance of rain Sunday morning, is to do the entire cook on Saturday...start as early as you need to to be done before you go to bed Saturday night.  This gives you the added benefit of extra time if needed, in case the stall lasts much longer than anticipated.  You didn't say, but I assume you plan to make pulled pork out of these butts?  Once the butts reach your target temp, just tent them and let them rest on the counter until they've cooled enough that you can pull them without burning yourself.  Pulled pork reheats very well the next day...just splash some liquid in the pan with the pork (I like apple juice myself) cover with foil and put in a 300* oven until warm...might take 30-45 minutes.

Your questions:

I'd put the butts on separate racks myself, if space is not an issue.  The bottom butt will get a yummy basting from the drippings off the top butt.

Mixing cherry and hickory pellets is fine...I mix different wood flavors all the time.  Cherry pellets burn better if they are mixed with oak or hickory pellets anyway.

Hope that helps...good luck and keep us posted!  
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Red

Edit:  One other piece of advice...I never leave raw pork sitting on the counter for an hour.  Straight from the fridge to the smoker for me.  Maybe some guys worry less about this than me, but I don't want to take chances with food safety.
 
Last edited:
Sorry about that, yes, it is for pulled pork.

I'm thinking about preparing it in advance.  I know it reheats excellent, but there's something about eating it that day....
 
Your plan sounds solid to me.

I would put both butts on a lower rack, with the fat trimmings above them so they self baste as the fat renders. I also smoke my butts in a pan sitting in their own juices.

There's nothing like pulling the pork & eating it right then, so if you can do it without reheating that would be the way I would go.

Al
 
On Friday night, I covered these in mustard, then covered in rub. Got the rub from my local meat market:

4f1ff3e8c93dcbe8da3951f6048d7280.jpg


Both rubbed and sealed with saran wrap. Placed in fridge for 24 hours:

9ec1afcb1010e48f9b8ed62292940a2a.jpg
 
I got them in the smoker about 10pm. About an hour later than I wanted. Took the meat out of the fridge around 9. Preheated smoker to 245°.

Lit my hickory and cherry pellet mixture, let it burn for 10 minutes, then blew out the flame and put it on the bottom rack.

Smoker is set at 230° and I'm just about ready for bed. I will update more in the am!

8650af9fe1aa5772b8d79405326f0337.jpg


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Last edited:
Had to re-light my pellets at 6am. Other than that, everything seems to be going to plan.
Pics at 8am:

ee752e546528f18eb6701f52888b150b.jpg


712463c29b50344cc41e5872d7a8ea1c.jpg
 
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