Need some advise for this weekend

[cobra1713]

Hello all,

I have smoked a few times before, some with great results such as a full 15 lb brisket, others horrible results (still have to try the spare ribs again lol), I have friends coming up this weekend and want to nail the food so looking for some advise or pointers from those more experienced than myself.

I will be smoking a 6.97 pound bone in pork butt as well as a five pound chicken. I have smoked a chicken before so think I have that down but need advise on the pulled pork and overall time line.

I plan on rubbing the pork Friday morning and wrapping to go back in the fridge till Saturday morning when I planned on firing up the smoker around 0900 am. For the sake of ease I figured I would smoke it until around 160 or the stall then rap it and finish it into the oven. And put the chicken on the smoker when I pull the pork off. So I am just not familiar with the average cooking speed of a pork butt so does this plan sound like it would work and get both the pork and chicken on the table around 6-7

As far as details go I found a basic rub recipe and will be using the finishing sauce from the sticky here. Also should I be spritzing the pork throughout the cook? The chicken will be in the slaughterhouse brine and injection with a simple poultry rub. All served with Cole slaw and corn (requests of the guest) and my wife's attempt at a new crock pot mac n cheese.

Thanks for any advise

 

[ds9533]

i cook mine at 200-225 about an hr-hr half per pound..no mopping.

 

[russg]

225-250 for me.
But I live in SC so take it with a grain.

 

[jarjarchef]

I cook at a higher temp then some. My target temp range is 250-275. I do not foil till the meat rests and it is only for about an hour.

1.5 - 2hr per pound at 225. Even thoe I cook at higher temp I plan on that time range. I know if I plan on faster it won't be done in time.

I remove mine from the smoker at 195 internal temperature, place in a pan and into a oven set at 205 for about an hour while it rests. The meat will have a carry over cooking to take it to 205ish. If I am going to hold it longer than an hour I will drop the oven temp to 170. I do not pull the pork till we are ready to eat. I save the juices in the bottom of the pan to add back into the pork and mix with a BBQ sauce.

Here is my rub and there are links to some of my cooks as well.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127046/jarjar-pork-rub-recipe

 

[sqwib]

I'm with JaJar, cook at higher temps 275° your pork will never know the difference. I however foil most of the time unless using my pork rub.

Please note... cooking at higher temps can cause bark to burn.

I remove at 200° and foil, if not foiled already.

I average 80 minutes per pound on my stickburner I would suggest giving yourself two hours then add an extra hour for good measure, the pork... if it's done several hours earlier can rest foiled in a cooler.

Sprits if you are trying for a heavier bark and note that the higher the sugar content the darker/heavier the bark can be.

 

[humdinger]

Cobra,

If your pork is 7lbs cooking at about an hour and half per pound, then you will need about 10.5 hours to cook, plus an hour of resting, then round up a half hour as a safety net, you're looking at a 12 hour cook. If you're shooting for dinner at 7pm, put it in at 6am. That's not too crazy early, and you may need the extra hour.

As for temp; anywhere from 225-275 will not hurt the shoulder, so aim for 250 degrees and don't panic when you get smoker temp spikes and drops while cooking. Shoulders are very forgiving.

As for foiling, that's a personal call. Same as spritzing. I never have done it, but may try someday. Let us know what you do and how it turns out.

 

[cobra1713]

Thanks for all the info, couple follow up questions.

How long do you guys keep adding wood? I am debating whether to keep in on the smoker when I put the chicken on or pull it inside to the oven. If I do leave it on the smoker would switching to cherry wood for the chicken around 130-200pm hurt the pork at all?

I am hoping for a thick bark so will probably spritz a little but not foil till its done. And 0600 am it is.

 

[jarjarchef]

I use oak and charcole the entire time.

When it is resting or I get too much color is when I foil and place in oven at my desired temp (205 to cook and 170 to rest)

I would pull the pork out when doing the chicken. I like a crispier skin, so I do chicken at 300.

 

[cobra1713]

So your saying I set the oven to 205? For example say I pull the pork off at 2pm and it's at 165 I just set it in the oven at 205 not the 225-250 of the smoker.

 

[vegassmokeout]

Thanks for all the info, couple follow up questions.
How long do you guys keep adding wood? I am debating whether to keep in on the smoker when I put the chicken on or pull it inside to the oven. If I do leave it on the smoker would switching to cherry wood for the chicken around 130-200pm hurt the pork at all?
I am hoping for a thick bark so will probably spritz a little but not foil till its done. And 0600 am it is.

I do PP all the time and have great flavor with apple, apple & cherry, cherry and peach.   I would think go with a mix and when you throw the bird on, hit it hard with strait cherry.  I haven't done well with bird cuz fam likes crispy skin and just done meat.  Hard to do but others do it well.  Good luck. 

 

[eman]

So your saying I set the oven to 205? For example say I pull the pork off at 2pm and it's at 165 I just set it in the oven at 205 not the 225-250 of the smoker.

He was saying to smoke it to 195 then put in 205 oven. If you take it off smoker at 165 then you need oven at 250 - 275 to finish cooking to 200 - 210.

 

[jarjarchef]

So your saying I set the oven to 205? For example say I pull the pork off at 2pm and it's at 165 I just set it in the oven at 205 not the 225-250 of the smoker.

Sorry for the confusion.

I cook mine in the smoker till it reaches an Internal Temperature of 195. Then I remove it and place into a pan with some (Apple juice, apple cider vinegar and beer) wrap and place in an oven set at 205 degrees. The carry over cooking will bring the pork to around 205 degrees in about an hour. The reason I set the oven to 205 is that is my target temp for Pulled Pork. If I get distracted the pork will not go over that temp if it is in there longer.

Carry Over Cooking: The best way I can explain it in a short manner is. The outside of the meat is hotter than the inside. As the meat sits the temperature will balance out between the two. So the outside will drop a bit in temp and the inside will continue to rise, usually about 10 degrees.

If I need to hot hold my pork and I am at home I will turn the oven down to the lowest it will go. Mine only goes to 170, but if your will go lower, go no lower than 145 degrees for the hot holding. You want to keep the temp above 140 degrees for Food Safety Reasons.

When it is time to serve. I pour the pan juices into a container and allow the fat to rise to the top and skim. I do not get to overly stressed about removing all of the fat, there is already a lot in the pork. I pull my pork with my fingers, not forks or bear claws or any other mechanical device. I will then add some of the pan juices back into the pork till I get the consistency I want. If I have any of the pan juices left i will add it to some BBQ Sauce I have on hand and serve on the side.

I have a Cheap Offset Smoker and it does not like change once it is set. If you open it or even look at it wrong the temp changes. So I will get drops or spikes in my temps. So I don't stress to much over that. I go by the Internal Temperature and the outside color. Some like it looking very dark, almost black. I like mine to have a dark bark, but not too dark. If you look at the cooks I have tracked you will see what I am talking about. I am getting better at projecting them, but still get them. Hope this helps....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/127046/jarjar-pork-rub-recipe

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/128537/jarjar-pp-foiling-finishing-sauce

One of my first documented cooks:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/125208/3-shoulder-picnic-ham-smoke-w-q-view

Latest Cook:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/129869/fundraiser-pp-cook-w-q-views

Couple Months ago:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/128542/shoulders-and-brisket

 

[shmoker]

I've only done one butt so far (so take this advice for what it's worth), but it came out FANTASTIC (thanks entirely to the guys on SMF).  Rubbed it down 24 hours before, then I smoked 250-275 (charcoal and apple wood), foiled it at 165 internal temp, and the 8 pounder took about 11 hours.  The butt had a great bark, was extremely moist and tender, the thing also jiggled like jello and the bone pulled right out (hardly had to pull the pork at all, but the meat wasn't mushy either).  Rested it for a couple hours before we pulled it and ate and it was delicious.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Betty 004.JPG

• oldschoolbbq
• Nov 1, 2012

My results after a 1.5hr./lb.(plus a buffer time) , all wood,no foil(at all until it is pulled from the Smoker to rest) and NO PEEKING! Nice color ,great Bark and Melt-in-your -mouth tenderness.

Takes "Patience" to leave it shut,but............

Stan,have fun and...

 

[pipesdaddy]

To me it is 275- 300 but at the same time you have to be careful about the merging of the internal and the external temperature.

 

[bigfoote]

I smoke mine low and slow, between 200 and 250 normally, and pull it off after it reaches an internal temperature between 190 and 205 (195 is optimum).  I rub them and then wrap in plastic wrap for a least 4 hours, usually a day.  Here is a link you can get some good info on butts, if you are really interested.  You can also see my post of a few minutes ago, of the butts we had for lunch today.  Good luck.

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/perfect_pulled_pork.html

 

[rtbbq2]

On track with most posts above. I wake up at 4 am and have the butts on at 5pm. I ususlly do at least two at a time since it is 12-14 hour smoke. I usually foil at 180° with

apple juice, Rum, cider and balsamic vinegar, honey some rub and a few other things. Take it to 200° then take off wrap in blankets and put in cooler for an hour. I use the foil sauce to

mix with the pulled pork after pulling...........Cheers!......