Newby to pork butt...help

[forktender]

Long cooler rest can turn the meat to mush, If you're going to rest it for more than an hour. Remove the foil and rest it on the counter top for 20-30 minutes, which stops the cooking, before you recover it with foil for the cooler rest.

Good luck.
Dan

 

[Petesmokes1214]

Not to blatantly repeat all the advice you've already gotten, but I guess I kinda am.
I always brine my pork butts, then cook to somewhere around 160-170, when I get a noticeable stall. Then wrap tight in foil. After the wrap, I will not open the smoker again until 203 degrees, at which point I begin probing. As a few of these guys have already said, you are looking for the butter feel, practically no resistance. This is the point where you stop looking at your thermometer altogether, stick that probe in there and imagine the feel of the meats consistency in regard to shredding.

I have done a handful of butts without the wrap, and had success that way too. At that point you are controlling the bark and the time, but you can get very similar results in the meat either way.

Also, it is very important to probe in several locations, like thirdeye pointed out. You may get a different feel in certain spots, so don't be shy.

Finally, the rest is a critical step too. I'm sure someone here could give you a very scientific explanation on why that is, but I basically chock it up to the fact that the carryover will allow the rest of the collagens to break down properly, and then the slow cooling (versus unwrapping and attacking right away) allows all that fat and goodness to really permeate throughout the entirety of the meat.

Welcome to the forums, and please keep trying! Nothing better than BBQ!

Side note: I just put a 10lb butt in a brine tonight, I'll try to remember to take some pics and post it. Wife's bday barbecue this weekend.

Thank you. I'm gonna go back at it on Tuesday. I'm gonna reread all these post n hope for the best with my next one

 

[Petesmokes1214]

Not to blatantly repeat all the advice you've already gotten, but I guess I kinda am.
I always brine my pork butts, then cook to somewhere around 160-170, when I get a noticeable stall. Then wrap tight in foil. After the wrap, I will not open the smoker again until 203 degrees, at which point I begin probing. As a few of these guys have already said, you are looking for the butter feel, practically no resistance. This is the point where you stop looking at your thermometer altogether, stick that probe in there and imagine the feel of the meats consistency in regard to shredding.

I have done a handful of butts without the wrap, and had success that way too. At that point you are controlling the bark and the time, but you can get very similar results in the meat either way.

Also, it is very important to probe in several locations, like thirdeye pointed out. You may get a different feel in certain spots, so don't be shy.

Finally, the rest is a critical step too. I'm sure someone here could give you a very scientific explanation on why that is, but I basically chock it up to the fact that the carryover will allow the rest of the collagens to break down properly, and then the slow cooling (versus unwrapping and attacking right away) allows all that fat and goodness to really permeate throughout the entirety of the meat.

Welcome to the forums, and please keep trying! Nothing better than BBQ!

Side note: I just put a 10lb butt in a brine tonight, I'll try to remember to take some pics and post it. Wife's bday barbecue this weekend.

Thank you. I'm gonna go back at it on Tuesday. I'm gonna reread all these post n hope for the best with my next one

 

[bdawg]

Lots of great advice in this thread. One thing I like to do with the de-fatted juice is make a finishing sauce from

1 part BBQ sauce (your homemade is best, but commercial is fine -- KC masterpiece, Sweet baby ray's, Bullseye, it doesn't really matter)
1 part Apple Cider Vinegar (or more or less to your taste)
1 part Apple Juice
3 parts defatted pork juice from cooking the butt

This is especially good if you are serving the next day. Warm it back up and it adds a ton of moisture and flavor.

 

[bauchjw]

Looks like you’ve gotten lots of good advice. One thing I’d do is check your thermometer for accuracy.

reading through this thread is a great refresher with tons of knowledge. To add onto SmokinEdge and jcam222’s comments, I’d offer a technique I learned on SMF. To check your thermometer, boil water and insert your probe. If it reads 212, and you are at sea levelish, then you’re good. If not, then you know how far off your probe is. I screwed up a few things until I got that advice and found out my probe was 15 degrees off. Good luck!

 

[thirdeye]

reading through this thread is a great refresher with tons of knowledge. To add onto SmokinEdge and jcam222’s comments, I’d offer a technique I learned on SMF. To check your thermometer, boil water and insert your probe. If it reads 212, and you are at sea levelish, then you’re good. If not, then you know how far off your probe is. I screwed up a few things until I got that advice and found out my probe was 15 degrees off. Good luck!

Right. I adjust boiling temp to my altitude. At my house water boils at 203* so I can't use 212* as my setpoint or I'd really be off.

 

[bdawg]

Here's a calculator that lets you type in your elevation and it will give you the boiling point of water:

Boiling Point at Altitude Calculator

The boiling point at altitude calculator finds the boiling point of water at different altitudes.

www.omnicalculator.com

 

[gyeakle]

Thanks