Not sure about this one...

[get smoked]

Hey everyone.  I had such great success last time I did two butts, so here I am at it again.  I have some concerns though.  I just pulled them at 198.  I wrapped them both at 160.  On one, I cut off all the fat, rubbed it down and let it sit over night, and then put it on the smoker with the fat pieces layed over it.  I did not, however, cut the fat off the other one.  I simply scored it through the fat down to the meat in a checker pattern.  Both were cooked to temp.  What worries me, is that I got them to approx. 198 in 8 HOURS!!!  I don't know what to think about this.  I got a PowerPoint slide with a chart illustrating the almost linear progression of the internal temps all the way from 39 through 198.  I never hit a plataue.  I feel like I did everything exactly like I did last time, so i can't figure out why this took me half the time.  Last time each butt was approx. 8.5 lbs. I think.  This time, one weighed 7.17lbs. and the other weighed 7.7 lbs. 

Can anyone help me figure this out?

 

[get smoked]

This is before I put them on.

here's a pic of my new charcoal basket.  I didn't have this last time.  I noticed that I was better able to sustain my temps but not absurdly different than I was able to last time.  

 

[alelover]

Meat is a funny thing. Sometimes it just works out that way. As long as they're to temp and your therms were accurate I'd be a happy camper. They look great. Did they pull apart easily? Got some pics? What temp was the smoker at? They don't seem to have to dark o' bark.

 

[chef willie]

Yep, it is what it is....temps don't lie unless the therms are outta whack

 

[meateater]

If your therms are accurate then there done. All smokers act different, even the same smoker will behave different in different parts of the country. One thing I've noticed for me is bigger butts will finish quicker, I can't explain it. Just keep your therms calibrated and have many on hand, even a few inexpensive analog to reference to. 

 

[get smoked]

Thanks for the advice.  I am truly baffled.  Surprisingly, they turned out GREAT.  I cannot explain the cooking time; I don't know how that happened.  I probably only opened the lid maybe 3 times the whole day.  Maybe that had something to do with it.  Who knows?  Anyway, here are some pictures of the end result.

This is with no finishing sauce on them at all.  I had them both sitting in a 1" deep oven trey wrapped in foil, covered in Saran wrap with a towel on top in the oven to rest.  When I took them out 2 hours later, I had to poke a hole in one corner through the plastic wrap and drain the trey before I could get to work.  

The pork came out very tasty.  I used the same rub recipe I used last time, except that this time I added a tsp of cinnamon to the dry rub.  I could just barely taste it and was glad I had tried it.  very tasty.  

I do have one complaint though.  I could have had more of a smoky flavor to suit my tastes.  I tend to go for a heavy smoke flavor and this was not present.  You could tell it had been smoked for sure.  But, not as much as I would have liked.  Maybe the condensed cooking time had something to do with this.  I also made a conscious effort to dial down the amount of smoke I was using.  Last time I didn't really effectively regulate this.  This time I tried to limit it to a just barely visible blue stream.  Both butts were wrapped after five hours on the smoker.  

All in all, very happy with the results.  Now, what to do with 14 lbs. of pulled pork.  This morning, maybe I'll try a pulled pork omelet with a pork biscuit and a side of pork.

Can't go wrong there.

 

[SmokinAl]

The PP sure looks great. Every piece of meat reacts differently when it's cooked. That's why the best BBQ'ers are able to consistently produce great Q with whatever they happen to start with. As far as not enough smokey flavor, I get a more smokey flavor if I don't foil. I also put the meat on the smoker cold and when I just start the smoker up so it gets cold smoked for 30-40 minutes before the smoker comes up to temp. I think the meat accepts more smoke when it's cold, but others on here will disagree. You may want to give it a try & see what you think.

 

[get smoked]

thanks SmokinAl, I'll have to try that next time.  I spent an hour or less getting the temps up before I put them in there.  I'll put them in a cold smoker next time.  Great idea.  

 

[raptor700]

Awesome color on those butts and the PP looks very juicy.

 

[alaskanbear]

Not many times do I ever tell a guy, nice looking BUTT--BUT, in your case NICE LOOKING BUTTS!!!

Rich

 

[whtplainssmoker]

Looks like the results were great.  The pulled pork looks delicious!

 

[beer-b-q]

Great Looking PP...

 

[get smoked]

Thanks all!  It was great.  14lbs. of PP went in just 4 days!  

I gave some away at work and to some family; everyone loved it.