Overnight Smoke?

[JMAC1604]

Hey Everyone,

Bought a 5.5 pound pork butt and plan on smoking it out for a memorial day gathering Sunday at 3pm. Was thinking about starting it Saturday night around 10pm.

I'm using the Masterbuilt 20078715 30". Will be applying my rub and letting sit overnight in the fridge before smoking. Was planning on around 220-230 steady temp and letting smoke overnight at low and slow. Any recommendations? Is this piece too small?

Not planning on wraping unless I should? Will pull off smoker at IT of 195-200 and store until its ready to pull and eat.

Thanks

 

[oddegan]

Hi JMAC welcome to the forum. Glad you're here. If you don't wrap at the low temps you plan on cooking at you will most likely stall so starting the night before is probably a safe bet. 5 pounds isn't huge but it can still take more time than you think. If it gets done early you can always foil it and wrap in a towel and put it in a cooler to rest. It will stay hot for hours. 195 IT is a good temp for slicing but if you want pulled pork you may want to look for an IT of 205. Look for good pull back on the bone. It should come out clean with a slight tug. Probing with a toothpick is something I do with both butts and brisket. Should go in like hot knife in butter. Let us know how it goes.

 

[fullsmoke]

If you put it on at 10 it probably will be done at 6-7 am if you smoke at 230 it’s only 5.5 # so 8 hours in smoker I smoke at 195 200 a 10# will take me 18 hours you could put it on at 4-5 am would be done and a good rest time too

 

[SonnyE]

If this is your debut, you probably don't want it botched up.
It could probably be reheated if it finishes early.
But you don't want Butt Jerky... either.

Got a back-up plan?

 

[gmc2003]

For a 5.5lber I would fire it up in the morning around 5:00am at 250 to 260*. It should be done around 1:30 or 2:00. That should give you enough time to let it rest and pull. Party people like to see the pulling process added entertainment.

Chris

 

[dcecil]

You do have the option of hot and fast at 275. Several people here do it that way and will not do it any other way. Just tossing out another option for you.

 

[JMAC1604]

Hi JMAC welcome to the forum. Glad you're here. If you don't wrap at the low temps you plan on cooking at you will most likely stall so starting the night before is probably a safe bet. 5 pounds isn't huge but it can still take more time than you think. If it gets done early you can always foil it and wrap in a towel and put it in a cooler to rest. It will stay hot for hours. 195 IT is a good temp for slicing but if you want pulled pork you may want to look for an IT of 205. Look for good pull back on the bone. It should come out clean with a slight tug. Probing with a toothpick is something I do with both butts and brisket. Should go in like hot knife in butter. Let us know how it goes.

 

[JMAC1604]

You all rock! Plans have changed a bit as we may not eat till around 5ish. I may take the advice of others, given that it only 5.5 pounds, I may start the smoke at 5am at consistent 230-240 and let it roll till about IT 205 and hopefully it’s done by 4pm to shred at 5pm.

Thanks again for all your inputs

 

[hebs]

I'm curious how this turned out? I tried smoking a bonless 6lbs but before and ended up taking it off at 20hrs because it would never push past 185. It still tasted good, but it left me wondering when I could have actually taken it off... After that day I swore if I ever had to smoke a boneless butt again, I'd shove a ten penny nail thru it. lol

 

[jbellard]

Hebs, I’m betting that either your thermometer wasn’t right or something along those lines.
Without a bone, the butt should cook faster so I think you May not have been cooking as hot as you thought you were

 

[jbellard]

JMAC,
Your plan sounds good to me. I would even suggest that if you cooked at 275 you could sleep in a bit longer and it would still get done in plenty of time especially if you wrapped it.

 

[hebs]

jbellard, I was using my CyberQ wifi with 2 probes in the meat and 1 at the grid. I'm positive they're not broken. My thought process for it not cooking as fast is there was nothing in there to radiate the heat internally.