Pork Butt @245 or ???

[schlotz]

For years I’ve smoked butts at 245°. Wondering if I can get the same results at higher grate temps. What temp do others smoke at?

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

For years I’ve smoked butts at 245°. Wondering if I can get the same results at higher grate temps. What temp do others smoke at?

I always smoke at about 180* to 200* then wrap and take it up to 300 or 325 depending how my time is holding out.

 

[indaswamp]

I smoke pork butts 250-275*F Pork butt is very forgiving. Higher temps. cook faster. An with such a long cook, the bark does not suffer at all.

 

[JckDanls 07]

As stated above... yes, you can cook at much higher temperatures and doesn't hurt a thing...

 

[912smoker]

Yep I'm in the 275-300 camp.

Keith

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

275 camp here. Faster cook still good results.

 

[Elf@shore]

For years I’ve smoked butts at 245°. Wondering if I can get the same results at higher grate temps. What temp do others smoke at?

Butt smoke Tempts.
The lower you cook @ tempt there is less shrinkage and a more moist meat.
Higher temps will gibe a better bark.
My 1st few Butts were on a gasser, do the temps were probably higher then they should be IMO ?
They had a nice bark, but the inners were tough, due to not cooking all the way thru.
IMO: Lower is better and use a water pan with yur choice, but advise using apple juice, later adding water later, to cut down on the acid taste.
I would use 250 and increase it @ last hour before wrap for the stall ?
will give it a decent bark.


For what s its worth ?
I was taught in college !?
Low temps!
Add liquids
Really didn't understand it until I worked In Kitchens afterwards !
It works !
Use liquids and let it dissipate later to form a nice bark !

 

[Brokenhandle]

I'd go with how much time you have and how many beers or drinks you want to have... it's been proven that both ways works. Maybe even how much of that honey do list you're trying to avoid!

 

[forktender]

I also do butts, wait a minute that sounded horrible . LOL!!!

Let me try this again, I also smoke butts and picnics anywhere from 265 to 285* . I basically let the snoker settle in wherever it wants to when using the offset or drum. When I do them on the pellet pooper, I set the temp at 270* . I don't wrap unless I get a particularly stubborn piece of meat, that doesn't want to come outta the stall . Ive had picnics take 20 hours unwrapped . When I first started smaoking back then I thought everything turned out better at 220*. Well, that's what everyone always talked about low and slow.
Since I started cooking ar higher temps,I honestly feel my food turns out better than it did at 220-225*.

Ya, gotta try it, toss it on at 265-275* and let her rip .

I don't wrap butts, I'll loosely drape a piece of foil over them if they are getting to dark. Fat cap always goes down on my butts, I use it as a protective layer.

Give it a try, it really cuts down on time, which I really like lately .

 

[schlotz]

Thanks guys. Got both butts in the smoker at 5:40am. Going to run 1.5 hrs at 185º then bump it to 265º.

 

[chopsaw]

Going to run 1.5 hrs at 185º then bump it to 265º.

You ever try walking the temp up ( from starting to target ) just a couple degrees at a time ?
Starting temp for an hour or so . Then start stepping up 5 or 10 degrees at a time . Let it run 15 or 20 minutes between each step up . Depending on the time you have , it can add to the overall cook , but I take that into account and bump accordingly . I think it gives more time in combusting fresh pellets and increases the smoke profile .
Last pork butt I did was around 325 after several hours at the smoke setting .

 

[schlotz]

You ever try walking the temp up ( from starting to target ) just a couple degrees at a time ?
Starting temp for an hour or so . Then start stepping up 5 or 10 degrees at a time . Let it run 15 or 20 minutes between each step up . Depending on the time you have , it can add to the overall cook , but I take that into account and bump accordingly . I think it gives more time in combusting fresh pellets and increases the smoke profile .
Last pork butt I did was around 325 after several hours at the smoke setting .

Interesting twist there Rich. Definitely going to try that on the next smoke. Thanks!

 

[civilsmoker]

I did this post about 18 months or so ago documenting the hot and fast. 265 is my go to…..

Pulled Pork Tacos - Simplified and Reliable Dinner Timing

I have been craving some pulled pork tacos for a little while now so I thought the weekend would be perfect so we could eat them for the week. As I prepared this smoke, I thought I would document it so I could share with others a reliable and consistent way to do pulled pork and be able to plan...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

This one I scored but have been doing the Sans score recently but all the else the same….this post I charted the INT through the cook, and un-scored

Sunday Pulled Pork Samich w/Slaw!

So Mrs C and the boy were craving some pulled pork samiches.....So picked up a BB for the task at hand....I followed my go to simplified approach.... https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pulled-pork-tacos-simplified-and-reliable-dinner-timing.325427/ I was in a hurry so didn't score the...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Ps good luck and looking forward to pics!

 

[schlotz]

I did this post about 18 months or so ago documenting the hot and fast. 265 is my go to…..

Pulled Pork Tacos - Simplified and Reliable Dinner Timing

I have been craving some pulled pork tacos for a little while now so I thought the weekend would be perfect so we could eat them for the week. As I prepared this smoke, I thought I would document it so I could share with others a reliable and consistent way to do pulled pork and be able to plan...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

This one I scored but have been doing the Sans score recently but all the else the same….this post I charted the INT through the cook, and un-scored

Sunday Pulled Pork Samich w/Slaw!

So Mrs C and the boy were craving some pulled pork samiches.....So picked up a BB for the task at hand....I followed my go to simplified approach.... https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pulled-pork-tacos-simplified-and-reliable-dinner-timing.325427/ I was in a hurry so didn't score the...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Ps good luck and looking forward to pics!

Thanks Courtney! I'm noticing that the two RFX probes are struggling with connection a bit, they're bouncing back and forth from fair to poor. Thinking is I've got each of them sitting on racks over aluminum pans. Those two take up all the space in my MAK. Normally the connections are excellent but with all that extra metal the signal is degraded. Won't really affect how things turn out though.

 

[okie sawbones]

275 camp. Inject for flavor.

 

[sandyut]

Heck yeah! I do mine at 275 start to finish and love the results. Hold for a couple hours after, add some rub and finishing sauce. Bam, done.

 

[chopsaw]

Interesting twist there Rich. Definitely going to try that on the next smoke

That's my pellet grill method . It works for improving the smoke profile . Helps control temp over run too , if that's an issue .

 

[schlotz]

So, those two butts were stubborn. After 7 hours in smoke (6 at 265º) they were barely at 160º. I resorted to wrapping in foil and into a hot oven. Had a deadline to meet so no choice. Luckily, they both reached a little over 200º by 3:30pm and I turned the oven down to 150 until 5pm. Both turned out very good. It's really hard to mess up a pork butt . Sorry no pics on this one, was too busy ensuring dinner for guests turned out well.

 

[civilsmoker]

Thanks Courtney! I'm noticing that the two RFX probes are struggling with connection a bit, they're bouncing back and forth from fair to poor. Thinking is I've got each of them sitting on racks over aluminum pans. Those two take up all the space in my MAK. Normally the connections are excellent but with all that extra metal the signal is degraded. Won't really affect how things turn out though.

Try turning your gateway 45 to 90 degrees. If the antennas between the probe and GW are linear they will struggle I was having issues to but found moving the GW to a different spot then it was GTG. The other thing I found is if the end gets too smoky it struggles. Just a quick wipe with a wet paper towel when you wrap also helps.

Oh and the stall you saw is why I only smoke uncovered for bark then cover after 5/6 hours