Question about smoking pulled pork late in the day

[DukeSilver22]

Hey everyone, unfortunately yesterday I had a medical emergency with my eye preventing me from doing what I needed to get done which was putting the rub on the pork and letting it sit overnight. I got up early this morning so far the rubs been on there for about 20 minutes I was thinking about letting it sit on there for anywhere between 2 to 4 hours. This obviously is going to cause me to get it on the smoker late in the day. What I had in mind to do was smoke it until it hits 165 and then I was thinking about transferring it over to the crock pot on low and leaving it in there overnight. Would this method of finishing the pork be okay instead of wrapping it and finishing it in the smoker?

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I rarely put rub on pork until right before it hits the smoker. I have in the past applied the rub the night before and didn't really notice a difference.

As for finishing, you can wrap in foil and put in a 225℉ oven overnight...

 

[schlotz]

Define 'late in the day"? You can easily put it in the smoker now. Run 5-6 hours @ 240-260º then wrap and into the oven @300º for another 2-3 hours at which time it should be around 200-205º. Pull and let it rest in a cooler with towels for 1-2 hours.

 

[bdskelly]

Howdy Duke. Hope that eye is better. As Gonna has said I’ve also allowed a rub to sit overnight and applied right before it tossed on the grate. Both methods turn out well. Butts are pretty forgiving as you probably know. While I’ve always said that there is no shame in finishing you cook in the oven… or in you case a crockpot or a foil wrap there is a trade off. Bark will not form on that butt. Which may not be a big thing to you and you family . My family like a good bark. Form A solid bark is the reason why so many pork rubs have brown sugar as an ingredient. Because of what the family enjoys I never wrap and always finish the butt in the smoker. But.. sometimes life gets in the way and the best option it to finish in the kitchen

 

[DukeSilver22]

I rarely put rub on pork until right before it hits the smoker. I have in the past applied the rub the night before and didn't really notice a difference.

As for finishing, you can wrap in foil and put in a 225℉ oven overnight...

Cool, thanks for the advice. I only asked because everything I read seems to be everybody puts it on the night before.

 

[DukeSilver22]

Define 'late in the day"? You can easily put it in the smoker now. Run 5-6 hours @ 240-260º then wrap and into the oven @300º for another 2-3 hours at which time it should be around 200-205º. Pull and let it rest in a cooler with towels for 1-2 hours.

Late in the day I'm probably planning on firing up the smoker somewhere around 11:00 am. Currently where I'm at it's about 7:40 am.

I like that method you recommend it there. Again, when I'm researching info online the consensus seems to be 225 until it reaches that 165 temperature and then wrap it until you get it to 200 to 205.

 

[schlotz]

Either way works (rub apply), strictly your choice. Butts are VERY forgiving, you can do them at almost any temp.

 

[DukeSilver22]

Howdy Duke. Hope that eye is better. As Gonna has said I’ve also allowed a rub to sit overnight and applied right before it tossed on the grate. Both methods turn out well. Butts are pretty forgiving as you probably know. While I’ve always said that there is no shame in finishing you cook in the oven… or in you case a crockpot or a foil wrap there is a trade off. Bark will not form on that butt. Which may not be a big thing to you and you family . My family like a good bark. Form A solid bark is the reason why so many pork rubs have brown sugar as an ingredient. Because of what the family enjoys I never wrap and always finish the butt in the smoker. But.. sometimes life gets in the way and the best option it to finish in the kitchen
View attachment 702584

Thank you, definitely doing much better today. I was up my shop and had a fan on It blew all this salt dust up in the air when I went to move something and a piece of wood stuck itself in my eyelid and was scratching my eyeball up until about 5:45 and this was about 10:00 in the morning this happened yesterday. It was torturous I never thought something like that could feel that way.

As far as what you said regarding the pork, I appreciate your response. I never finished it without wrapping I thought the only way to get it to that higher temperature was to wrap it. So how long does it take you without wrapping to smoke the pork to that finished temperature? I would love to have a good bark but considering how late I'm getting started and how much stuff I have to catch up on from the loss of the day yesterday seems like I have to go this route where I smoke it and finish it in the oven or the crock pot.

 

[DukeSilver22]

Either way works (rub apply), strictly your choice. Butts are VERY forgiving, you can do them at almost any temp.

Thank you

 

[bdskelly]

Thank you, definitely doing much better today. I was up my shop and had a fan on It blew all this salt dust up in the air when I went to move something and a piece of wood stuck itself in my eyelid and was scratching my eyeball up until about 5:45 and this was about 10:00 in the morning this happened yesterday. It was torturous I never thought something like that could feel that way.

As far as what you said regarding the pork, I appreciate your response. I never finished it without wrapping I thought the only way to get it to that higher temperature was to wrap it. So how long does it take you without wrapping to smoke the pork to that finished temperature? I would love to have a good bark but considering how late I'm getting started and how much stuff I have to catch up on from the loss of the day yesterday seems like I have to go this route where I smoke it and finish it in the oven or the crock pot.

Great question. At 225 chamber temp and depending on the size of the butt and assuming it’s a bone in you’ll need at least 1.5 hours a pound . You can increase chamber temp to say 250 - 275 and cut that time back considerably. But like I said before when life gets in the way, your oven or crockpot can be your friend. Happy your eye is better my friend.

 

[mneeley490]

When you're short on time, you can do a hot & fast smoke at 300°. Should take anywhere from 4-8 hours, depending on the size of the butt. I've done this many times and notice little to no difference in the texture or flavor.

 

[sandyut]

hmm...Why not wait and start it first thing tomorrow? starting at 11 is gonna compromise the cook. I would start early tomorrow and cook it at 275. should be ready for supper that way. I always cook butts at 275

 

[mike243]

Never leave meat setting on a counter, fridge or smoker only lol,your only degrading the meat setting at room temp, hope you heal quickly, got some cedar shavings in my eye 1 time, never want a repeat.

 

[schlotz]

Here is typical smoke of a 8.5# bone in butt I did a while back. Butt was wet brined overnight for 15 hours then applied rub before going into the smoker.

7am in smoker @ 190º low temp extra smoke
8am bump to 245º
1:30pm (5h30m) dbl wrap and into over @310º
3:50pm IT was 202º Pulled from smoker (8h50m) and into cooler w/towels
5:45pm served for dinner.

Here was the recipe used:

So you want to try smoking your first Pork Butt

There are many ways, and all of them can give great results. One of the reasons is that pork butts are very forgiving. Here is the recipe I usually pass on to those first starting with a smoker. The results are both predictable and repeatable. This recipe has never failed to delight who ever...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[DukeSilver22]

Great question. At 225 chamber temp and depending on the size of the butt and assuming it’s a bone in you’ll need at least 1.5 hours a pound . You can increase chamber temp to say 250 - 275 and cut that time back considerably. But like I said before when life gets in the way, your oven or crockpot can be your friend. Happy your eye is better my friend.

Yeah it's definitely going to go that way now. I didn't even get a chance to put it on at 11:00 I've been so busy today because of getting screwed over unable to do anything yesterday.

I'm about to fire up the smoker now so I'm going to be going late into the night that's for sure and then I'll have to put it in the oven overnight like you said.

 

[DukeSilver22]

hmm...Why not wait and start it first thing tomorrow? starting at 11 is gonna compromise the cook. I would start early tomorrow and cook it at 275. should be ready for supper that way. I always cook butts at 275

I need it ready by 2:00 p.m. tomorrow I have family coming over for a party I'm throwing for my wife for her 40th.

 

[DukeSilver22]

Just wanted to thank everybody who responded to me. I love coming to this community, everybody is so nice and helpful, almost instantly you get a response.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

Duke, hope the smoke went well. I have never rubbed my pork the day before I usually do it while the pit is warming up. Also like others have said pork butt is extremely forgiving I’ve done them at 225* and at 300*, wrapped at the stall and not wrapped at the stall. Always pull them around 203-205* and I Dont really notice a difference. One thing I do like to make sure I have time for though is a good rest of 1-2 hours wrapped in foil and towels inside a cooler.