Smoking first butt Saturday.

[bob-bqn]

I finished in the oven once, only had 1 propane bottle and ran out of gas half way through the smoke. :( I now have 4 bottles :lol: . I'll tell you the house smelled terrific and the food didn't suffer any loss of flavor.

 

[tdavis193]

Hello. I'm new to the forum and by no means a smoking expert. I read the chain on 'smoking first butt' with interest, as I also smoked butts this past Saturday. This was the 2nd time I've tried a shoulder butt and I only use the smoker a few times a year, mostly for ribs.

I had 2 butts at about 7.5 #s each. I was concerned about the size and cooking time, so I cut them in half along the bone. It took about 8 hours, which seemed like a long time. I also tenderized the meat with a fork prior to rubbing them down. Obviously by the responses I read to Trevor's question, I was lucky on the time. I'm using a Brinkman horizontal smoker with side fire box. The temp ranged from 225 - 300 (any tips on how to keep more consistant? or is this normal?)

I was also perplexed about the temps referenced. I was shooting for 180 -I would normally cook pork to around 165, but 180 was recommended to me for butt. The end result tasted great, but I had to slice it. Any feedback would be appreciated.
td

 

[TulsaJeff]

TD,

Good to have you aboard! I will give you the short version of my take on pork butt..

Coat lightly with yellow mustard then apply lots of rub (the mustard just makes the rub stick and loses its flavor during smoking), place in 225 degree smoker and do your best to maintain as close to 225 as possible.

You can expect a pork butt to take about 1.5 hours per pound and should not be pulled from the smoker until it reaches 200 degrees or so if you want it to be pulled pork.

For a super tasty pork butt that will absolutely fall apart with no pulling required read my November newsletter at the following link:

http://www.smoking-meat.com/nov-2005...d-recipes.html

That newsletter has lots of other tips on smoking a turkey and such but the very first articles recalls an adventure I had with pork butt and I wrote instructions for repeating the project down to the smallest detail.. I think it will answer most of your questions.

 

[Dutch]

Welcome TD. Jeff's article is a "must read". I've done butts for awhile prior to joining Smoking Meats and I was told my pulled pork was great. After using Jeffs method I'm now told my pulled pork is fantastic. See-even this old dog learned a new trick (serveral new tricks actually) :D

Also I'd like to invite you to visit the "Roll Call" Thread and introduce yourself up there

 

[brett_s]

This might be a little bit off topic, butt (joke intended) I thought I'd throw it out here.

Last week I smoked two smaller butts. One I did Jeff's way (which is dynamite), the other I did Jeff's way with the addition of injecting liquid inside of the butt the night before. I don't have the injection recipe with me (it's from the dr bbq book, recipe is called "big pork injection"). The difference was amazing.

The regular pork was good. The injected pork was amazing. It's the first time I've injected pork, and it will now be my standard practice.

Just a little more food for thought.

Brett

 

[y2kpitt]

While I don't inject I guess I'm to afraid of needles :D , I do brine turkeys, chickens, and pork. In fact I'm getting ready to drop in two 7 pound butts for this weekend's smoke fest. For big cuts of meat like a pork butt or a turkey larger than 15 pounds I let them brine for about 30 hours. Then with a pork butt I will rub it down and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap for another 6 to 8 hours. After that its on to the smoker. I did my first butt this way two weeks ago and it was some of the best pork I've ever had....I think Jeff's finishing sauce has a lot to do with that as well