Traveling pork butt on the mini

[mdboatbum]

I guess all the Memorial Day bbq's wiped out the pork butt supply. Went to 5 stores yesterday with no luck. Finally got one at a Harris Teeter this morning for $1.48/lb.
Rubbed it down with basic rub, salt, turbinado, pepper, paprika, onion, garlic etc...
Took it and the mini over to a friends house and got it going about 12:30. The mini was at 320° when I left at 1, and just got a message that it's at 320° now. Running Trader Joe's hardwood briquettes and pecan. I know I sound like a broken record, but that little thing just ROCKS!!
Anyway, no pics yet as it was a bit of a kerfuffle trying to get everything going this morning. Will try to get some when we head back over there at 6. Dinner is planned for 8. We'll see if all my bragging about hot and fast holds true today. I'm a bit nervous truth be told.....

 

[b-one]

Looking forward to the pics later!

 

[bdskelly]

Cant wait to see how it tuned out.  I've seen those Trader Joes briquets .  Always wondered if they were worth a hoot. 

b

 

[mdboatbum]

WHEW!! Leaving the mini to smoke a butt on its own made pretty nervous. I had things to do so couldn't stay at my friends' house. My friend kept an eye on the smoker temp, and made a couple small adjustments to keep it in the 320° range. When I got back a little after 6pm it was at 305°. I'd told him to let it gradually coast down if it wanted to at about 5:30. I pulled it off at about 7:15 with an IT of 190°-199°. Should have left it another half hour, but we were hungry. After a 20 minute rest we pulled it. (Again, is normally let it rest an hour, but we were hungry) It was a bit more difficult to pull but the bone came out cleanly after a slight bit of coaxing. Overall I'll give it a "B". The flavor was great, and the bark was a little darker than I like but not offensive. The moisture was awesome. Didn't get a chance to take any pics there, but here's one of the leftovers we brought home.

image.jpg

• mdboatbum
• May 31, 2015

As for the Trader Joe's briquettes, they're awesome! Used less than half a basket full for a 7 hour, 320° smoke. Nice neutral smell, easy to light and I think it was $8 or so for a large bag. I'll check the weight tomorrow as it's still in the car, but it had to be close to 20lbs.
Edit: it's $7.99 for 18lbs.

 

[mdboatbum]

And one more note on hot and fast. It was a grand total of 7 hours from lighting the chimney to the first bite of a pulled pork sandwich. While I only graded the final result a "B", it was still way better than anything I've ever had in a restaurant. In a perfect world another couple hours and a slightly lower temp (300° as opposed to 320°) might have yielded a slightly better result, but that's really just me being picky.
Moral of the story? Even when seriously pushed for time, you CAN still produce delicious pulled pork and eat on time. We actually were eating a half hour ahead of the planned time of 8pm. And I got a full night's sleep.

 

[pc farmer]

I use a lot of Trader Joes hardwood briqs.

They just seem to work.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Nice Smoke MD!

 

[mdboatbum]

I use a lot of Trader Joes hardwood briqs.

They just seem to work.

They really do. For the price and easy availability I plan on using them a lot more. Stubb's is a little hard to find and more expensive, and honestly the two perform almost identically. The TJ's might produce a tiny bit more ash, but not enough to matter. Plus they seem to light easier than the Stubb's.

Nice Smoke MD!

Thanks Case!

 

[pc farmer]

The Trader Joes here doesn't carry them in the winter thou so I have to stock up in the fall.



Nice lookin butt by the way

 

[disco]

Way to go MD! I haven't had the guts to do a butt on the mini yet, I just keep being lazy and using the Bradley but you may have inspired me.

Disco

 

[mdboatbum]

The Trader Joes here doesn't carry them in the winter thou so I have to stock up in the fall.



Nice lookin butt by the way

Good to know. I'll definitely load up before fall!

 

[mdboatbum]

Way to go MD! I haven't had the guts to do a butt on the mini yet, I just keep being lazy and using the Bradley but you may have inspired me.

Disco

I guess if I had a "set and forget" kinda smoker like your Bradley I'd probably use that for long cooks too. But if you feel like doing one on the mini just for the heck of it, I think you'll enjoy the process. It never ceases to amaze me how a simple little home made thing can be so stable for so long and produce such awesome food.

 

[chef willie]

glad it all worked out...I'm not a fan of leaving a long smoke either, especially using charcoal. And thx for the info on the TJ's charcoal. I have a TJ about 20 miles away so will look them up next time I head that way.....Wilie

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Our Trader Joes doesn't carry Briquettes! I looked and asked and I guess ours is to green of a store to carry them. They do carry 365 brand lump which I buy from them and have been really happy with it. Nice small pieces perfect for the mini!

Disco you really should try a pork butt in the mini, it's a piece of cake! If you use the side light method that I use you can get a super long burn out of a full basket.

 

[bdskelly]

365 charcoal ? I'm new to reader joes and now 365???? I need to get out more
Thought I knew most of them. Clearly you've once again enlightened me. LOL b