Weekend butt was not a success, ideas?

[Bearcarver]

I would wait a little longer prior to foiling. Get the bark where you want it to be then foil. That may help with overall bark you're looking for while foiling as well.

Craig

Hi Craig,

I see this is your first post. How about stopping at "Roll Call", and introduce yourself, so we can welcome you properly.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[gotsmoke80]

Here is how I do mine I use an ECB modded thru the roof.

I normally do an 8lb butt , I cover it in mustard and as much dry rub as it can handle .  If I want a sweet pork I will cover it one last time with Raw sugar.

I cook it in a foil pan at 275 typically at 1.5 hours per pound.

I cook by temp not by time my goal is to get it to 165F while spraying it every 30 min or apple juice and rub

( if its not for kids I will use a flavored rum  really makes it pop)

Wrap at 165F and place more of the spray in the pan to add more moisture/flavor and cook to 190F and pull let rest for 30 min

Drain the juices set aside. Will be used for finishing sauce  and go to town pulling it apart while cherry picking the bark.

Once fully shredded pour and toss the meat with the juices and enjoy.    Here are some pics

but.jpg

• gotsmoke80
• Jul 4, 2015

3 hours in.jpg

• gotsmoke80
• Jul 18, 2015

hours in

20150718_064019.jpg

• gotsmoke80
• Jul 18, 2015

but.jpg

• gotsmoke80
• Jul 4, 2015

to rest after separating the juices

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Yes ,  Bear knows . . .

 

[ducaticraig]

I would wait a little longer prior to foiling. Get the bark where you want it to be then foil. That may help with overall bark you're looking for while foiling as well.

Craig

Hi Craig,


I see this is your first post. How about stopping at "Roll Call", and introduce yourself, so we can welcome you properly.

Thanks,



Bear

Bear, can you move my new member post to the roll call section? Kinda messed up where I placed it. Oops!

Craig

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear, can you move my new member post to the roll call section? Kinda messed up where I placed it. Oops!

Craig

I can't do that, but I contacted someone who can.

Beat

 

[thegreatmc]

 
Why make one of the easiest Smokes (a Butt) so difficult.

I never had a Butt that needed brining, and other than the salt content in a Rub, see no reason to add a bunch of salt to the most forgiving smoke there is.

Changing you temp by 25° doesn't hurt anything on a Butt. Your problem was SALT.

Try doing one in the easiest way there is, and get back to us. No Brining, No injecting----Just Rub & Smoke.

Link:

Pulled Boston Pork Butt  

Bear

The bear has spoken.

I am with Bear on pork being simple.  I actually make it even simpler then his.  I rub the meat the night before, but then I shoot for 250* for my smoke.  I am currently doing one and it jumped to 283* before I caught it. No worries, just get it back down and continue.  I don't foil, I don't spray, I don't brine, I just let the fire do it's thing to the meat.  When the bone will come loose, it's done.  That's generally about 205* IT, but sometimes it's 190*.  The meat will tell you when it's done, you just have to listen.  

O, and I ALWAYS go fat cap up while smoking.  My thought is that it melts down through the meat and helps keep it moist.  I don't know if this actually makes a difference but I have always had success this way so I haven't changed it.  

 

[mummel]

Im doing another one on Saturday night for my family who are in town.  This time I went bone-in.  Cant wait!

 

[floridasteve]

Ditto

 

[mummel]

I wont risk changing up things too much on this one as my family is only here for a short time, but the one after this I will got Aaron style, 275F + foil.  Im really curious. 

 

[noboundaries]

Keep it simple!

I don't brine, salt overnight, nothing.  Fire up the smoker, open cyrovac and liberally apply rub right on the meat.  Put meat on smoker when TBS starts to appear.  Long smoke (12-20 hours) 225F.  Short smoke (7-8 hours) 300F.  Go do something else until IT hits 180F, then foil wrap with a cup of apple cider and back on the smoker until IT hits 203-205F.  Rest for a couple hours under towels, pull, tweak the flavor with rub if necessary, serve with wrapping liquid poured through a fat separator.  Or better yet put it all in the fridge overnight, scrap the fat off the gelatin, mix with apple cider and other things (sauce, vinegar, etc, whatever I'm in the mood for), then serve. 

I've injected, brined, etc and what I described above gives me great flavor, control, and is simple.       

 

[cpfitness]

sometimes we make things more difficult than they need be.  There is nothing all that special about smoking.  2 things are happening, smoke is adding flavor to the meat and heat is cooking the meat.  I used to try to be a purist with the "low and slow" and I got tired of it taking 18 hours to smoke a butt.  Nothing like getting up at 5 am and putting the butt on at 6am thinking you will have food ready for a party at 7pm and yet it's 10 pm and you still can't serve it.  Never again.  Did my last few butts at 275ish and got the same great result in a helluva lot less time.  

If you cooked to an IT of 213, that could definately be a big part of it.  thats a pretty significant additional bit of time.  The idea of around 195-205 is that all the fat will be rendered.  10 degrees higher than that you can easily have rendered and then dried it out.

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
I did not include raising the cooking temp 25F for 3 hours in my list of things that could have gone wrong.  I agree.  This should have hardly any impact.  But what about overcooking the butt and taking it to 213F IT.  Has anyone else done this?  If they have and the results were ok, then the only variable left is the salt. 

Whoa!!! All this back and forth and...Here is your answer!!! To get to an IT of 213F the BULK of the outer 3", especially the Money Muscle, had to be over 220°F. You Boiled all the water out of 30-40% of the meat. While fat and collagen/gelatin contributes a great deal to a moist Mouth Feel, you still want water trapped in the Protein...Think of meat muscle fibers as small Water Balloons.. Heat the water over 212°F and POP! 

I don't Brine Butts...But Poultry and lean Pork cuts, ALWAYS. I tried Dry Brine and all I got was overly Salty meat, It was slightly more Tender but I felt the difference in my Blood Pressure. I have been using my Brine ratio of 1/2C Morton Kosher to 1 Gallon Water, plus appropriate flavorings, over 25 years and I don't care what some article says...You can taste the Herbs and Spices in the Meat and nothing is ever too salty. 

Rest the meat...Absolutely! But 30 minutes on the counter is just as good as 1-2 hours in a Cooler, unless the meats done and guest are running late. Y'all think all them NC Whole Hog boys got Jumbo Foil and 8 Foot Coolers??? Heck no! The Piggy comes from the Smoker, Cools until it can be Picked and they Pull it...Good luck with the next one and watch the IT...JJ

 

[floridasteve]

Jimmy -- I keep hearing about the money muscle, but have never been able to recognize it. Where is it, and how do I identify it?

 

[jcollins]

Jimmy -- I keep hearing about the money muscle, but have never been able to recognize it. Where is it, and how do I identify it?

I am interested in the answer to this as well

 

[Bearcarver]

The "Money Muscle" on a Pork Butt is the chunk of Meat on the end, opposite the Bone (Horn):



 

 

[jcollins]

 
The "Money Muscle" on a Pork Butt is the chunk of Meat on the end, opposite the Bone (Horn):



 

Thanks Bear, Should one separate this "Money Muscle" and cook it a different way? Or just leave it be?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Thanks Bear, Should one separate this "Money Muscle" and cook it a different way? Or just leave it be?

I just leave it together, unless you want to enter it in some Comp. Then I'd still do it together, but I'd use that for your entry. But that's me.

JJ might do something else, but he's the Chef---I'm just a Bear.

Bear

 

[jcollins]

 
I just leave it together, unless you want to enter it in some Comp. Then I'd still do it together, but use that for your entry. But that's me.

Bear

Oh  no no no i dont compete...just eat. i just wasnt sure if it was common to remove it or not i never have...

 

[chef jimmyj]

Thanks for the great photo Bear! I don't compete either. I smoke Butts whole, rest, then pull the whole deal. If I was to compete, I would cook the Butt, remove and slice the Money Muscle then pull the balance of the Butt. This is a common practice in competitions. The Butt is made up of a few different muscles. Some are lean and can be a little dry. Others are fattier and more juicy.The Money Muscle is a portion of the butt that is very well marbled, has a lot of fine connective tissue, that easily converts to gelatin, making it super juicy, and when sliced is Butter Tender...JJ

 

[catavalon21]

Many folks have had great success with butts anywhere from 225 to 275, so I don't personally believe going from 225 to 250 made a difference by itself in toughness.  That said, I agree that it was on the heat way too long for the chunk of meat you had.  As far as checking the thermometers, especially in the range of where you're smoking, it's not too hard - boil a pan of water, and stick the probe into it.  You will be within a few degrees of 212, whether the water's distilled or tap. 

If you're not at sea level, you'll have to compensate for the lower boiling temperatures at higher altitudes.