Save my Butt!

allsmokenofire · Posted: Sun Sep 11 05 10:27 pm Post subject:

I'd err on the side of farther away, especially if you have a big hot spot near the firebox. You'll be cooking the butt for about 1.5-2 hrs/lb. so you don't want the outside to get to charred by being too close to the firebox.

Good Luck!!
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Capt Ajax · Posted: Mon Sep 12 05 4:45 am Post subject:

I have a Lang, so the heat travels under the cooking area, comes out on the opposite side of the smoker than the firebox, then travels back over the meat to the smokestack.

The thermo I use has two probes. One for the meat and one that can be placed anywhere in the smoker chamber and give me an accurate reading right were the meat is sitting. I got it online and am not sure of the brand name, I'll check and post it next time I am on. However, it comes with a cordless receiver so you can mow your yard or whatever, and know where your at tempwise. I can take a dump, Kiss my woman, or watch "Mail Call" on the History Channel without making the Gunny mad.....NOW THAT'S SERIOUS EQUIPMENT OOOORRRRAAAA!
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Alien BBQ · Posted: Mon Sep 12 05 5:36 am Post subject:

Calamec,

First thing…. No good conversation ever started with “the salesman said, or according to the equipment rep”. The inlet is the coarse fire adjustment and the smokestack is the fine. Make all of you major adjustments in maintaining a small controllable fire with the sir inlet. Fine tune the temp with the smokestack. I wrote you two pages on this last night but before I could submit it the computer hiccupped and it was lost. Check out the post on fire management for more detail and photos. Basically more air= hotter fire, less air= cooler fire.
The probe goes next to the meat on the rack for the first 4 hours. Compare what the probe says and whet you cooker gauge says and remember the difference. After 4 hours, stick the probe in the thickest part of the meat but not next to the bone. Monitor the probe till the magic 190 degree number and use your cooker gauge + or – the differences. Use the cooker guage to monitor the cooker temp. Move your meat to the spot in the cooker most likely to maintain 225 degrees. There are a couple of mods to the SNP to make it cook great. If you want to know them just post a question.
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Capt Ajax · Posted: Mon Sep 12 05 6:04 am Post subject:

Thanks for the advice, I'm doing the second Butt in a couple of days, I'm heading to the market tomorrow to get suplies. I'll let you know how the Orange Butt comes out!
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calamec · Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 14

Since I have never done a butt, what do I ask my butcher for? According to some, butchers do not know what a Boston butt is?

Alien BBQ · Posted: Tue Sep 13 05 10:59 pm Post subject:

Just ask the butcher if he can tell the difference between a butt and a hole in the ground. (That one is for roxy). Seriously, just ask but specify that you do not want a shoulder or a picnic. It should be a well marbled piece of pork about 5-9 lbs with a blade bone in it.
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roxy · Posted: Wed Sep 14 05 6:03 am Post subject:

Dang Alien, I was going to cut and paste that bit of sauce from the other thread but you beat me to it.. Wink

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MWRoper · Joined: 16 Oct 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Virginia

If anyone is still looking at this thread, I had a bit of a butt problem too. I had a 6.5 lb butt and it was on smoker for almost 11 hours. Internal temp never got above 164F. The smoker temp was kept around 250 and I used what to me was a cubic butt ton of wood/charcoal. I pulled it off the smoker and put in the oven until it got an internal temp of 190F. The was the first time I have tried a butt. Also I have a new smoker, got a New Bruansfeild upgraded from an ECB. The ECB made good Q (brisket, ribs, chicken, etc) but was almost impossible to control the temp. Guess I'm just looking for some tips/advice/ and what did I do wrong? Maybe I wasn't patient enough? Looking forward to learning more.

Doc1680 · Posted: Sun Oct 16 05 9:55 am Post subject:

That amount of time for that size butt to reach just 164* sounds strange. Confused

I do 8-9 lb. butts and they've only taken 12 hrs not counting resting time. With that said, a butt will hover around 160-165 for a while. You have to be patient. The last one I did seemed to hang at 163 for about 1-2 hrs. So maybe you just should have let it go for a while. Every smoker is different. So, although it sounds strange to me, that might just be your smoker.

OH!!! I just remembered something. Did you mop or spritz? The very first butt I did I spritzed it every half hr. Embarassed

(newbie) When it hit 160, it sat there for 3 hrs!!! Of course I had over saturated it and it had to dry out a little. I didn't spritz the rest of the time and it finally hit 195* after about 15 hrs. Man it was good but I don't want to cook anything that long again. Not till I do a brisket at least.
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MWRoper · Joined: 16 Oct 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Virginia

I didn't mop or spritz this time. It may be my inexperience with this new smoker. I was very careful to keep the lid closed and maintain the heat. I suspect it was just a lack of patience on my part. Since this is the first time I've used the smoker I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't have the digital in the meat for the about 3 or 4 hours and when I put it in the temp was about 141. Kind of suprised me that it was that hot already but then it really slowed down big time. I might have closed things down too much and it just took for ever to recover. I'll have to play around with it some more. With the ECB, I made some extensive modifications but it was really hard to control the temp, would spike up very easy and the meat got up to temp very quickly, not the same for this smoker that's for sure. In any case putting it in the oven for a bit to bring the internal temp up to 200 didn't hurt it. I couldn't get the bone to slide out like they do on TV but it did fall apart pretty easy and tasted great. I appreciate your advice

Mike

Capt Ajax · Posted: Mon Oct 17 05 11:15 pm Post subject:

HOLY COW MAN Shocked

I have done 3 Butts.........all about 9lbs, all went 13 hours and I could never get the temp over 180. I was also cooking Brisket, and ribs and was "spritzing" them the whole time? I just now realized that doing that to the shoulder would cool it off too much and increase the cooking time.

NOW I KNOW Cool

They all came out good, but I was not able to pull out the bone like on TV. I am doing another big BBQ this weekend, so I'll make that adjustment and see if it works!

Also: MWROPER,
I got my Lang Smoker back in July. After using it a few times, I realized that the temp on the "Tru-Tell" was always a little hotter that the temp on the food's level. This varried from 20 to 50 degrees depending on the fire / raw heat ratio. You might want to be sure the temp on the food's level is the same as what your thermo is reading. Just an idea.
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roxy · Posted: Tue Oct 18 05 3:25 am Post subject:

The last couple of butts I have done I didnt spray as there is enough fat to keep things moist and I didnt even lift the lid for 4 hours or more, just add more charcoal and wood as needed. Every time you lift the lid you loose almost all the temp and that adds a ton of time to the cooking process.

Resist the urge to peek, the meat aint going anywhere... Wink

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sledgehammer03 · Posted: Tue Oct 18 05 4:11 am Post subject:

Also, the closer the meat temp gets to the cooker temp, the slower it increase. There will also be delays as fat metls etc, remember back to high school chem, and phase changes Rolling Eyes

Capt Ajax · Posted: Tue Oct 18 05 9:30 pm Post subject:

Good advice!

I believe my problem both times is that I had chickens, ribs, sausage and a brisket all going at once, so I was lifting the lid to spray down the ribs......and eventualy wrap them, and the brisket........and you know those chickens need some TLC.

Not only was I spaying the butts, I was leting the heat escape as well. No wonder i was cooking for so long and could not hit the 190 to 200-degree mark.
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allsmokenofire · Posted: Wed Oct 19 05 12:46 am Post subject:

Capt Ajax · Posted: Tue Jun 20 06 3:12 am Post subject:

OK....I just finished my first BBQ competition. I placed in other catagories, but got my "BUTT" handed to me in pulled pork Crying or Very sad

I did sale about 2 cooked boston butts worth of sandwiches so I made my money back. I quit reading internal temps and rely totaly on time and smoker temp. The texture of the butts if perfect....I just need some more taste in there. Here is what I am injecting it with:

Apple Cider Vinigar
Applae Cider
George Dickle Whisky
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Crushed telecherry pepper
Hickory salt

It's not really bland and does have a great smoked taste. I just think I'm, missing something......any ideas?
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Smokin Bill · Newbie Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 39

MWRoper · Joined: 16 Oct 2005 Posts: 8 Location: Virginia

Now I know where I made my mistakes, however I'm injecting a few more variables so who know where this will end up. In my enthusiam I've told the nieghbors I'll be smoking (they so figured it out last time as soon as they smelled the pecan smoking away....)so if they want to bring something over... the fee is one six pack. So now I've got two briskets along with my shoulder. What do I need to watch out for before I get screw this up too.

allsmokenofire · Posted: Sat Sep 09 06 5:21 am Post subject:

Just be patient, pork butt is done when its done. Some cook faster than others but they need to get to 195-200 internal temp to pull nice. When the bone wiggles freely, you're there. It will reach a plateau of around 165 internal temp and hang there for up to several hours. Once you get through that, they will finish up more quickly. Allow for plenty of time because if it gets done early, you can wrap i in foil and hold it in an empty cooler for hours.
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Kansasboy · Newbie Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 71