I need a bit of BUTT advice....

[cayenne]

Howdy!!

Ok, first pork shoulder (butt) in the BGE.

I've been about 250F - 275F for about 6 hours give or take.

It is just now starting to look nice..there is a glaze to it with the mango marinade and mop I've done today.

It is internal about 160F according to the Thermopen.

Now...trying to decide next.

What is the recommended final temp. I want this thing to fall apart...a crispy bark isn't that high of a concern, I want it to fall apart tender when pulling it.

Do I wrap it now...or wait till what temp?
After wrapping....what is final temp to pull it off the grill?

Thanks in advance!!!

cayenne

 

[Ron_L]

Forget about final temp. Each butt is unique and will be done at a different temp. Look for your probe to go in with little resistance, and it if has a bone the bone will wiggle freely.

As far as foil, that's up to you. I foil based on the bark color, not a specific temp. When the bark it the color that you like, wrap it.

Foiling will speed up the cook, but will also soften your bark.

 

[landarc]

Does it have the color and bark character that you want? If so, then time to wrap it. Then let it cook until it is tender. There is no internal temperature, although it is a good bet that the IT temperature when it is done will be between 195°F and 225°F, which is a large range, but, typical for pork butt.

I recommend that after you wrap it, the best way is to poke through the foil after 190°F until it probes with no resistance. Then open foil (carefully!) and see if it pulls.

 

[cayenne]

Forget about final temp. Each butt is unique and will be done at a different temp. Look for your probe to go in with little resistance, and it if has a bone the bone will wiggle freely.

As far as foil, that's up to you. I foil based on the bark color, not a specific temp. When the bark it the color that you like, wrap it.

Foiling will speed up the cook, but will also soften your bark.

Hm....ok, thanks.

I'm not as concerned with crispy bark so much as the fall apart texture of the meat when I shred it.....and in the past I've done this according to temperature.

I just can't remember what those temps were.

And the tequila infused sangria I'm sipping on all day...isn't helping matters of the memory any.



Thanks!

cayenne

 

[landarc]

More than likely, you will be fine if you pull around 210°F internal.

But, over the course of many butts, feel over IT is gonna be right.

 

[smokingkettle]

I did one last week around 203 IT and it pulled apart perfectly. That being said, next time I'm going to try the bone trick as that is a better indicator.

 

[LMAJ]

Ron_L and landmark have pointed you in the right direction.

 

[jbounds286]

It is just now starting to look nice..there is a glaze to it with the mango marinade and mop I've done today.

mango marinade? omg that sounds good...ive been doing jams the last hour on top lately(foil covered pan) so that sounds blisssful!

usually when im probing for doneness i think the IT is somewhere around 215 or so lately...ive never gotten the feel of how the bone is supposed to be but ive nailed the feel of the probe like buttah thing

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

 

[cayenne]

I did one last week around 203 IT and it pulled apart perfectly. That being said, next time I'm going to try the bone trick as that is a better indicator.

Did you wrap yours for part of the cooking process?
If so..what temp did you wrap it it to take it to just over 200F?

Thanks to all answering this thread...lol, you gotta love cooking advice in "real time"!!


Thanks!!

C

 

[Joe Black]

Cayenne, Wrap it now and add 1/2 cup of apple juice to the foil. The apple juice will not alter the flavor of your mango mop, but will help with moisture. The acid in the juice will also assist with tenderness. Folks have given you pull temps from 195* and up. I usually take mine to 200-205*. Only practice will give you a personal feel for what you like.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Joe

 

[Trunks]

If I had to go by a temp to take off and rest its 205 internal , now that's if I had to only use temp but 205 for me does seem to be the average internal temp when I pull

 

[cayenne]

Good...

Ok, just chiming in here for a Post Mortem.


It was running late...so, I wrapped in foil when it hit about 165F roughly. I poured in the last of the marinade and sealed it up.

I put back in the BGE...and raised the heat to about 300F.

I did this for about an hour....maybe more.

Temp came up to about 202F-205F depending on where I stuck the probe.

Now, at this point, I'd have usually thrown the thing still foiled into an ice chest lined with towels and let it just sit all night and pull it this morning.

But I was starving...so, I brought it in, left foiled for about 40min..then undid it...and started pulling it.

Flavor...very good. Smoke....not very smoky at all. And while it was fairly easily shredded...it wasn't as fall apart as I've done in the past, and this, I think was due to having to rush it a bit at the end.

So, with all that said....good eats this week!! Flavor was good. I'll get the thing started earlier in the morning.

And after awhile I'm gonna go out and see how the coals burned with regard to my placement of the wood. I'd used mesquite wood chunks (only ones I could find, I usually do hickory on pork and mesquite on brisket)....and I only really saw or smelled much smoke at all from the cooker, at lighting....and while dialing in the temp. It seems once I got the roast on, I never much sensed the smoke.

Of course as soon as I wrapped the meat and cranked the heat up about 25-50F more degrees....the nice smoky mesquite was then apparent and easily smelled in the air.

*sigh*.

OH well, this is my first go around, and I'm just gonna have to learn all the factors....wood placement, best way to light the coals (first time I tried just center, yesterday at three places on the edge of the firebox)....etc.

I've gotten pretty good at getting the temp dialed in for low and slow...but I gotta figure how to get more SMOKE out of it....I really could barely taste any smoke on the pork shoulder at all...and didn't see a smoke ring really at all.

I'll get it down soon tho!!! Thank goodness this weekend is labor day....lots of cooking to do!!

Thanks to all!!

Cayenne

 

[jbounds286]

well at least u didnt oversmoke it and sounds like ur fire ran pretty cleanly, so that is at least one success u can count!

maybe next time u can try foiling later or adding more wood to start?

 

[ButtBurner]

If I am cooking on my Akorn and sense that the wood chunks aren't burning I will take a long thin screwdriver and stir the coals around just a but though the grates.

That usually gets the smoke going

 

[cheeaa]

For more smoke flavor, try the wood tower thing I mentioned in the other thread you made. What I do is fill the egg up with lump, burrow a hole in the middle, put like 5 or 6 fist sized wood chunks there in a pile (from the bottom grate to the top of the charcoal) then move the lump back to surround the wood chunks. You basically have a tower of wood in the middle of the charcoal load. Then I fill maybe a 1/4 or 1/3 of a chimney with lump, when it gets nice and hot, dump this right on top of the wood tower. Let this smolder for a maybe 10 minutes or so to get hot, close the egg up, wait for the thing to come up to temp, throw the meat on and let it go.

With this method, I've been getting way more smoke flavor than when I would just randomly place wood throughout the charcoal.

 

[cayenne]

For more smoke flavor, try the wood tower thing I mentioned in the other thread you made. What I do is fill the egg up with lump, burrow a hole in the middle, put like 5 or 6 fist sized wood chunks there in a pile (from the bottom grate to the top of the charcoal) then move the lump back to surround the wood chunks. You basically have a tower of wood in the middle of the charcoal load. Then I fill maybe a 1/4 or 1/3 of a chimney with lump, when it gets nice and hot, dump this right on top of the wood tower. Let this smolder for a maybe 10 minutes or so to get hot, close the egg up, wait for the thing to come up to temp, throw the meat on and let it go.

With this method, I've been getting way more smoke flavor than when I would just randomly place wood throughout the charcoal.

Ok, thanks.

I actually did try something similar..I made somewhat of a tower, but likely not as filled as yours...as well as scattered chunks throughout the rest of the lump.

But hey, this is gonna be trial and error as I learn to cook with this thing.

Thanks for all the great advice and help!!

C

 

[BIL'S BBQ]

I foiled my first shoulder around 180 when it stalled, took off smoker at 203-205, placed in cooler for about an 1-1.5 hour car ride, then pulled the meat when we got to our destination. excellent!

I foiled my second shoulder around 165, took off smoker at 205, placed in cooler for 15-20 minutes, then pulled the meat. I was rushing this midweek cook, and this one didn't turn out as tender as the first, although both bones pulled clean.

only time will tell but from my very limited experience I think foiling later and/or resting longer is was really made the first one great!

im going to test my theory this weekend, although its going to be on a different cooker...

 

[ugaalf]

I cooked a butt this past weekend and the bone was pull out loose at 210 degrees, took it out wrapped in a towel and placed in a cooler for about 70 minutes. The meat was still so hot that I had a hard time pulling it even with plastic gloves. Probably need to let it rest for another hour next time.