Should of done my research on pork butt! HELP
 

So i have really been enjoying the world of Q. Been smoking small things ribs, poppers, smoked beans ect. Well Wednesday I get a wild hair up my butt and decide i am going to smoke a pork butt...... Go to the local grocery store buy a nice big 11lbs pork butt. Bring it home put a nice dry rub on it last night and let it sit in the fridge. Well today I was bored at work and thought i would look up cooking tips and tricks and i am afraid i may have opened a can of worms. what would be a good cook time and tricks tips and tricks you guys can give me before i butcher tomorrows dinner !!!!

Pork Butt is The EASIEST but can take the longest.
275-300* for 8-10 -12 hrs on a 11 lb Butt - cut it in half and it'll shorten time by a cpl hrs. It's not something you cook after work.

If you want Pulled a Pork cook it till the bones wiggles like a kids loose tooth or till probes like probing pudding, Internal Temps around 200* -210*- let it rest 1 hr then pull or shred it.

It's done cooked - safe to eat wise by 165* ish IT and Good Sliced or Chunked pulled at IT of 170-180* 'a - let it rest. 30 minutes to 1 hr before cutting.

What type smoker and what temps are you used to running?

i hope so ill post some pictures of the results i am pretty excited!

Try smoking a Meatloaf for week nite Dinners - 2-2.5 hrs. :mrgreen:

Start early to allow plenty of time and if you can't get through the stall then foil it after 5 or 6 hours. Trimming the fat cap down will also reduce cooking time

I am Running an old ugly gas grill that i converted to a smoker. Drilled some uggly holes and put plugs in them for baffles cooks at 275 pretty evenly for 4 hours (ribs) but i dont know how she will behave with a cook this long. Will be watching the temp like a hawk for sure

I actually prefer to take it off with IT of 185-190* and rest it one hour then chop n dice it vs Pulled.


Order yourself a PBC. :mrgreen:

https://pitbarrelcooker.com

Pork butt is almost impossible to mess up.

Step one, breathe... :)

I cook butts at 250 for about 10-11 hours, until it hits 195F internal temperature. I've cooked them as low as 200F (takes about 24 hours to hit 195) and as high as 325F. The last one I did, my pit ran cool overnight, dropped from 275 to about 230, so I had to finish it in the oven at 325 for a couple hours. Still turned out just fine, even with a huge temp swing.

Don't sweat it, you'll be fine. Just cook it until it's done--either start early in the morning and expect it in the evening, or cook overnight. In either case, just let it rest wrapped in foil for at least an hour before trying to pull it so the juices will all redistribute properly. You can hold a cooked butt in a cooler with towels practically all day, so it's ok if it's done early.

Is it setup indirect?

Cool thing about butts is that they are very forgiving and won't be offended if your temp swings from 225 to 300. They'll just sit there happily and cook away.

You will probably hit a bit of a stall around the 160 mark. If/when it happens, there are a number of options:

-Leave it alone and drink more beer.
-Wrap in foil and put back in the smoker or in the oven
-Kick the heat up to power through the stall
-Some combination of the above.

There's no shortage of opinions as to which is the best way to do it :-D

may choose the drink more beer option that sounds nice :D
if any of you are in the wyoming area tomorrow you can stop by and smoke with me i am doing some smoked poppers and smoked beans with bacon on top because bacon :D and the heat source is indirect kind of i have one quarter or the grill off to the side for the coals and a foil shield so stuff close to it dosent get blasted so bad

These folks are not kidding when they say it is easy. I have been afraid to try one for a while now and gave a 10lb butt a go the other day and man was it good! My old leaky UDS steamed along between 275 and 300 most of the day give or take and it was just good as can be. When they say a pork butt is real forgiving, trust in that statement.

Relax, plan enough time and toss that baby on! You won't regret it. And most of all, don't try and over think it like I did. Put it on and it will do the rest.

Take care and please let us know how it goes.

My last one that size took 7 1/2 hours @ just less than 300* and never take more than 8 ish. Put the lid on/ close the door and don't open it until it reaches temp, then check for probe tender. For me i take it to around 195IT and start probing.

One other thing to note is that it's perfectly acceptable to have your butt finish hours and hours before the planned dinner time. Actually, it's desirable for this to happen. When the butt passes the bone pull or the probe test, take it off the grill, wrap it in foil and let it sit for a couple of hours before pulling.

If it's done WAY early, do the same thing, but put it in towel lined cooler for the rest period. Butts will hold for over 6 hours this way.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm in the same boat as Donnielehmkuhl. I've smoked fish on my Bradley digital smoker, but that's it (bought the smoker late last year). With this in mind, I'll be smoking two pork butts this weekend (one for slicing and one for pulled pork), so I'm anxious to use your input. =)