Dry pork
 

I cooked my first pork butt today on the uds and It was kinda dry... I didn't trim it much. Pulled and foiled when it got to 200. I let it rest for an hour. Tasted great but dry... Any suggestions?

You cant go by the temp it has to probe without effort, no matter the temp its at. Was it easy to pull?

Not really... Had it on for 6 hrs. And There wasn't really any fat when I was pulling it.

Every butt is different, but so is the smoker, etc.

It probably would've been slightly more moist with another hour on the rest (in the foil).

I've had this happen before when I was smoking too low and too slow, but you said 6 hours, so I'm thinking your cooking temps were around the 300 mark, yes? Perhaps too high? I dont know.

Another approach would be to foil mid-cook.

:clap2:This. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^




Absolute key to good butts, brisket, chuck roasts, shoulders..........

Something's not adding up for me. I've never had a butt got to 200F IT in 6 hours. Maybe it was a small butt? UDS temp was really high? Maybe it wasn't a butt at all? Just trying to help you figure it out. Cheers!!!

BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS


YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 160 in the breast.

There is a method to this madness once the collagen has broken down the meat looses it's grip on the bone. Moist & delicious Pork is the result.

It was just under 4lb... Also not to sure how good the therm is.... I guess I should of left it on longer.

That makes more sense now. That's a pretty small butt. You can use a temp probe to give yourself an idea on how the meat is progressing but once a butt hits 180F (for me anyway) I start checking the bone wiggle at about every 5 degree increment. After a while it will be like riding a bike. Cheers!!!

Under 4 lbs? Piglet or boneless?

Haha.... It had a bone. And pulled right out after the hour in the foil.

The bone pulled out with ease? Did the meat pull easily, like falling apart?

The stores around here will cut a butt in half to portion it out and charge a higher price for the extra processing. Next time look for a cryovac bone in butt in the 7.5 to 10 lb range. After cooking, you will lose close to half of the weight, so it's not as much meat as you think.

If it didn't pull easily, it wasn't quite done. They turn to mush when overdone, and don't pull easily when underdone. The bone is the built in thermometer. When bone wiggles freely, and almost wants to fall out, it's done. And don't forget to rest for at least an hour before serving, I prefer 2-4 hour rest myself.

The only meat with a built in pop out timer. When the bone pulls out clean...she's done!

I cooked 4 butts on two different cookers Saturday. Longest butt took 4 hours. I think the smallest butt was 6 lbs after trimming, biggest over 8.

None was dry.