What is your favorite way to BBQ a Pork Butt in your 22.5" Weber Kettle?

bbqgeekess said:
Ok gonna do the pork butt this way, with money muscle on the most indirect side, thanks.

I can already produce very juicy tasty pork butts on my Mini WSM, but I figure it'd be fun to try everything on the kettle, just to say I can do it :p Who knows I might need to make use of the kettle in an emergency as a backup cooker or to augment a large cook (say for a party).
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You might be surprised how much heat radiates right of that "cold side" right on to your money muscle. (or you might not!) Just be careful it is not too close to the edge and lid.
 
Here is a photo of a small butt I cooked.
Butt_zps283c9d9c.jpg

There is a drip pan in the middle with charcoal ringed around it. At around 9:15 o'clock you can see a piece of brick used as a separator. On top of the drip pan, I put a large pie pan as a diffuser, with a hole in the middle for the juices to pass through. About 15 coals next to the brick, and it burns for a long time. Temp is controlled by using the bottom vents. The picture was taken at around 4 hours.
There were still coals left when I removed the meat.
 
Look at the pics of that Big Booty I posted the only thing you need to roate is the exhaust vent every few hrs
 
Geekess, I agree the snake or fuse method is the way to go here. Realize that only ten or so pieces of charcoal are lit at any one time. You also don't have to put the butt in the middle of the grill grate. You could put the butt on the grate opposite of the currently lit coals and then rotate the grate when the coals start making their way around towards the butt.

Hope that helps...
 
THoey1963 said:
Geekess, I agree the snake or fuse method is the way to go here. Realize that only ten or so pieces of charcoal are lit at any one time. You also don't have to put the butt in the middle of the grill grate. You could put the butt on the grate opposite of the currently lit coals and then rotate the grate when the coals start making their way around towards the butt.

Hope that helps...
Click to expand...

Oh, nice idea! Someone said I shouldn't open the lid though.. is it okay to open 4 times, briefly during a 6 hour cook?
 
I use the smokenator. It works great, but fire bricks on their side should be about the same thing. I can do ribs without adding fuel, but for a butt you will have to add some fuel every now and then. When I approach 200 I pinch the intake back to nearly closed. I can maintain 225 to 275 pretty easy. Top vents 3/4 open because I have a thermometer in one of the holes or I would run wide open.
 

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bbqgeekess said:
Oh, nice idea! Someone said I shouldn't open the lid though.. is it okay to open 4 times, briefly during a 6 hour cook?
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Someone with more experience may disagree, but I am pretty sure it will be fine as long as you are ready to do what you need to do and get it closed again as soon as possible. You might seea drop and then spike in temperature, but it should level back out soon.

If you put the butt over the tail (unlit) end of the snake, you might only need to open it once half way through.
 
I'm new here, but I've done about 20 or so butts and picnics on my 1992 Red Performer. I use a home made Smokenator most of the time but I started with fire bricks. Either way I put a water pan on top of the fire and a large drip pan under the meat. Top vent is open about the width of a pencil. Bottom vents are open maybe a quarter of the way. I use Stubs briqs (no lump...too hot) Apple chunks for the first two hours. I usually rotate the meat 90 degrees every couple of hours. Monitor the cooker and meat with the Mav 732. My performer holds at 225 at the grate for about six hours and then I add about twenty unlit coals when the temp starts to drop. I did an 8 lb picnic last Saturday for eleven hours just this way. Don't chase the temps. Let it settle down and if it's too hot close the bottom vents a bit. If it's too cool open them up. I never touch the top vent. Not chasing the temp was the hardest lesson for me when I started smoking. My results have been outstanding. I do St Louis ribs the same way, but a much shorter cook. I used to foil, but not anymore.
 
bbqgeekess said:
Oh, nice idea! Someone said I shouldn't open the lid though.. is it okay to open 4 times, briefly during a 6 hour cook?
Click to expand...
I have done a lot of larger pieces of meat with the coals banked on one side. It's only necessary to open the lid once around half way through the cook to rotate the meat. If you can grab it with tongs or a gloved hand, it only takes a moment.
 
bbqgeekess said:
Thanks, so do you rotate your pork butt at least once during the cook? Because it seems like there would be a lot of direct heat around 3 sides of it and the back side (away from the coals) wouldn't be as well cooked.
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I dont move the meat at all. The only thing that moves is the lid (check it every couple of hours to move it to the opposite side of the fire). The fire also moves but it goes really slowly all the way around.
 
sliding_billy said:
You have a couple of options using a ring. You can do a partial ring leaving a gap at the end where you would position the end of the ribs or even two crescent moons (light each separately of course) so that there is a gap on each side. It is kind of like two small banks but with a more controlled burn. I sometimes like to cut off the end ribs and cook them separately (chef's snacks). The end ones tend to cook too quickly anyways, so it is easier to just get them out of the way at the beginning. Using a rib rack, you should have room to put those 8 small ribs flat on the sides of the rack.
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Thanks for the info. Looks like a good way to use a kettle for indirect cooking.
 
More often than not, here is what I do.

1. Place a large cast iron skilled in the middle of the fire grate. You want at least 3" clear around the entire pan. 4" is better.

2. Place a layer of briquettes, currently I use Stubbs, but, any kind works. This layer should be a roughly even layer around almost the entire kettle. I like to leave a gap of a couple of inches. Then I place either lump or briquettes, or a mixture, which is most common for me these days. I will mix in small chunks of wood, about 2x3x3 in size. one every 4 to 6 inches. I pile the charcoal up as much as possible without falling into the pan.

3. Fill the cast iron pan with water, I feel this makes a difference in the texture of both the meat and the bark. I am of the belief that a moist cooking environment early in the cook is important.

4. Dump 8 to 10 fully lit briquettes on one end of the charcoal ring, set lower grate on One-Touch system to about the opening of e pencil width. Cover with upper vent open. Let sit for one hour.

5. Cook.
 
I have this 16" perf pizza pan I am thinking about wiring to the bottom of the cooking grate and using it with a snake method. That should make it a lot more indirect no? Looks like landarc is doing that with his snake fuse method with the cast iron pan.
 
I only bank 3/4 chimney, throw dry chunks on top
(I've used Mesquite. Lotta flavor)
The pile of coals to the left, the meat to the right.
I can do 2 6 lb boneless butts, and some jalapenoes
floating around. I only rotate, not flip the meat, fat cap up.
Add 1/3 chimney every hour then less and less (hinged grate is great.)
2 bottom vents closed, under the coals is 1/4 open, depends.
Top vent is over the meat. 3 hours including spray mop, foil and 1 1/2
2 hours (no more) 250 ish. I really could experiment more.
 
I got all manner of ways to cook, I just did a 4 pound butt,

startup_zps493d92b9.jpg


and you can see, all I did was loosely pile the briquettes on one side of the kettle and the meat on the other, piece of foil to diffuse a little of the direct heat. You can open the lid all you want, just remember that every time you do, you are affecting your cook time and control. The kettle is a small cooker, and holds no thermal mass other than what you add, hence my use of cast iron. So each time you open it, you will be cooking at a lower temperature for 15 minutes or so.

Also, to get the best control, and you can learn to control heat on a kettle very precisely, is to block off any part of the fire grate that is not being used for charcoal. That forces air to pass through the heated area, and creates a cleaner burn.
 
la your butt looks like it has promise.
Is that a Weber 22 1/2 seems like it's HUGE!

hence my use of cast iron.
Click to expand...
I agree, is that why some guys use a tray of sand?
I might like firebrick.
 
I like to pile coals on the side Sometimes using bricks as a divider. I just add coals if the they run low. I use a folded piece of aluminum as a heat diffuser. I put a water bowl under the food to lower temp some, over the fire to lower it more. Don't be afraid to choke the top vent halfway if the temp drifts.

The ring sound interesting. I've never done it because what I do gas always worked for me. I may try it.
 
mchar69 said:
la your butt looks like it has promise.
Is that a Weber 22 1/2 seems like it's HUGE!


I agree, is that why some guys use a tray of sand?
I might like firebrick.
Click to expand...
No, a 22.5 kettle, my butt is slender, but, thanks for looking :becky:

Sand offers an easy clean up and better mass, but, I don't like it as in a kettle I think the added water improves the cook. Also, as the cook proceeds, the water evaporates off and the second half of the cook has the meat juices and fat hitting the hot cast iron, adding flavor.
 
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