Little help for a new guy (sorry, it's kinda long)

So...I don't have a probe thermometer, and have just been rolling with the stock thermometer right around the D in IDEAL. It's been on about 5.5 hours and is super tender when I probe and my instant read is showing 195 internal temp already. Did I kill it? What should I do at this point? Move it to the oven? Stop cooking and rest it? Just keep going?

For what it's worth, it looks delicious...

Update - moved it to the oven, wrapped. Holding it there now. Any thoughts how long to keep it in the oven. Also, since it's going to be done earlier than planned, what's the best way to either keep it warm or reheat for dinner time? Keep it whole til then, or pull it and then reheat? Thanks in advance for any help!

dadsr4 said:

Wrap it in old towels and put it in a cooler. It will stay hot till it's time to pull.

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Okay, so out of the oven now and just rest it in a cooler til dinner time?

chicagokp said:

Yup, you can bunch up a bunch of newspaper in the cooler, then wrap the butt in foil, then in a few towels. You want to fill up the volume as best you can. It will stay hot for 4-6 hours without worry.

Your bark is pretty dark, that may be from using a lot of sugar in the rub. Depending on how that tastes, you may want to adjust in the future. A great way to cook a butt is just seasoned with salt and pepper.

Great first go at it! :thumb:

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Thanks!

Will get it wrapped up and into a cooler. Will take some photos once I pull it. You've all been very helpful - thanks so much!

Well, it turned out pretty awesome despite the bumps along the way. The final cook time was almost 6 hours on the smoker, then wrapped in foil a healthy splash of worchestershire and cider vinegar. After wrapping, it spent about 1.5 hours in the oven at 275 while I tried to figure out what to do next since it was done so early (and got some great tips from you guys!). Finally, still wrapped in the foil, I wrapped the butt in two t-shirts and rested it in a styrofoam meat shipping cooler surrounded by crumpled up newspaper. I preheated the cooler with a measuring cup of steaming water for a few minutes (it was cold from being in the garage), and then weighed the top of the cooler down with an iron skillet to keep it from popping off.



The bark was pretty dark, but actually tasted great. Perhaps the coffee in the rub contributed to the darker color.



The meat was tender and juicy, loaded with smokey flavor, a little kick from the rub and a little tang from the vinegar.




I served it with some kaiser rolls and my two favorite local bbq sauces. However, it tasted great without any sauce, too. The vinegar sauce is from a local BBQ place, and it's the best vinegar sauce I've ever had. The other is a unique, sweeter sauce with a bit of allspice from a place I used to eat a lot as a little kid - lots of nostalgia, and a pretty interesting flavor. (There's no photos of the sandwiches...I...uh...well, I was hungry...)



Overall, it was a little stressful with the meat hitting 195+ so quickly, but the end result was pretty much as good as I could have hoped for on my first try. Everyone loved it, including my 2 year old son. I'm sure I'll get better, and once I get my hands on a decent thermometer and work out a damper for the airflow, I'll be doing great. I suppose it was a blessing that the meat cooked a little faster, though, since the snow started right back up almost as soon as I wrapped up...



Thanks for all the help - I will definitely plan to be a regular around here. I've already got requests for more pulled pork, as well as some spare ribs and my dad is hoping I'll smoke some salmon for his birthday. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thanks for all the kind words - I had a little cold pork when I got up this morning, and it was delicious right out of the fridge, too. (And another sandwich for lunch...stacked with some pickles and slaw...)

Definitely looking into a maverick - any thoughts on the 732 vs the 733? Is the 733 just an update? Or does it have any improvements over the 732? Prices are pretty comparable in amazon depending on the vendor, so I could go either way...

One last post on my first thread... I did a full write-up of my first cook on my blog, and I included a link back to this amazing forum. If anyone wants any more pictures of pork or a smoker puffing away in the smoke, here it is:

Eats For All Ages

Can't wait for cook number two...