First Pork Butt on Big Green Egg

[jburch3]

Hi. I'm a new Big Green Egg owner and am also new to BBQ-Brethren. I've been using my BGE on a trial and error basis for the past two weeks. I've overcooked some stuff (a few steaks/chops, a brisket that turned out really good but slightly dry) and I've made some awesome dishes as well (ribs, smoked chicken, a bbq chicken pizza). I'm doing my first pork butt this Saturday, and need some advice.

First off, the butt is about 8.5 pounds and I'm planning on entertaining 12-15 people. Should I smoke two or will one do? Next--should I baste/mop/spray at any point during the cook? A lot of the videos I've seen and blogs I've read recommend not opening the Egg until its time to start checking internal temp (hours and hours). However, on shows like "BBQ PitMasters", cooks periodically baste/mop/spray the butt. What do you all recommend?

My last question (for now) involves prep. Should I brine the meat or not? I plan to use my own rub, coat with yellow mustard, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. I also figured I'd inject with a "Texas Butter" marinade by Stubbs. I used this stuff to baste the ribs I cooked earlier this week halfway through the cook and it was great. Based on what I'm planning to do as far as rub and injection is concerned, is there a need to brine?

Sorry for the very lengthy inaugural post. I promise I won't always be this "long-winded"! Cheers!

[K80Shooter]

My thoughts are: (others may vary)
You need 2 butts. (unless you have plenty of sides to go with them)
I never spray/mop my butts.
Do not brine or inject them, they are very moist without it.
If I use mustard I will apply it first them cover with my rub, others do it the other way around.
Another thought, make sure to cook the butts till they probe like butter, this should happen between 195* and 205* internal temp.

Give yourself plenty of time for them to cook. They will stall around 160* - 175* for a few hours depending on what temp you are cooking them at. The butts will need to rest in foil at least an hour after cooking before they are pulled.

[bigabyte]

No Brine, No spritz, no peeking, two butts.

[jacksedona]

my thoughts

1/2 pound butt per person enough with cole slaw potato salad sides.
do not brine and do not mop-keep the smoker going closed and add water to pan in smoker -thats how i do it . i throw in a waterlogged hickory chunk over the coals-


http://thebarbecuemaster.net

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Originally Posted by bigabyte

No Brine, No spritz, no peeking, two butts.

^^^^^^^ This.

[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by jburch3

Hi. I'm a new Big Green Egg owner and am also new to BBQ-Brethren. I've been using my BGE on a trial and error basis for the past two weeks. I've overcooked some stuff (a few steaks/chops, a brisket that turned out really good but slightly dry) and I've made some awesome dishes as well (ribs, smoked chicken, a bbq chicken pizza). I'm doing my first pork butt this Saturday, and need some advice.

First off, the butt is about 8.5 pounds and I'm planning on entertaining 12-15 people. Should I smoke two or will one do? Next--should I baste/mop/spray at any point during the cook? A lot of the videos I've seen and blogs I've read recommend not opening the Egg until its time to start checking internal temp (hours and hours). However, on shows like "BBQ PitMasters", cooks periodically baste/mop/spray the butt. What do you all recommend?

My last question (for now) involves prep. Should I brine the meat or not? I plan to use my own rub, coat with yellow mustard, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. I also figured I'd inject with a "Texas Butter" marinade by Stubbs. I used this stuff to baste the ribs I cooked earlier this week halfway through the cook and it was great. Based on what I'm planning to do as far as rub and injection is concerned, is there a need to brine?

Sorry for the very lengthy inaugural post. I promise I won't always be this "long-winded"! Cheers!

I agree about cooking two butts. Make sure they have some separation between them for good heat circulation. My Large Egg has a hot spot toward the rear, so I put the big end of the butts facing the rear of the Egg.

I spray mine with apple juice that has some salt and Worcestershire in it after about hour 5 or 6, then again around hour 10. Eggs recover pit temp really fast, so opening the lid for 30 seconds is no big deal.

The more sugar you have in your rub, the darker the bark may get. A sugar based rub combined with the sugars in an apple juice spray could be too much. If you notice them getting too dark, you can tent with foil.

If you are going to inject with Stubbs, no need to brine... In fact, brining would take a very long time due to the thickness of a butt, so most folks don't do it. In lieu of brining I will inject a lite brine solution, which provides moisture and some flavor. But combining a marinade (or some other injection) with a brine can give unpredictable results.

For me, using 7 to 8 pound bone-in butts, I plan on 16 hours of cook time using pit temps of 240° - 260°. Sometimes they are done earlier. I double wrap in foil and hold them in a cooler with wads of newspaper for insulation. They can stay hot for hours this way. I reserve the accumulated foil juices and mix it back into the pork when pulling.

[eggzlot]

I agree with what most said:

do 2 butts- whats wrong with leftovers? Takes the same amount of charcoal to cook one butt vs two, so make two, and worst case, you have left overs for the week.

I have never mopped or spritz a butt while cooking butts on my egg. I have spritz ribs before, never noticed a difference, so I've stopped doing it. Most people who spritz or mop are using steel non insulated smokers which can lose some humidity. The eggs are good at retaining a humid environment while cooking.

expect 90-120 mins per pound, so with 8 lbs, think 12-16 hours, plus you want to let them rest for 2-3 hours.

good luck!

[TheKomoman]

Good advice here all around. I have a Large BGE and I do not spritz. I generally use olive or vegetable oil first, then put my rub on. I have put mustard on just before putting on for smoke, I seem to get slightly better bark, or at least bark in the style I prefer that way.

The stall will TERRIFY you the first time around, it will sit in that 160-170 range for hours and may even back itself up and you will obsess. It's OK, it's normal.. and it's normal even knowing that to still freak out!!! If you're not getting the probe tender/internal temps and you're getting pressed for time you can wrap them in foil with some apple juice, apple cider vinegar and that will help move them along. It will soften up your bark but it will help you power through the stall if you're short on time.

BTW make sure you're getting 225 on the GRATE(in an indirect spot above the plate setter or whatever you're using) and not the dome. The dome may run a bit hotter and you may not have enough heat on the grate if you swear by that dome thermo.

Give yourself TONS of time. They need to rest for at least an hour after they come off the cooker so if they're ready 2 hours or so before it's eatin' time better that than late. Wrap 'em in foil and a towel, bury them in a cooler. I actually have set my oven to 150 and put them in wrapped in foil, turning the oven off after an hour. Long as you don't open the door they make great "coolers."

Good luck and enjoy!

[jburch3]

Thanks, folks! This was very helpful!

[J-Rod]

Originally Posted by k80shooter

my thoughts are: (others may vary)
you need 2 butts. (unless you have plenty of sides to go with them)
i never spray/mop my butts.
Do not brine or inject them, they are very moist without it.
If i use mustard i will apply it first them cover with my rub, others do it the other way around.
Another thought, make sure to cook the butts till they probe like butter, this should happen between 195* and 205* internal temp.

Give yourself plenty of time for them to cook. They will stall around 160* - 175* for a few hours depending on what temp you are cooking them at. The butts will need to rest in foil at least an hour after cooking before they are pulled.

^^^yes^^^

[jburch3]

Ok. Today is the day, and I need one final piece of advice. Dinner is at 7pm EST tomorrow. Should I put the butts (I'm going with two) on tonight around 11pm (giving them roughly 20 hours) or tomorrow morning around 5 am (roughly 14 hours)? I don't want them finishing late, but I'm also concerned about potential long rest time.

Does rest time matter? Let's say they're done with 4 hours to spare. Will that be a problem as long as I've got them wrapped and in a warming drawer or insulated cooler?

[smokinrack]

i did two seven pound butts this morning, started em at 4 am and theyre already
over 190, ones almost ready to take off and the other ones going to stay on a bit longer as the probe doesnt slide easily through part of it yet.This was at 250-260 degrees and for some reason they moved through the stall pretty fast without foil.

Personally Id get a good nights sleep get up an hour earlier than you planned on and cook em thru tommorrow, if they start to act like theyre going to not be done you can always foil and bump the heat up a bit, its really hard to make a butt taste bad

[StokeMySmoke]

Yeah, with port butt, there's no noticeable difference in the final product between cooking them at 225 than at 250 or higher. On an big green egg, I cook them at 275 dome (thats about 250 grid temp).
Your going to lose 50% or so of the product during the cook.
I rest my pork butts anywhere from 0 to 4 hours depending on when I want to serve them. No problem taking them off and pulling immediately.

[AustinKnight]

I would say don't brine use the stubbs injection and whatever rub your going to use make sure you have some kinda difusser plate so you don't burn it up, you should also wrap after you get the color you want and pull it off the smoker when the bone wiggles out or a probe goes in like a hot knife in butter. I cook hotter and things get done faster so there's more time spent with the company. Here is a thread of my first butt on the Akorn Texas Test Kitchen Pork Butt Happy smoking

[Crimson]

Skip the soaking of the wood chunk it really doesnt go into the wood.
I wouldnt put water in the water pan just cover it if you dont have a defusser.
Use the minon method and pile the lump up and start the just the middle.