about to do my first pork butt . . . .

TRex

. . . . and I'm facing the age-old question: Do I start it late tonight, or early in the morning? It's about 6.8 lbs, so I figure it will take 14 hours max. Fortunately, I have tomorrow off - I just reread Elder Ward's narrative as a refresher course - he says, "Now if you're a Type A personality, this will be one of the hardest cooks . . etc." Well, I'm Type A. I think if I put it on tonight I'll be waking up in the middle of the night to check it. Otherwise, I've got to get up really early tomorrow if I want this thing for dinner tomorrow night. [p]It is a pleasant dilemma to have, though, isn't it?? [p]Any other tips from anyone out there? I plan to pull from the Egg and wrap in foil at an internal of 190.[p]Wish me luck![p]TRex

James

TRex,[p]I'd vote for putting it on late this evening.[p]Doesn't Elder Ward say to leave it on until about 200?[p]

The Naked Whiz

TRex,
I'm a type A (that's capital A for ANAL), but somehow when it comes to pork butts (that's B for BUTT), I can tell myself "This piece of meat didn't cost much, so if the fire goes out or goes nuclear in the night, so what? Throw it away and do chicken." (That's C for CHICKEN). So, what I'd recommend is doing it overnight. Get a good stable fire, go to bed, and then sweet dreams. (That's D for DREAMS). When you wake up, whatever the situation is, then deal with it. Odds are you will have a butt that is in the plateau and that will finish up during the day. Now, granted, you will probably wake up early and have to go outside and see what's up, but that's ok. Anyway, that's what I do.[p]TNW (that's W for WHIZ)

mike

TRex:[p]The last butt I smoked took 21 hrs. at 220 degrees. It weighed 7.72 lbs when I put it in the smoker. I pulled it at 200 degrees internal temp. In my opinion it turned out very well but then I really like to have the meat fall apart tender. Best of luck to you, let us know how things turned out.[p]Mike

TRex

James,[p]Yeah, he does, but lately I've heard more people talk about pulling at 190 and wrapping in foil - with briskets mostly, but also with butts. I may shoot in the middle and go for 195.[p]TRex

QBabe

TRex,[p]The average butt I do is about 6 lbs, about 12 hrs at 250°, so I often do the get up at 5am and put it on route. Works out like a champ for me, and you lose no sleep. But, if you decided to go the 200°-225° dome route, then you'll need to put it on earlier, and do the overnight thing...[p]But why? 250° is a pretty safe temp for a stable fire, and it seems to me that you'd do just fine with that size butt if you just get up early (and even if it meant 4am, so what, you can cat nap til 8 am or 9 am)....[p]Just my $.02 for what it's worth...
Tonia
:~)

TRex

Okay, it's on. Went on the Egg at 9:00 p.m. CST. Now at 9:40 we're stabilizing around 240 F dome. Updates forthcoming . . . .[p]TRex