Direct butts?

mike

After reading many posts of eggers who seem to cook almost everything direct including low and slow, I think I've found religion and started to do the same. So far I've done ribs direct and also a brisket. Both cases, I loved the results - more flavor, more crust, more smoke rink, in general more love.[p]Now I am anxious to try a couple of large pork butts direct as well, and was wondering what anyones experience has been trying this. Guess I think it could be different due to the length of the cook and the increased amount of drippings I can expect.

djm5x9

mike:[p]I cook everything direct for the very reasons you mention. On a BGE use an elevated grill when you do direct low and slow cooks and try to keep the temperature at the cooking grill at 200º or slightly above. Naturally, as the cook completes you will raise the temperature slightly higher to reach the desired internal temperature.
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Unknown

mike, I must of missed the prior post about direct butts, ribs and briskets...it would be a hard sell to convience me to even try that, the indirect works so well and I don't know how anyone could complain about the bark on these using the indirect.

mike

Chet,
try it, you may like it. start with baby backs direct, I highly recommend Cat's recipe submission as a way to see this for yourself.

mike

mike,

[ul][li]cat's baby back ribs[/ul]

Jethro

mike,[p]I agree with you and Darryl. I do almost all of my cooks direct.[p]One of the few exceptions is Pulled Pork so I can't comment on that.[p]Keep em Smokin,
Jethro

Unknown

mike,[p]Butts are too fatty and cook too long to do them direct. A few reasons why:[p]1. The smoke generated by burned fat smells nasty, tastes nasty, and could be a carcinogen
2. The volume of dripping fax will eventually saturate your burning lump and find its way onto your firebox and possibly through your trivet, collecting in the bottom of your BGE. Yuck.
3. Direct cooking on an item cooking for 12 hours+ will have a higher amount of radiant cooking than indirect. This means that the bottom of the butt (grid side down) will cook much faster than the top side. Not a problem if you want to flip it, but why would you?[p]Just my $0.02.[p]Jim

djm5x9

jdholman:[p]Next time you cook butts, try them direct on an elevated grid. Let us know what you think about your results.[p]As for #3, a pre-heated ceramic cooker cooks from below, the sides, and from above. Plus, there is the ongoing convection activity present during the cook. Low and slow cooks in a ceramic cooker is like cooking on a charcoal oven . . .
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Jimbo

djm5x9,[p]Maybe. [p]You get a lot more radiant cooking below direct than indirect as ceramic is a much better insulator than air. We all know that. The bottom of the butt is crustier this way. I know some people who love "outside chopped". To each his own.[p]I don't know about how your butts are trimmed, but mine have the fat cap still on and my drip pan has over 4oz of rendered pork fat when I am done cooking. Maybe the butts you do are real lean, buy why would you want all that fat dripping on your coals?[p]The only thing I do direct is fast cooking (burgers) or lean meats (chicken / turkey breast) or vegetables.[p]There you go.[p]Jim