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First attempt smoking a butt!

VanzoVanzo Posts: 125
in EggHead Forum
Had my egg for about 8 years but have never had the time or "know-how" to smoke a butt......I live in barbeque country so it easier to just buy one every now and then. But now retired, bored to death, and want to give it a try.

So just a couple of basic questions: I have looked at the recipes and so forth but there are so many different ones I don't know which to do.....so, what is the very simplest way to prepare and cook a butt? What temp do I pull it?...have seen suggestions from 165-225!

I assume I can put the butt on the egg with a drip pan to catch the grease and deflect the heat. And I have seen where I need to "rest" it afterwards.

Anything else I should do on this first butt? And, like I said, please keep it simple. I'm not trying to win a contest with this thing.

Thanks,
Vanzo
Alabama
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Comments

  • BigABigA Posts: 1,157
    they are pretty easy, so dont sweat it!
    First start your egg and get it to 250 - 275 dome temp, let it stable there for about 30 min to clear out the bad smoke, in that same time get your pork butt out and put your favorite rub on, dont be shy you can coat the thing rather well!! Put in some wood chips or chunks i prefer chunks, then put in your drip pan, i uaully put my drip pan in BGE feet on top of my plate setter, then the grid then the butt, close the lid and let her cook. I usually cook mine for about 17hrs but i am not sure how big yours is, but i get the biggest i can find. you will know when it is done when you can twist the bone easy from the meat, or it is starting to fall off the bone, usually around 190 to 205, but some people like to pull earlier or later, i pull when the bine tells me it is tender. I then wrap it in foil and cover with towels in a cooler for atleast 3hrs. This i believe is a must, it comes out more juicy, after the rest time, take it out and pull it and eat it. It is pretty simple and you will say why in the hell didnt i do this 8 yrs ago!! Take pics for us! Good Luck! B)
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  • VanzoVanzo Posts: 125
    Is there anyway to cook it in less time than 17 hours???? Like maybe 10 or even less???
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  • Carolina QCarolina Q Posts: 5,168
    Time varies from one butt to the next. The general guideline is 1.5-2 hrs per pound, cooking at 250° dome temp. However, I recently cooked a 5lb and two 2.5 lb butts and the small ones took just as long as the large one. It will be done when it's done.

    Some try bumping up the temp a bit, but I've never tried that. I also never do the foil/cooler thing. I just rest it for 30 minutes or so (on the counter) and then pull.
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  • fishlessmanfishlessman Posts: 14,178
    i think the general guidline only works for the average size butt :laugh:
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  • fishlessmanfishlessman Posts: 14,178
    most will do an overnight, put it on at 10 pm, will be done around noon the next day. if its cooking too fast, lower temps, if too slow, higher temps in the morning. extra hours in the cooler is just to help time serving, me, i like the bark crunchy so i just sit it out for a half hour or so and pull it if i can, with the cooler method the whole cook can be done before guests arrive so its very convenient to do it that way.
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  • boston_stokerboston_stoker Posts: 792
    This will walk you through it.

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm

    If you want to go fast, you may get some ideas from this. Fast must be injected.

    http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=839581&catid=1#
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  • NC-CDNNC-CDN Posts: 703
    I start mine around 11 or 12 and let them go till around 2 or 3. Then again, whenever they are done. I've bumped it up near the end to achieve my finish temp of about 200 internal. You'll get different readings in each part of the butt. Really not too many ways you can go wrong.

    Just make sure your temp is solid at say 250. Give it time to stabilize. You don't want to go to bed with your EGG at 250, then have it rise to 375. LOL. Just watch and once it is stable you should be good to go until the morning. The top and bottom vents should be opened just a bit. At least that is the case for me when I don't use a guru.

    Good luck.
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  • greendeangreendean Posts: 50
    I just smoked my first one this weekend and kept it extremely simple and it was awesome. Rub it with a store bought rub of your choice one hour ahead of time. Start egg and get it to 225ish, put in wood chips of your choice, plate setter, drip pan and grate. Put meat on with the heavy smoke and forget it for about 18 hours or so. The last 2 hours i got heat up to 300 to finish it. Meat came off a little over 210 degrees which may be a little too long, but it was still good. I let it sit for 20 minutes in foil, pulled it, put out 2 flavors of sauce, buns and we went to town. It was great and very simple
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  • Texas.EggineerTexas.Eggineer Posts: 4
    Just a novice, but did my first butt about a month ago. 6 lb bone-in cooked for 6 hrs @ 300 deg.F. Rested about an hour. Drip pan with no liquid in it. All I can say is that there was none left over.
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