Taking the pork butt plunge

hondabbq · November 2012

I have 19 lbs of pork butts ( 2 pieces) going in today at about 4 or 5 pm for a ling overnighter. One is 8.5 and the other is 10.5. Got them for free so I did not pick the sizes. They came boneless and netted so I took the netting off so as not to destroy the bark after the cook and I just tied a few strings around them.

Do you need to tie them at all when boneless? If not ill just cut them off prior to the cook.

Just rubbed with DP and sitting in the fridge until cook time. I ordered a Maverick but it hasnt come yet so I am just going to use my Thermapen on this, my first butt.

I am setting the egg up for 260-275 dome, indirect. over a drip pan on stilts, for some post cook goodness.

without the Maverick I guess ill have to get up a few times to check on it. Should I just trust the egg? Nervous about that. I guess if its been stabilized for a few hours before going to bed it should be fine all through the night. In theory it works but I just dont want to wreck em. That will be a game time decision I guess.

Any last minute input?

hondabbq · November 2012

I forgot to mention:

I will be using Apple chips for this one. Question is, after doing a plethora of reading on here I am still in the dark on whether or not to soak the chips and integrate them throughout the layers of lump. I assumed, if I soaked them the heat in the bottom of the egg would dry out the chips before the actual fire gets to them, so to me it seems redundant to soak them. Am I correct? Should I just layer them in dry?

Little Steven · November 2012

For the first one I would do the Elder Ward thing with the fire. Clean out ash and unburned stuff. Start building the fire with larger pieces of lump at the bottom, graduating to medium sized after that and smaller pieces on top. Distribute your chips throughout.

I don't use tied butts, you get more bark untied

If you are worried about losing your fire you can position a fan a few feet in front of the egg on slow speed. This will help prevent ash buildup.

Let the egg stabilise at your desired temp for at least an hour. When you put the cold mass (meat) in the temp will drop and may take up to an hour to recover. Wait that out and make sure the temp recovers to whatever it was set to and doesn't go hotter.

Get some sleep

henapple · November 2012

I never tie mine. Go at least 250-270 overnight. Trust the egg. Do you have any temp guages? Put a lot of rub on...makes a better bark. Pork should be done when the bone pulls or easily. Good luck...it'll be great.

hondabbq · November 2012

henapple said:

I never tie mine. Go at least 250-270 overnight. Trust the egg. Do you have any temp guages? Put a lot of rub on...makes a better bark. Pork should be done when the bone pulls or easily. Good luck...it'll be great.

The butts i was given to me for free had the bone already out, so the reason I tied it was to keep it tight together because there ws a void where the bone was.
I just have the Dome and a Thermapen as I stated my maverick I ordered hasnt shown up yet. Be damned if I am going to hold back because of a silly remote thermometer. ( I might just eat my words tomorrow) I am estimating I will take a few temps in the morning to see if I am on track and when it get closer to the estimated finish time.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

hondabbq said:

henapple said:

I never tie mine. Go at least 250-270 overnight. Trust the egg. Do you have any temp guages? Put a lot of rub on...makes a better bark. Pork should be done when the bone pulls or easily. Good luck...it'll be great.

The butts i was given to me for free had the bone already out, so the reason I tied it was to keep it tight together because there ws a void where the bone was.
I just have the Dome and a Thermapen as I stated my maverick I ordered hasnt shown up yet. Be damned if I am going to hold back because of a silly remote thermometer. ( I might just eat my words tomorrow) I am estimating I will take a few temps in the morning to see if I am on track and when it get closer to the estimated finish time.

Thermos can be as much of a problem as they are a help- especially for overnight noobs. People hover over them and freak out when the egg goes up or down 10 degrees. they end up chasing temps all night, pulling the butt early because they just "know it's done" etc. I rarely use them at all anymore and I never set alarms or check during the night. Just chill and let the egg do it's work. Go to bed and check with your Thermapen in the morning when you get up. Butts are really hard to mess up. Get a stable fire, put it on late tonight and go to bed. It is a great thing for you to learn not to rely on remote thermos. They can be a convenience but not at the expense of understanding the way it all works.

Just remember, bbq was cooked perfectly for many years before mavericks came along.

SmokeyPitt · November 2012

I will say that with the boneless butts I have purchased from costco- I did tie them. They do a somewhat sloppy job of removing the bone, so without a little string it seems like they are gonna fall apart. I honestly couldn't tell any difference in the bark from the string (but didn't use much).

As far as getting up to check on them- chances are they will be fine. I usually wake up and check on them...whether I plan to or not...some annoying part of my brain wakes me up! I like having the Maverick because at least I can just glance at it when I wake up.

Eggcelsior · November 2012

I've also done butts from Costco and have not tied them. I just position the butt as if the bone still existed when place it on the grid. I also put rub on all exposed areas. Personally, I have found that this allows for more bark development and I have no problems with the thin "flap" drying out.

Since you are setting your dome temp in the upper half of 200-300 range, The egg should stay more stable than if you were trying to keep a temp closer to 200. I think your theory is sound enough for BBQ.

Smokin_Trout · November 2012

I usually put mine on about 9pm. If you run it at 250*, they won't be ready until about noon. I have woke up and found the egg at 300* and the butt done at 7am, then I've woken up at 6am to find the egg at 200* and five hours of cooking left.

Don't be afraid to add lots of chips. Some have a theory that if you soak them they won't burn up as fast while waiting for the butt to be put on.

You'll be fine as long as you wait until the meat hits at least 190*.

Try putting a little rub in the pulled meat.

nolaegghead · November 2012

After your meat hits 190F, start checking to see if done by stabbing it with a thermometer probe. There should be almost no resistance. It will be done sometime when the meat is between 190 and 205. Stab it a little earlier to get the hang of what it feels like when it's not done.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

SmokeyPitt said:

I will say that with the boneless butts I have purchased from costco- I did tie them. They do a somewhat sloppy job of removing the bone, so without a little string it seems like they are gonna fall apart. I honestly couldn't tell any difference in the bark from the string (but didn't use much).

As far as getting up to check on them- chances are they will be fine. I usually wake up and check on them...whether I plan to or not...some annoying part of my brain wakes me up! I like having the Maverick because at least I can just glance at it when I wake up.

I'm with you. I like having mine too but I would never not cook because i didn't have one. My probes go out all the time and I go weeks or even months without them sometimes. Just saying it's a good thing to know how to do without them and you can do it worry free just knowing that you have a good fire and that they won't be done during the night.

lousubcap · November 2012

WRT the apple chips-no need to soak and load plenty throughout the lump load. Where there's fire there's smoke. I equate a good handful of chips to a chunk. BTW here's a link to the above mentioned Elder Ward preps- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm And TNW's main site is a great resource for all things ceramic. Enjoy the journey.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

lousubcap said:

WRT the apple chips-no need to soak and load plenty throughout the lump load. Where there's fire there's smoke. I equate a good handful of chips to a chunk. BTW here's a link to the above mentioned Elder Ward preps- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm And TNW's main site is a great resource for all things ceramic. Enjoy the journey.

He cooks way too low though. I spent years cooking at 200-225 because of this write up, not realizing that 200 in the dome is like 180 on the grid. hard to get a butt to 200 when you are cooking at 180 :)

Little Steven · November 2012

True dat. I only referred to his firebuilding method

lousubcap · November 2012

EGGcellent point on the cook temp-I was just making it easier to follow the suggestion from LS above on building the fire. The first time I cooked low&slow with the BGE I totally missed on cook time/temp due to the grid to dome off-set with indirects. That's something that should be part of the cooking directions (like a platesetter should be standard equipment).

Apologize to the OP for the sideways turn here.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

I was only throwing that out there because I didn't want him to read the whole thing and go."that all sounds awesome" cuz it's not. the fire is good though. I was doing butts for 20-25 hours and they weren't even very good. I'm not particularly smart so it took me 5 solid years to say "hmmmmmm, wonder what would happen if I bumped up the temp a little"? Then I joined the forum. A good 5 years wasted.

hondabbq · November 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

lousubcap said:

WRT the apple chips-no need to soak and load plenty throughout the lump load. Where there's fire there's smoke. I equate a good handful of chips to a chunk. BTW here's a link to the above mentioned Elder Ward preps- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm And TNW's main site is a great resource for all things ceramic. Enjoy the journey.

He cooks way too low though. I spent years cooking at 200-225 because of this write up, not realizing that 200 in the dome is like 180 on the grid. hard to get a butt to 200 when you are cooking at 180 :)

I posted I was doing it at 260-275. Why is that too low?? Just curious should my dome temp be higher??

Eggcelsior · November 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

lousubcap said:

WRT the apple chips-no need to soak and load plenty throughout the lump load. Where there's fire there's smoke. I equate a good handful of chips to a chunk. BTW here's a link to the above mentioned Elder Ward preps- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm And TNW's main site is a great resource for all things ceramic. Enjoy the journey.

He cooks way too low though. I spent years cooking at 200-225 because of this write up, not realizing that 200 in the dome is like 180 on the grid. hard to get a butt to 200 when you are cooking at 180 :)

This took me a while to figure out too. It wasn't until I started following on this forum that I realized the difference between dome and grid temps. I would even give up and stick the butt in my oven with the probe set to 195(built-in on my oven) and the the oven temp at 225.

hondabbq · November 2012

Oops misread. You meant TNW. Sorry

hondabbq · November 2012

I was at a store yesterday and they had an array of pellets, some of them quite interesting. Can you use pellets on the egg? So you use them just liek soaked wood chips just scattered around or do they have to go in a box?

FanOfFanboys · November 2012

I remember my first butt. Exactly like they say with chasing temps, constantly checking meat, etc. Now I throw on, go to bed, and let the egg work.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

hondabbq said:

I was at a store yesterday and they had an array of pellets, some of them quite interesting. Can you use pellets on the egg? So you use them just liek soaked wood chips just scattered around or do they have to go in a box?

I dunno but either way, you don't need to soak chips or chunks. It does not do anything for you but produce steam until they are dry enough to smoke.

Pellets are sawdust held together with some type of binder. I'm sure its corn starch or something like that but I prefer real wood on principle.

hondabbq · November 2012

Well we have begun. Holding at 270 dome. First pic ready to go in. And second is just put on the egg. This will be a long 20 hours.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

hondabbq said:

Well we have begun. Holding at 270 dome. First pic ready to go in. And second is just put on the egg. This will be a long 20 hours.

It won't be 20 hours.

hondabbq · November 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

hondabbq said:

Well we have begun. Holding at 270 dome. First pic ready to go in. And second is just put on the egg. This will be a long 20 hours.

It won't be 20 hours.

Well for a 10.5 pounder, the general concencus is 2 hours per pound. I will be doing a check when I get up tomorrow at probably 6 am like normal.

Little Steven · November 2012

1 1/2 to two per pound at 250*. Plus you don't have the mass of a bone in butt.

lousubcap · November 2012

Plan the adult beverage consumption around the 20 hours and you will feel better should they finish early. And if you can, monitor both as they come thru the stall as each will likely finish a few hours different in time. Use the FTC (foil, towels and cooler) to equalize the pull and consume time.

greeneggboy · November 2012

I agree with the 250 goal. Your coals should make it.

hondabbq · November 2012

Just checked the temp again sitting at 260.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

hondabbq said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

hondabbq said:

Well we have begun. Holding at 270 dome. First pic ready to go in. And second is just put on the egg. This will be a long 20 hours.

It won't be 20 hours.

Well for a 10.5 pounder, the general concencus is 2 hours per pound. I will be doing a check when I get up tomorrow at probably 6 am like normal.

not at 270 :). 1.5 max

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2012

lousubcap said:

Plan the adult beverage consumption around the 20 hours and you will feel better should they finish early. And if you can, monitor both as they come thru the stall as each will likely finish a few hours different in time. Use the FTC (foil, towels and cooler) to equalize the pull and consume time.

I did 3 butts last Sunday (When my egg cracked). one was 10 lbs, one was 9, the other 7.5. The 10 pounder was done an hour before the 7.5 and the 9. They all have a mind of their own

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Taking the pork butt plunge

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