1st Low-n-slo Pork Butt tonight

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

Hey, folks...

I am doing my first 7 1/2# butt tonight...can't wait!! I just wanted to have you good folks tell me that I'm setting-up correctly...

Coal filled to the top of the coal box with chunks of apple wood mixed in
Butt on a rack that rests inside a drip pan
Drip pan onto the grill....this will have the butt sitting about 4" or 5" above the gasket line in my BGE
Shooting for 250-260 degrees dome temp.

Coming off BGE @ 195 internal temp to be wrapped 2 hours in foil to rest.   I'm guesstimating about 12 hr to get there...

First, does all that sound about right??

Second, my challenge is that I'm hoping to have this for dinner @ 6pm tomorrow. So, if I start at 11pm tonight (which will give me an hour or two to keep an eye on things and make sure the temp is stabilized) all my math has the butt being wrapped in foil around noon tomorrow + 2 hours resting = 2pm. Can the pork rest in foil too long? I'd hate to have to start to cook at 2am - although I'm excited enough I don't think I'll sleep anyway!   :)

I've really learned a ton reading all that you folks offer on this site! ...great stuff!   Would just love to hear someone tell me I'm going about it the right way for my first....

Thanks, folks!

Seapointbakers · November 2012

The last one i did was about 6 lbs and it took about 13 hrs with the dome at 260, took off at 205 internal.

MrCookingNurse · November 2012

It'll FTC for hours. 4-5. Sounds like you've got a great plan. I put a little water in my drip pan.

JwgreDeux · November 2012

I'm assuming you've got the platesetter or some indirect shield in there to get your butt sitting at that height, if not, back to the drawing board.

Everything will be fine. Butts are forgiving, the first time is a true learning experience.

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

I have the drip pan sitting on top of the grill - no plate setter yet! My wife told me I have to wait for Christmas because that's a good Christmas gift! :)

So, the drip pan is providing the indirect shield. I guess that's my question (asked poorly)...will that provide enough "shield" of the direct heat?

FanOfFanboys · November 2012

The 2 hour FTC rest you have scheduled is not needed. Only FTC when not eating within a hour or so of it being done. I would say your cooking time alone will be approx 11 hours depending on your exact temp, tho can always bump up to 300ish to get done a little faster. But like CN said can FTC approx 4 hours. Use as small cooler as you can and fill all empty space with towels. But I would bet your end product will be very good. I am I. Columbia, not far from Charlotte.

FanOfFanboys · November 2012

Ok without that plater setter and only using the drip pan as a deflector I retract my cooking estimate. I would say it cooks faster. It won't deflect same way. Make sure it is a larger pan than the butt tho so part is not exposed to direct coals.

nolaegghead · November 2012

Sounds good. If you have it, put an oven rack in or over the drip pan to keep the meat off the bottom of the *hot* pan, and you probably want to keep water in the pan because it's getting direct heat. Or put the drip pan on a cookie sheet or some other heat shield and separate with an air gap.

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

Just an update, all!

Brought the BGE to 265 degrees last night and threw the butt on at 11pm. I chased the temperature a little bit and found it at 300 degrees at midnight but @ 1am it seemed to have stabilized around 250 degrees. Woke-up this morning and it was at 220 degrees (it was very cold in Charlotte last night!) Tweaked the temp a bit and now it is sitting at 250 degrees again.

Had our first peek this morning (couldn't help myself!) and after 9 1/2 hrs the internal temp is 145 degrees.

...things seem to be moving along!

Thanks for the advice above...

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

After more than 15-hrs at 250 degrees, the butt just won't seem to get above 190 degrees. I'm worried about drying-out the butt by leaving it sit and just smoldering much longer. Does anyone disagree with my pulling it and letting it finish-off wrapped in foil in a cooler?

nolaegghead · November 2012

If you poke it with a skewer, it should slide in with very little resistance - if it does, it's done. If it's tough, it needs to cook longer. If it does need to cook longer, and you want it to cook faster, crank up the dome to 300+ F.

SWVABeanCounter · November 2012

Try cranking it up to about 300 and then it won't take long.

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

....and, turning-up the heat after that long smoking won't "hyper-dry-out" the meat?

nolaegghead · November 2012

No. It won't dry out (or seem dried out) unless you keep cooking it after it's done. Or if the grate temp is below your target internal temperature. Butts are, by nature, dry. Most of the "free" moisture is long used to convert collagen to gelatin and evaporated in the stall. What makes them "seem" juicy is the fat and gelatin.

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

Thanks, Nola! The butt has a very "gelatin" giggle to it it looks great. I think next time I would probably run the temp @ 300 from the start vs. the 250 that I did this time.

Thanks for all the help!

nolaegghead · November 2012

Anytime. Let us know how it turned out, post-feast!

EggerInCharlotte · November 2012

One last question (promise!) -

I had the plate setter inverted with a drip pan resting on 4 aluminum foil balls (so, perhaps 1" off the plate setter.) Virtually all of the juicy goodness has scalded on the drip pan. And, it was like that when I did ribs, too.

Is there some "trick" that keeps that juice from scalding? I would imagine that's just a function of sitting in 250+ heat for hours and hours. But, if there's a trick so you can keep that juice for later, I don't know what it is...

Thanks, as always!

nolaegghead · November 2012

You can add water to the drip pan if you start getting nasty fat fumes. You probably need to check it now and then to make sure it doesn't dry out.

Little Steven · November 2012

If you were at or around 250* tha scalded stuff should be really good when you deglaze it. If it doesn't smell acrid it should come off really nicely with some wine, beer or apple juice. Taste it and if the flavour is good then mix some in with your pull.

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1st Low-n-slo Pork Butt tonight

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