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Pork butt: What is your grid temp of choice?

I have all the time needed to cook a 8# bone-in shoulder.  I have done Turbo methods and low-and-slow.  I prefer the low-and-slow at 235F grid temp.  Any thoughts from the rest of you?
LBGE, Twin Eagle 36" grill to hold my EGGcessories
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Comments

  • JWBishop
    JWBishop Posts: 12
    I had always done the low and slow overnight cooks at 225-240, but since doing turbo the past 2 weekends, that is the way I will going. 
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I prefer the low-n-slow as well.  I will go turbo again if there are time constraints, but I've had better luck getting good smoke and bark with the low n slow. 


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • Crispix49
    Crispix49 Posts: 191
    300* - 'bout an hour per pound. I'm done with overnights, unless I need a pork butt for lunch time the next day. I usually do 7-8lbs. Put it on by 7 or 8 am and it is done my dinner including rest time.
    Atlanta suburbs
    Large & Mini owner
    UGA Alum - Go Dawgs!
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,662
    prefer the low and slow and 235 is a good temp at the grid. its become routine for me, get to camp, light egg, put butt in at 10, go to bed, wake up at 4, check egg, load boat, go fish, come back in the afternoon and eat
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I am sold on "turbo style", my over night cooks are a thing of the past!!  Now during the first portion of the cook (unwrapped) i cook as low as i can to expose the unwrapped butt to a maximum amount of pecan smoke.  At 160 internal, the butt gets wrapped up and then i will cook it slow, but at what temperature depends on my serving time??  Average eight pound butt will take me six hours(about three hours unwrapped and three hours wrapped).  The past weekend i carried two turbo butts up to N.C. for a family get together, and there were a couple of other eggers in the group -- both said it was the best they had ever tasted.... 
  • Beaumonty
    Beaumonty Posts: 198
    I am sold on "turbo style", my over night cooks are a thing of the past!!  Now during the first portion of the cook (unwrapped) i cook as low as i can to expose the unwrapped butt to a maximum amount of pecan smoke.  At 160 internal, the butt gets wrapped up and then i will cook it slow, but at what temperature depends on my serving time??  Average eight pound butt will take me six hours(about three hours unwrapped and three hours wrapped).  The past weekend i carried two turbo butts up to N.C. for a family get together, and there were a couple of other eggers in the group -- both said it was the best they had ever tasted.... 
    I am about to attempt a butt and think I may try turbo style.  i used the Travis Method on a brisket and it was both good and very fast, relatively speaking.  do you just use a rub on your butt and then foil in a pan with some braising liquid? i'd probably just do cider/cider vinegar. does foiling after 160 mean you can skip FTC?
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191

    I use Bad Bryon's Butt Rub lightly on the outside and inject with Lawry's Teriyaki Marinade Sauce which comes in a 12 ounce bottle, cost about $3.50 and one bottle will do two butts. Start off as low as you can cook to prolong the butt's exposure to the smoke, i use pecan chunks and place them on top of my lump.  I usually get two to two and a half hours of smoke.  You must reach 160 degrees before wrapping.  I wrap in three layers of foil to make sure it is sealed and i don't loose any liquids during the wrapped portion of the cook.  Once i reach 160 degrees internal, the butt gets wrapped in the foil and goes back on the grill with the temperature probe stuck thru the foil and into the butt.  At this point i bump up the cooking temperature tp maybe 300 or 330 degrees.  This temperature is determined by when i want to serve the meal -- but figuring in at least an hour's rest period, and of course the rest period can be lengthened to four hours in the cooler "if necessary"?  You will find the butt surrounded by liquid maybe 3/4 of the way up in the foil.  I pull the butt right in the foil and allow these juices to mix back into the pulled pork.

    PS: The pork is not going to have any Teriyaki taste in it -- just a rich pork taste!! 

  • Beaumonty
    Beaumonty Posts: 198
    I've always resisted injection because I thought it would add artificial flavor.  I may just have to try it.
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    Beaumonty you would be surprised how little it will. More importantly it will decrease cooking time.  Just make sure yu wrap in plastic wrap before injection. Makes clean up off the ceiling a thing from the past. ---- No joke. 
    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191

    You are only injecting 6 ounces of marinade into the butt -- but it will make a BIG difference in the final result.  Also your end internal target temperature is 210 to 215 degrees --- NOT 195 or 200 degrees.  This is a winner, for sure.  Follow the instructions!  The turbo method causes the butt to sail right thru the "stall period" -- it cooks faster when wrapped!

    I just did two butts last weekend and the smoke portion tool about three hours, and the wrapped portion took about three hours.  Then i allowed to rest for two hours wrapped in a small cooler..

  • TUTTLE871
    TUTTLE871 Posts: 1,316
    I am doing pulled pork for tomorrow, I have 4 8LB Butts I am doing. Do you think if I start them at 6AM they would be ready by 6PM. This would be at 300.
    Or should I do the all nighter at 225?

    "Hold my beer and watch this S##T!"

    LARGE BGE DALLAS TX.

  • ericdc
    ericdc Posts: 30
    edited April 2013
    I like getting up around 6 AM or so, rubbing butts with mustard and rub. Get em on the fire by 7 AM, cooking at dome temp 250-275 and they are done by 5 to 7 PM for dinner. i've done the turbo method, but i enjoy low and slow BBQ, and so do my friends and family, and that's who I aim to please.
  • bigphil
    bigphil Posts: 1,390
    havent tried the turbo butts yet but will soon . my normal grid temp is 265 for butts and brisket rarely in a hurry anyway so low and slow works for me 
    Large Big Green Egg , XL Big Green Egg . BBQ Guru, Weber Kettle, Weber Q grill for road trips.
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    In my first year of cooking on the egg i was doing  the all night "low and slow' thing without a hitch!  Had a retired photographer on another forum tell me he could do the same thing in half the time using and old vertical R2D2 smoker???   Back and forth we went, and he had an answer for everything i could come up with!!!  So i tried it!  Came out great,or in my opinion, as good as the overnight butts.  I ended up with more juice to introduce to my pulled pork as i was shredding the pork.   Started thinking about all the horror stories about the problems with over night cooks???
  • I do pork butts like Charlie Tuna, except I haven't injected.  250 dome while it takes smoke and once at 160, I wrap in foil, bump the temp to 300 - 350 and cook to 205 - 210.  I also add more rub after I have shredded the pork. People keep asking me to do my pulled pork every time there is a get together, so I'm thinking they must be liking it.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Welcome to the Swamp.....GO GATORS!!!!
  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167

    Does foiling affect the bark or not?  I have read here and on the "other" forum that foiling seems to cut down on the bark.  True or not?

    I have never foiled and I really count on a good barky butt.

     

     

    :-/
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
  • Beaumonty
    Beaumonty Posts: 198
    jaydub58 said:

    Does foiling affect the bark or not?  I have read here and on the "other" forum that foiling seems to cut down on the bark.  True or not?

    I have never foiled and I really count on a good barky butt.

     

     

    :-/
    I was wondering the same thing.
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    Some people like the dried pork, something we used to call "chips" and it is good, but not good for pulled pork for sandwiches.  The turbo cooking has about a 1/4 inch deep dark colored edge around the surface --  it is not crisp!  These are a few photos of a trubo cooked butt.  The butt as it reaches 160 degrees just before it is wrapped in foil..  The turbo butt wrapped in foil and back on the grill.   The butt with it's juices, just prior to pulling.  And the moist pulled pork !
  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    275F, bump up to 300F at first sign of a stall.
  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,457
    The last butt I cooked was a 9lb. I started it at 250 for about 2 -3hrs(havin beverages so i dont recall) until it hit 120 then I cranked the heat up to around 320 - 350. It finished in 7 hrs with no stall. The bark was thick and crispy with the meat being very juicy. I have cooked it Nitro style at 325-350 the entire cook. The meat was great and the bark was thick but was a little lacking in the smoke dept unlike the one I started at a lower temp

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    I always cook during the day, so sometimes turbo, sometimes low and slow. 
    Low and slow produces more bark and smoke taste, if the butt is served "straight-up" this is preferred. 
    If doing pulled pork sammies, my family prefers slaw and softer meat, so we go turbo. The foil softens everything, IMHO. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    edited April 2013
    ericdc said:
    ...Get em on the fire by 7 AM, cooking at dome temp 250-275 and they are done by 5 to 7 PM for dinner. i've done the turbo method, but i enjoy low and slow BBQ, and so do my friends and family, and that's who I aim to please.
    Same here.  I'll foil if I mess up my time calc and need to get it done, but I like the dry bark.  Unless it is a small butt, I aim for 250* minimum and find 275* dome works well.
    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.
  • Ragtop99 said:
    ericdc said:
    ...Get em on the fire by 7 AM, cooking at dome temp 250-275 and they are done by 5 to 7 PM for dinner. i've done the turbo method, but i enjoy low and slow BBQ, and so do my friends and family, and that's who I aim to please.
    Same here.  I'll foil if I mess up my time calc and need to get it done, but I like the dry bark.  Unless it is a small butt, I aim for 250* minimum and find 275* dome works well.
    Count me in on this method also.  Especially with the Maverick, you can do whatever you have to around the house and still keep an "eye" on things.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    350 :@)
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Hi Charlie,

    The more I read about the "turbo" method, the more curious I get.  Have you always injected using this method?  I'm wondering if this helps the moisture issue when slamming through the stall.  Thanks!

    Mark

  • ericdc
    ericdc Posts: 30
    I also don't trim any fat on my butts and try to buy the fattiest cuts I can find for low and slow cooks. The fat does a good job basting the meat, and end product is not dried out, inside or out.
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I have always injected different marinades in my butts.  Started, when i first got into cooking back in my Webber days, and continued with my overnight "low and slow" cooks.  Never had a problem with my overnighters, some went as long as 24 hours, some multi butt cooks five and six at a time!  When i first posted about using a "Teriyaki" marinade, people on the other forum said "if i wanted my pork to taste like Teriayki, i would be cooking Teriyaki, not pulled pork!".  I don't know why(?) but this method produces a strong rich taste without taking anything away from the basic taste of "pulled pork"!  Since the turbo method finishes with plenty of juices from the butt, this method makes the pulled pork that much better soaked in flavor.  My wrapped butt usually has enough juice inside the wrapped foil, to fill it three quarters full alongside the butt.  I have used all the Lawry products and all kinds of different salad dressings, but the Teriaki does it right... 
  • TUTTLE871
    TUTTLE871 Posts: 1,316
    Did the Turbo style today started at put 4 8LB butts at 275 on this morning at 6AM by 415PM they were 195 Internal. I wrapped them in foil and put them in the Yeti and am taking them to a party at 630.
    To be honest I pulled a piece off and they tasted better than the low and slows I do at 200.
    One thing I'm not tired today from getting up every few hours and checking the temp.
    Sorry the picture is sideways I attached from IPhone.

    "Hold my beer and watch this S##T!"

    LARGE BGE DALLAS TX.

  • HogHeaven
    HogHeaven Posts: 326
    I cook low and slow at 225... I'm retired and don't rush things anymore.
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I cook "turbo style"...  I'm retired and don't like getting up in the middle of the night to babysit my egg when it isn't necessary ! [-X