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Boston Butt w/o a BGE

If you had to cook a Boston Butt on just a regular charcoal offset smoker, would you do anything different than on a BGE?

Turbo or low 'n slow?

Drip pan with moisture in it?

Comments

  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551

    My uninformed opinion- would go low and slow and yes drip pan as it wont hold moisture as well- will be curious how you compare the two.  Maybe even think about wrapping to keep moist- add a little apple juice to bottom of foil.

     

     

    Greensboro, NC
  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
    275ish. Gtt pan with water and apple juice. Just ride it till its done.


    _______________________________________________

    XLBGE 
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    I did one on a weber kettle with digiq a few months ago. Temps were all over the place, 225-285, despite the crutch. No liquid at all. One of the best, juiciest butts I've ever cooked.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    Should cook ok, butts are pretty forgiving.   Personally, I would want to get it in foil part way through the cook, my worry would be drying out.

    When I used to cook on a side box, I would pull after 2 hours of smoke, dump a whole bottle of hot sauce on it - and close up the foil for the remainder of the cook.   The hot sauce tenderizes - you wont taste it after its done.

    Cookin in Texas
  • dawsonhull
    dawsonhull Posts: 105
    So no turbo? I have never done one like that before. Think that may risk drying it out.
  • flemster
    flemster Posts: 269
    IMHO turbo would be the way to go.... You have to keep the fire alive for less time and hence have less time to worry about stable temps in the thin metal drafty cooker....  The taste will cme from the first 2 hours of smoke...after that it is just heat to cook and tenderize and you could achieve that in the oven in foil if fire died or was too unstable.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Keywords: Gator, Nashvegas, LBGE, Looftlighter, Thermapen in Racing Green (faster than the red one!), PSWOO2, Spider with CI, IQ120
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794

    Put a water pan (bread pan) in the cooking chamber just next to the firebox.  This helps stabilize the temperature somewhat. I like to add some cut onion to the water because I did it once and got the best feedback I've ever gotten on a cook from some very discriminating eaters, so I have done it ever since. 

    Just like the egg, it doesn't matter if you turbo or not - and the truth is that while we think of it as "turbo" or "low and slow" there are a lot of gradations in-between 220 degrees and 350 degrees and you can have a great cook at any of those temperatures.  So, don't fight the cooker and just cook at the temp where it settles.  Then depending on your timeframe you can adjust gently to slow things down or speed things up, but try to avoid big temperature swings - to say, 450 degrees.

    Most importantly, enjoy the cook.  Compared to the egg, the offset firebox smoker is relatively high maintenance.  If you approach it as "Oh, cool, I get to play with fire" you'll enjoy it a lot more than if you think of it as "Man, this is a pain..."

    What type of smoker is it?  The heavier and more airtight it is, the easier your cook will be.

     

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • dawsonhull
    dawsonhull Posts: 105
    Thanks for the input. The brand is New Braunfels buy I'm not sure the model or anything. I smoked a ham on it at Christmas that turned out great - this will be my first long cook on it. Would you do a water pan in addition to a drip pan?
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    New Braunfels makes a good smoker. My best friend has one. I find the water pan mandatory and the drip pan optional, but I think I'm in the minority so take that for what it's worth.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • dawsonhull
    dawsonhull Posts: 105
    Cool. I did find that it used charcoal a lot faster than the BGE. Made me thankful for the BGE's efficiency! Do you think it would use less charcoal to try to maintain a lower temperature for longer or a higher temperature for shorter?
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    Cool. I did find that it used charcoal a lot faster than the BGE. Made me thankful for the BGE's efficiency! Do you think it would use less charcoal to try to maintain a lower temperature for longer or a higher temperature for shorter?

    No clue.  Sorry. 

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • dawsonhull
    dawsonhull Posts: 105
    No problem. Thanks for all your help!