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First Butt

Cabdriver
Cabdriver Posts: 69
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Well, I am finally trying a pulled pork butt. Decided today to do one for the family and friends -- guess I picked a really bad day to start since we have a major cold front moving in with predictions of heavy ice storms and sleet (but maybe it will hold off a day). Got the egg going and stabilized at 220 so I'm going to time this from 8:30pm central time. Butt is on -- am going to do the Naked Whiz method of cooking it slow and not opening the lid. Have the thermometer inserted which will tell me meat and grid temperature. I'll keep you all posted as to my progress. Keep your fingers crossed. I've seen some beautiful pictures of people's accomplishments here (guess it would be odd to say I've seen some beautiful butts on this site) -- Hope mine is half as good.

Comments

  • Cabdriver,
    You shouldn't have any trouble caused by the wind and cold.
    Best of luck and enjoy the cook. AZ

  • AZ Traveler,
    Thanks for the vote of confidence. [p]First casualty already -- had my Polder all nicely plugged in -- rain water got to it -- now it is flashing 245 internal temperature of the meat -- obviously wrong since it has only been on less than one hour and the dome temp is 220. Looks like moisture is on the inside of the display -- ugh! Am trying to relocate it and hope it dries out and starts working again -- otherwise two problems:
    1). I will have to buy another one, and/or,
    2). I will have to open the lid to insert it tomorrow sometime, so I will be flying blind for many hours until I can either fix it or replace it.
    It's always something!................Any body had this problem -- is my Polder caput?

  • cabdriver,[p]When I set up my Maverick ET-73 for a low-n-slow butt cook I place the remote unit in one of those double sealing zip-lock plastic bags. I set the remote on one of the egg wings and pull the opening end and the opposite end of the plastic bag down through two different slots. I have cooked during a driving rain storm with no problems at all. Pulling the ends of the plastic bag down through the slots helps keep everything dry and prevents the wind from blowing the remote off of the egg wing.[p]Don't worry much about having to open the egg to check the temps or to insert a new temp probe. Just have everything ready so you don't have the egg open long enough for the lump to really get to flaring up much. A minute or so is not going to make a lot of difference. Make sure your daisy-wheel is set up properly so that you do not loose your setting and everything will settle back to the way it was before you opened the egg. You should not have to fiddle with the wheel settings at all.
  • Fire in the Hole,
    Thanks for the tips. I put the temp control in the house all last night in hopes it would dry out. When I got up this morning and reconnected it, it seems to be working fine. Internal meat temp is 160, so I guess I am probably entering or am in the plateau everyone talks about. I have 8 hours of cooking time left before the guests arrive, so I hope I am ok. Noticed that the dome temp this morning had dropped to 200 -- back up to 240 now after a little adjustment, so I hope that doesn't set me back from a time perspective.

  • cabdriver,[p]Sounds like you are right on target. The time thing is just a guideline. The meat temp is what you need to watch. Don't be afraid to bump the dome temp up to 275 or 300 if you feel you are about to run short on time.[p]Remember, your grid temp is going to be 10-20 degrees LESS than your dome temp. I usually run a dome temp between 250-275 with excellant results. I think a lot of eggers may worry too much about cooking their butt at 200 and are actually making things a little harder on themselves than they have to.[p]At this point, you are in the plateau, which is the most important part of the cook. I would not attempt to rush the plateau as this is where the fat is being rendered and the true BBQ flavor is made. Once most of the fat is rendered, the meat temp will begin to rise.[p]If you find you are running out of time, bump up the temp after the plateau. Don't be afraid of 350 degrees. You are wanting to get the meat up to a internal temp between 190 and 205. The higher the final temp, the drier the final product, I have found. Don't worry about a few small fat pockets remaining. They will absorb right into the rest of the meat when you pull the pork. It's all good![p]Wish I was there to sample the goods. Enjoy!![p]

  • Fire in the Hole,
    Well, it has now been 18 hours and I am up to 187 degrees. It held in the 170-180 range forever, so I assume that since it is coming up it is out of the plateau. Only one problem, I think I am running out of fuel since I have both the daisy and the bottom vent completely open and I'm down to 200 dome temp. Thermometer says grid temp is 192, so it appears to be cooling off. HELP? Should I just keep it going and see if I can get above 190 meat temp? Do I have to get the meat temp to 200? Should I open up and try to get some additional charcoal on the fire, get the temp back up, and finish off? Any suggestions??

  • Fire in the Hole,
    All's well that ends well. I did indeed finally run out of fuel -- I noticed that the temp kept falling despite the fact that I had every opening open. Internal meat temp was 185 grid temp was 185, so it wasn't going anywhere. I pulled the meat out, added some charcoal, got it going and stabilized at 275 (took about 15 minutes -- meat stayed at 185 through the whole event), then meat back on for two more hours. I reached 200 degrees 20 hours, 12 minutes after I started (about the same time as TNW given the fact that mine was just a few tenths of a pound bigger). Brought the meat in, wrapped it in foil (it was falling apart as I did this) -- covered in towel and put in cooler. Guests arrived and about 45 minutes later I pulled the pork.
    I must say that even with my small hickup, I was pleased to have built a fire that laster 18 hours, pleased that I was able to recover the last two hours with minimal problem, and OH, OH, OH, was the pork fabulous. I have never made this before, but the meat was so tender and juicy. Everyone raved about it -- I just smiled. Love my egg!