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Fatcap Blues
Eggtucky
Posts: 2,746
Got 4x 5lb bone in butts to cook tomorrow in preparation for the weekend...was rubbing em down and trying to decide....I get my pork butts bone in with a fat cap...I've cooked them cap side up and cap side down...seemed like fatcap up was a lil juicier..was curious what everone else does...even skimmed a few of the common sites and no one really mentioned how they prefer to do this...
Comments
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I do them the same as you but most say cap down so the fat doesn't wash the spices off. Others trim off the cap for more bark. Guess it's a personal preference. :side:
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I'd say cap side up.
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Said this a few times:
I know this will probably draw some heat but fat cap DOWN. Let me tell the logic in this. During the Plateau the liquidfied collagens are flowing within the meat and dripping off. This process is actually washing the rub you put on the meat off. Spices will NOT penetrate the fat so any that you put on the fat cap just sit there. Let the collagen breakdown pull your spices into the meat and form the bark. Furthermore with the fat cap down you are placing that fat barrier against the heat providing that much more of a barrier. Plus it will break down somewhat faster. -
cap down for me... that way the fat that runs down the but doesn't wash all my rub away
happy eggin
TB
Anderson S.C.
"Life is too short to be diplomatic. A man's friends shouldn't mind what he does or says- and those who are not his friends, well, the hell with them. They don't count."
Tyrus Raymond Cobb
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well, here is the counter argument to your rationale, at leat with regard to the "heat barrier". ...we all know that with an indirect set up in the egg, that there is more heat up in the dome than there is at the grid. ..i think that is something that everyone agrees on. ...so i think it stands to reason that having the cap side up provides better protection against the heat (both with pork butts and with briskets). ..i always do fat cap up with both. ...as far as spices being pulled into the meat. ..i think that tends to happen more from the meat being injected with a mixture that includes some of the rub. ...to be honest, when you cook a butt that hasn't had spices injected into it, and you first break it open how much of the spice are you really tasting?. ...the spice taste comes from pulling the meat, tossing it all together, and then having a good mix of the interior meat along with the spice covered bark. ...
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Well I thought this might touch a nerve and I have experimented to no conclusion for over a year now...let's add one more 'variable' to the equation...if you're doing multiple butts..in this case 4x..I will be STACKING...2x on the grid..2x on the raised grid...now what say you?? :blink: :blink: ..i'm not playin games..spent all evening drinking and considering this..I can't decide what makes the most sense!! :blink: :unsure: :woohoo:
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Well then you'll prove me and Max Right hahahaha
You could put all four on one rack, but like fat up or down it's your choice. -
Your logic is sound, but *I* still prefer fat cap down..
As for injection. I don't inject till the meat is in or past the plateau. Just something I learned from my father-in-law and it works really well.
The only reason I can come up with why this works so well is the injection is getting pulled throughout the meat while the collagen breaking down and dripping out versus being pushed out. -
Well, since you mentioned that you'll be cooking four, how about two up/two down on each level?
You got me thinking now about this now, and Sam's sells their pork butts in 2-packs...hehe. Guess I'm cooking pulled pork this weekend. -
Think I'm gonna 'try' to get em all 4 on the one level like CW suggested and put 2 up and 2 down..even if they are touching I have plenty of time if i put them on by noon or so today... looking forward to these..my last order of Blues Hog they sent me a bottle of the butt rub and gonna use it on these..cant wait to taste em..then gonna work on a pot of red beans for red beans and rice tonight..got some fresh andouille y'day..should really jazz up the beans 'n rice.. :woohoo:
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Welp..was a tight fit..but I gottem all 4 on one level..and CW..you will note sir, they are ALL fatcap down...mainly cuzz I'm a knucklehead and got in a hurry and forgot to put 2 up and 2 down..grrr
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