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Pulled Pork

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EGGRPh
EGGRPh Posts: 180
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hi Everyone,

I'm doing my first overnight smoke of a pork butt for pulled pork. I am following the Naked Whiz for directions, but I want to know any additional advice that you guys can give me. I will be smoking at temp. between 220 to 250 degress. 2 hours per lbs. total time should be about 12 hours. Just a little nervous.
:woohoo: Thanks for the advice.

Stef (aka EGGRPh)
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    It would be a good idea to calibrate your dome thermometer first, just stick it into some boiling water and verify that it is close to 212 degrees. Then cook the butt at 250 - 270 and you should be fine. -RP
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  • FearlessGrill
    FearlessGrill Posts: 695
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    Hi Stef,

    You'll be fine. A couple of things ...

    1) Completely clean out the ash and small bits of lump from your Egg. You don't want those clogging up your vent holes during the cook. I usually start with fresh lump for overnight cooks. I save the old stuff to reuse later.

    2) Light in 3-4 places to avoid a 'vertical burn', where the fire burns straight down and goes out, instead of spreading out

    3) Let your temperature fully stabilize at 250ish before putting the meat in. Once you put the meat in, the cold meat will cause your dome temp to drop. DON'T PLAY WITH THE VENTS. The Egg will eventually restabilize at the original temp. At this point, you should be good to go.

    4) Remember that the 2 hours/lb is a guideline. It may finish faster, or it may take longer. If you have a hard serving time (e.g. guests for dinner at 6pm), consider starting your cook a couple of hours 'early'. If the butt finishes early, wrap in foil and a bath towel, and put it in a cooler till you're ready to serve. It will stay hot and be ready to pull when you take it out. This way if it goes over the expected time, you have some wiggle room and people aren't standing around hungry.

    Good luck!

    -John
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  • MJF24
    MJF24 Posts: 146
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    Good luck! A couple of random thoughts:

    1. Remember to pull the butt when the internal temperature is between 195 and about 200. The 2 hours per pound (or 1.5 hours per pound) is just a guideline.

    2. Calibrate your dome thermometer before you start to make sure that it is reasonably close to accurate. You don't need scientific precision with this cook, but you don't want to have the dome temp reading 250 when it is actually 350 in the dome.

    3. Don't fiddle with the vents. Try to let the dome temperature get settled BEFORE you put the butt on; then just leave it alone. The dome temp will drop when you put the butt in (because the meat is cold) but it will recover. Don't open the vents unless the dome temperature continues to drop a few hours after you put the butt on.

    4. Try to get some sleep. You don't need to check it every hour. I still check mine every 4 hours or so during the night. That gives me enough time to save teh cook if the temperature is dropping too much.

    5. Adult beverages can help.

    6. Remember this is supposed to be fun!
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  • trying_to_master_the_egg
    trying_to_master_the_egg Posts: 61
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    You received some good advice from the above post, you will be amazed at how easy it is to cook a good butt on the egg. A butt was actually the first meal that I cooked on my egg.
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  • ElDestructo
    ElDestructo Posts: 45
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    Thanks for starting this thread, this will be shortly my first overnight cook. I've read both fat side up and down, what are everyone's thoughts here? Also, how much do you all estimate per person? (raw weight). The BBQ will be approximately 16 adults and a few kiddos.

    Thanks, can't wait.
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    I go fat down, it always sticks to the grid. I do 1/2 pound raw per person and get leftovers. -RP
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  • NotabuttDave
    NotabuttDave Posts: 181
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    Fat side up.

    Don't be nervous. My first pulled pork sucked, but I didn't know it. My second was better, sucked, but I didn't know it. As I progressed, they got better and better, and I know it.

    You will do fine.
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    NotabuttDave wrote:
    Fat side up.

    No kidding?! There are TWO of us who do it that way? Who knew? If you read virtually every other post on this subject, it's fat down. Even I am planning to do it that way next time. Just to see what all the fuss is about.

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

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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