First Pork Butt next weekend

deenet

Next weekend, I am going to cook my first pork butt in my BGE. I do not have a plate setter so here is my plan.

Friday afternoon, I am going to coat the meet with mustard then some kind of pork rub then wrap in plastic wrap and stick in in the fridge. Friday night I am going to completely clean vacuum out the BGE, fill with lump and a few medium pieces of mesquite. I plan on lighting the fire at the top center and giving the BGE temp some time to stabilize to 225-250. I am going to set a drip-pan with about 1 inch of some kind of beer and place it in the center of the grate and place a fire brick on each side of the pan. On top of the bricks and drip pan, I am placing a smaller grate and finally the pork butt. I will be using a digital meat thermometer and I will check occasionally until it reaches 195-200. Once the temp range is reached, I will test with a meat probe to see if the meat is tender enough, and if so, I will remove the butt from the egg, wrap it in aluminium foil and place in a cooler for an hour or so. 

That's the plan for now. I live in the Fort Worth area. Does anybody have any recommendations on the type of mustard and rub to use? Any advice on any step of this process would be greatly appreciated!

IrishDevl

Yellow mustard (Frenches or similar) and whatever rub you like. I sometimes puts few different on it. Not sure about wrapping in plastic after the rub, doesn't seem to be the way to go to me. If I were to rub the night before I would leave on a plate and put a paper towel over it. I don't even put it in the fridge after that, nothing can happen with all that rub on it and I like to put butts on when room temperature. My number one rule is to not get to technical with it which it seems you are doing with everything above - but I certainly understand being your first one. Don't take the butt off until the probe slides in like warm butter. I use my thermopen.

Mickey

I put my rub, then mustard, add more rub all when I start my fire. Sometimes a little before the fire but not the night before and not back in fridge. I do not use any liquid in the Egg. If you would like to know about Turbo (quick cook) just say.

yellowdogbbq

Like @IrishDevl said, keep it simple.  Do you have a pizza stone?   That would work well for an indirect setup or I read where some are putting sand in a pan and using that instead.  If you go with the liquid make sure you keep adding to the pan as it will boil and evaporate quickly.  Several fire bricks laid flat on the lower grid would be another thought for an indirect setup.  On temp- my egg really likes 270-290 dome temp and will stay at this temp for very long periods of time.  Sometimes holding a low temp is more work than it is worth.  Good luck and have fun. 

QDude

I think that you could simplify even further.  I have never noticed that mustard does anything for the flavor of a pork butt.  The rub will stick to the butt without it.  I also don't think that you need to put any beer in the drip pan.  Seems like a waste of beer!  Pork butts, in fact all foods, come out incredibly moist when cooked on an egg.  Your mileage may vary though.

ptmurphy

Same here - My egg holds nicely at about 280 to 290 dome temp, but the grate temp is usually about 260 to 270 (using Maverick probe).

Also, have you considered injecting the butt before the cook?  I do it basically with a mixture of apple juice, water, and salt.  It doesn't really change the flavor, it mostly distributes a bit of salt throughout the meat, which I think helps.

LBC Dawg

To each his own of course, but i think mesquite is too strong for pork. I'd use hickory or a fruit wood.

tazcrash

+1 on fruit wood. Love apple. Want to try peach.

shtgunal3

I rub and wrap the night before. I use olive oil instead of mustard. I've tried both and like the OO better. As others has said, no need for liquid in the pan. It won't take long and the pan will be full of butt juice anyway. +1 on the hickory or fruitwood. Pecan is good too.

Little Steven

It doesn't need to go in a cooler unless you are holding for later service. If time is not an issue , just tent it loosely with tin foil and rest until it's cool enough to pull. Bark will be better this way. Also, light the lump in three spots in a triangle pattern. There is a phenomenon where the lump can burn straight down and not spread out. For your drip pan, the liquid will evaporate pretty quick since it is direct. Better to fill a disposable pan with sand.

henapple

I'll have to disagree with little steven. I think the foil time helps... But what do I know?

DonWW

I am not sure why you are without a platesetter, but I would go buy one if I were you.  Avoids having to rig a "workaround" when you want to cook indirectly.  If they are not available in Ft. Worth, they can be found in Dallas.  Jackson's. 

+1 on IrishDevl.  Cook by temperature, not time.  The temp probe should slide in like a hot knife in butter.  Look for a temp around 200 - 205. 

tazcrash

An indirect method is essential to open up a host of cooking option, but before you buy a plate setter, think long and hard if you will want to expand cooking racks. Ever since I bought my AR, my plate setter sits unused. 

Grambler

LBC Dawg said:

To each his own of course, but i think mesquite is too strong for pork. I'd use hickory or a fruit wood.

Agree here. You might want to try a more mild wood. Apple, peach or even pecan.

Little Steven

henapple said:

I'll have to disagree with little steven. I think the foil time helps... But what do I know?

I am incensed! I don't foil spares either. It really comes down to preference in texture IMHO

JRWhitee

Great information above, my first baby backs I used mesquite and it was way too strong I use mostly hickory or fruit woods in pork now. Also drink the beer it will just evaporate and the but will still be juicy and I never noticed any difference using mustard, my rub sticks fine I just rub lightly with olive oil before I put on the rub. I also don't foil as I like the crusty bark on the outside I find the foil softens the bark. Good luck.

IrishDevl

Forget plate setter. Either get a spyder and the stone or AR. I don't use my plate setter at all anymore after buying. Waste if money.

dlt

IrishDevl-let me know if you want to sell the platesetter-I'll buy!

IrishDevl

dlt said:

IrishDevl-let me know if you want to sell the platesetter-I'll buy!

the day I sell it is the day my stone breaks, I just know it. 

Little Steven

I broke a leg off a platesetter. Took the other two off with an angle grinder. Works awesome with the rig

dlt

You are a smart person! That would be MY "luck o' the Irish"!!

deenet

What is an "AR"??

IrishDevl

Little Steven said:

I broke a leg off a platesetter. Took the other two off with an angle grinder. Works awesome with the rig

You actually could have also gotten it replaced by warrantee. But a fine upstanding citizen like you would never do such a thing.

QDude

deenet said:

What is an "AR"??

Adjustable Rig.  It is an alternative to a platesetter.

tazcrash

deenet said:

What is an "AR"??

check ceramic grill store. 

I'm with the devil. I have my platesetter, and my AR. I just don't want to jinx it. 

henapple

tazcrash said:

deenet said:

What is an "AR"??

check ceramic grill store. 

I'm with the devil. I have my platesetter, and my AR. I just don't want to jinx it. 

Mine is a Cmmg ar-10. 308 lucid red dot

tazcrash

henapple said:

deenet said:

What is an "AR"??

check ceramic grill store. 

I'm with the devil. I have my platesetter, and my AR. I just don't want to jinx it. 

Mine is a Cmmg ar-10. 308 lucid red dot

Please don't try and cook that.  %-(

fishlessman

everything in your plan will work except the mesquite. in the egg mesquite can be incredibly strong, thats the only deal breaker in your plan, if you dont have any other choices for wood smoke then dont use any. i do use mesquite with pork butt on occasion  but the piece is about half the size of an icecube

deenet

I will definitely use Apple or pecan to smoke. Regardless, I think I will use very little anyway. My wife does not like her BBQ too smokey, go figure.  Thanks for all the advice guys...

milesbrown4

Just make sure you don't pull too early.  That was my mistake the first time, it looked so good I pulled it prior to the IT being at least 190 so that it pulls easily.

Terrebandit

New to the BGE. On smoker pits and gassers, I would smoke the butt for about 5 to 6 hours at 235 to 250. After that, I'd wrap in HD foil and keep it going at the same temp until 200 to 205 internal meat temp. Can this foil step be skipped when using the BGE? The nice thing about the foil is that you capture the juices and put them back into the meat after you pull it.