In the middle of a turbo butt cook

ColAngus

Unfortunately I started late this morning to turbo cook an 8 lb butt.

I've had the temp around 350 for 4 hours so far and it's at 160 IT.  I need this to be ready in 3 hours.

Should I foil it or not?

My cook temp is dropping so I need to check what's going on anyways.

freddyj

I would, foil will speed up the cooking time and you'd rather have it done early and rest an hour, right?

Richard Fl

I would foil and get thru the stall and pull 200-210. 2-3 hours more apprx.

DMW

Yes, foil it tightly with a double wrap of foil.

Mattman3969

^^^^ this and what others have said.

ColAngus

Awesome.  Thanks guys.  I just pulled it off and the damn charcoal is almost gone.  

I tried a different brand of charcoal (Hasty Bake) and it burned faster than another I've used.

So now I gotta add more to the BGE.

Once I've lit the charcoal, can I put the butt back on or do I need to wait a while for the charcoal to burn?

SGH

Foil as mentioned above. Also it being only a 8 pounder you can safely bump the temp to 400-425 to really speed things along. I do it quite often with exceptional results.

DMW

Since the butt will be foiled, you don't need to let the "bad smoke" clear. Just get the butt back on and bring the temp to where it should be.

Mattman3969

If you have it wrapped up tight I would give the fire just a few mini tues to stabilize with the dome closed and then put the meat back on. Being wrapped it not goin to take on any more smoke be it good or bad.

freddyj

SGH said:

Foil as mentioned above. Also it being only a 8 pounder you can safely bump the temp to 400-425 to really speed things along. I do it quite often with exceptional results.

Me too, I prefer to let the bark form fully at a low temp, then foil with a Stubbs pork tenderizer and brown sugar and ramp up the temp. Comes out killer!

Mickey

No, not in the foil camp at all.

Mattman3969

How's your temp coming along??

freddyj

Did you make it in time?

shtgunal3

It's too late now but you could have wrapped in foil and threw it in the oven when the fire went out.

RRP

Mickey said:

No, not in the foil camp at all.

You know I'm with you Mick! With it at 160 and 3 hours to go on a turbo cook he had plenty of time to get the fire restarted and back up to 350 and reach 205 or so before supper time. Foil just ruins the bark IMO.

ColAngus

It took 6 hrs for an 8lb butt.  

It was good.  Not as good as my previous cook (this is my 2nd turbo, first try was a LS), but everyone loved it.

Overall, I'm happy with the results.  I started 2 hrs late, due to some unforeseen issues.

I'm going to start journaling my turbo cooks, so I can fine tune it.  

Here's the breakdown of IT per hour:

stemc33

ColAngus said:

It took 6 hrs for an 8lb butt.  

It was good.  Not as good as my previous cook (this is my 2nd turbo, first try was a LS), but everyone loved it.

Overall, I'm happy with the results.  I started 2 hrs late, due to some unforeseen issues.

I'm going to start journaling my turbo cooks, so I can fine tune it.  

Here's the breakdown of IT per hour:

I'm not sure you'll be able to fine tune it from some of the posts I've read on the forum. Lots of members report that each butt cooks different even under the same circumstances.

Mickey

ColAngus said:

It took 6 hrs for an 8lb butt.  

It was good.  Not as good as my previous cook (this is my 2nd turbo, first try was a LS), but everyone loved it.

Overall, I'm happy with the results.  I started 2 hrs late, due to some unforeseen issues.

I'm going to start journaling my turbo cooks, so I can fine tune it.  

Here's the breakdown of IT per hour:

Please keep in mind. Cooking a butt is only slightly more difficult than hotdogs. Don't over think this.

ColAngus

Agreed. A spreadsheet for hotdogs, moving forward!!!!

Mickey

ColAngus said:

Agreed. A spreadsheet for hotdogs, moving forward!!!!

Yes, you truly belong here. I am so sorry.