My first Pork Butt + Cook time?

BKRonline

Hi all!

I had a day off and wanted to try a different low and slow than brisket, so we decided on a 9 lbl pork butt!

Setup

• Large Big Green Egg
  
• Big Green Egg Plate Setter, legs up
  
• Drip pan, lined with foil
  
• Big Green Egg stock grid (fits the CyberQ WiFi grid clamp)
  
• Big Green Egg BBQ Guru CyberQ WiFi
  
• Hickory chunks - fist sized, or small split logs (try Pecan)
  
• Layer them more in the center with the charcoal, not all the way out to the edge
• 6 to 8 fist-sized lumps, dry
• or 2-3 split logs, dry
• Natural Lump Charcoal, filled to the top line of the fire box (the line below the fire ring)
  
• ThermoWorks Thermapen, to test against the BBQ Guru when thought to be done
  

Our Thoughts

• Keep it simple
  
• Take the meat out of the fridge 1 hour prior to the cook
  
• Lightly rub all sides with extra virgin olive oil
  
• Liberal application of rub on ALL sides
  
• Put meat on the EGG fat-cap up
  
• Grid temperature stabilized at 250 F
  
• Internal meat temperature to 200 F - 205 F
  
• Don't peek!
  
• ??? Cook time is about 1.5 hours per pound
  
• When the internal meat temperature is 200 F to 205 F, wrap tightly in foil and let rest for 1 to 3 hours
  
• Pull with claws, or keep chunks
  
• Enjoy!
  

Rub #68 (from Dr. BBQ Ray Lampe)

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, dried (see Note)
  
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
  
• 1/4 cup paprika
  
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
  
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  
• 1 teaspoon Sugar in the Raw
  
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
  
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Rub Note (from Dr. BBQ Ray Lampe)

• Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process for 15 seconds. The rub may be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 6 months.
  
• Note: To dry the brown sugar, spread it out on a sheet pan and let it sit overnight, or preheat your oven to 200°F, then shut it off and put the sheet in for 10 minutes.
  

I put the 9 lbl pork butt on last night at 2000 and was done at 1100 the next morning, 15 hours total cook time, the meat is falling off the bone! I was expecting more along the lines of 18 - 20 hours based on my experiences with brisket.

Questions

• For the time being, I've shut down the Egg, double wrapped the pork butt in heavy duty aluminum foil, and put the meat back in the Egg. I'm trying to stretch the resting time closer to an early dinner. What's your experience and insight on this?
• From what you see above, am I doing anything out of the ordinary or flat out incorrectly?

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to your response!

Smokinpig

Method seems fine to me. You might end up with soft bark after leaving it wrapped in the egg for a while to rest.

SeahawksEGGHead

that's a good looking butt, if you don't mind me saying so.  I live in higher altitudes, so it generally takes me longer to cook anything, so my timing so far really sucks.

SGH

Looks like you got everything right on the money. The only place where we differ is I like to peek. Just always have. As to your resting question as long as your temp is no higher than 170 you can rest it wrapped for untold hours with no quality degradation at all. I have done it many, many times with great success. As to your timing question. Pork shoulder in my experience will always cook and render down faster than brisket when all factors are equal. Why? With pork shoulder you are trying to break down huge amounts of adipose. This renders much faster than trying to break down the tough connective tissue and hard fat that is found in brisket. Your food looks excellent my friend. Solid cook.

BKRonline

Thanks all!

VERY helpful!

BKRonline

Wow, thanks for the insight!

SGH

@BKRonline‌
If I may I would like to make a few points. When it comes to cooking times they are usually given as a very broad and generic guideline. Not an absolute or hard table if you will. There are so many factors that can and will affect cooking time it would be next to impossible to express cooking time in a exact table. As you cook more and more you will start to notice some of these variables that play a huge part in determining cook time. Here are just a few of numerous variables in no particular order of importance.

Amount of intramuscular adipose.
Amount of external fat.
Type and amount of total connective tissue and collagen.
Particular muscle structure it's self. (Pectoral, deltoid, tricep, etc...)
Quality of said meat.
Of course cooking temperature.
Set up- Direct, raised direct or indirect.
Amount of convective, reflective and radiant heat being absorbed.
Humid or dry cooking environment
There are many, many others but listing them all is beyond the scope of this writing. But the above is some of the more common ones. Again it looks like you nailed it to me. Excellent cook.
.

BKRonline

@SGH

Thanks a ton. I got pretty good with timing briskets, but since this is my first pork butt I was guessing timing like I might a brisket for starters. After I do a more of these I'm sure I'll get the timing closer to inside the ballpark rather than the next state over.

:-)

Thanks again, you rock!

stemc33

Very nice. Excellent details on the cook.

I wouldn't worry about using the thermapen to test against the BBQ Guru. Once the temp is in ballpark, you'll just go by feel and not temp for doneness. I use my ThermoPop when doing periodic checks to see where the temps at, but I also don't have a constant probe monitoring temp either(hoping to get one before winter so I don't have to go out in the cold to check). I've pulled the meat off too early going off of temperature alone making it tough to pull.

BKRonline

Thanks!

lousubcap

Best finish-line indicator for me on butts is when the bone pulls clean.  And that's usually around 200-205*F. FWIW-