Butt temp

Unknown

Everyone on the forum seem to agree that the temp to cook a butt to is 200. I tried and it was greattt! I just read in Smoke & Spice,which seems to be a book often referred to, that it should be cooked to 170.[p]Whats up?

JJ

Big Cat,
I believe that they are referring to the 170* as the minimum safe temp for consumption. Like any recipe it's great as a startimg point then adjust to suit your personal preference and tastes.

Mike Oelrich

Big Cat,[p] Since I don't have my copy with me at the moment, I can't check the recipe. Do they call for you to put the meat in foil for part of the cooking time? If not, I'd say that 170 was a bit low. At this temperature, the meat will be fully cooked, but normally you want it to get to a bit higher temperature to make sure the collagen and connective tissues in the meat are broken down. The meat usually reaches a "plateau" at around 160 as this process starts to take place. After that, the tempertaure goes up much faster. I usually cook mine to about 180-185, then take them off and wrap in foil for about an hour with the juices I collected in my drip pan. Seems to work pretty well. As long as I can grab a bone and slide it right out of the meat, I'm fairly confident it's pullable. You can also stick a fork in the meat and twist to check for doneness.

Char-Woody

Big Cat, Stick with 200F..."No Two Butts are created equal" and some may be ready at the Smoke and Spice note. But all butts are ready at 200F in general. So why mess?
Cheers..C~W[p]

Unknown

Char-Woody,
I agree 100%. Just curious. I wonder what curiosity will do to a Big Cat?

Fingers

Big Cat,
I wonder (don't have a copy of "Smoke&Spice")in the recipe are they cooking a butt as a roast or as pulled pork?

Unknown

JJ,[p]I am curious. I saw a picture that was apparently posted by you in one of your replies. I counted three big green eggs in the picture. How many do you use?[p]Best regards,[p]jere bashinski
jerski@pacbell.net

JJ

<p />Jere Bashinski,
If you count them again you will see 4 EGGs, 2 Large, 1 Small and 1 Mini. I use them all, sometimes I have all of them going at one time for large cook outs. I also have a BGE Chiminea (not shown) that I sometimes cook on and during the fall and winter use it as a heat source while cooking.