26,342 Question on cooking a Pork Butt!

Unknown

Dear Forum Inhabitants...[p]I need some advice. Say I have a 5 lb or so Pork Butt. I load up the BGE with a Char-Woody Smoke Fire. It then cruises at 200-210 for as long as I want. At 18 hrs, typically, my Butt will be at 145 or so Polder. So...how long do you cook your butts for? My goal is a collagen havoc-wreaking 190. Should I go for longer to get to 190 internal? Or do you up the egg temp near then end? Or is 190 the end game? [p]THX UR RSPNS! [p]Mike

Char-Woody

Mike Flaherty, Answer number 26,343..is your in the ballpark 190 to 200..fork twist in the meat will confirm you have pulled pork. Especially when you try to lift it off the rack or grill. :-) For a more crusty exterior, you can raise the dome temp the last hour or so, won't hurt a thing, and it will peak quicker.
Good luck..how do you like that smoke..Makes me eyes water thinking about it..BTW..I will make a first run smoke on ribs in a new BGE environment tomorrow..Whoooooo...Sumptin tells me it will be positive.
Cheers to ya..
C~W[p]

Unknown

Mike Flaherty, BTW..if your cooking at 225 to 250F dome temp, you will be done in a easy 10 to 12 hours with a 5 lb Boston Butt. Figuring 2 hours per lb on the long side. My 8.5 lbs take about 18 to 20 hours.
Hope this helps..
C~W[p]

Unknown

Mike Flaherty, BTW..if your cooking at 225 to 250F dome temp, you will be done in a easy 10 to 12 hours with a 5 lb Boston Butt. Figuring 2 hours per lb on the long side. My 8.5 lbs take about 18 to 20 hours.
Hope this helps..
C~W[p]

Char-Woody

C~W, dang buttons...:-) Oh, well..Life is a jalopy with 4 flat tires..heeeyaaaa.
Char-Woody...yer constant companion.

Unknown

Char-Woody,[p]Oh man don't lift the lid, because if you do... Cough cough cough choke eye's watterin choke choke... holy moley MAN that makes SMOKE![p]THX Amigo! [p]Mike

Unknown

M~F, Lovely stuff..now ya have to work out how much you really want and increase and decrease the amount of smoking wood. :-)
Best to start with just a few lumps/chips and work up. The idea is to have the wood access the heat or visa versa, yet to limit the amount of flaming of the smoking wood. I think it works pretty good.
C~W

Unknown

C~W,[p]I guess I mis-spook my original quesion yesterday, and I'm still a wee bit confused. Maybe I understand the weight of my pork-butt. The butts I usually get are just the size of.... a human head. But my real qustion is.... should the butt (be it whatever size) be able to, with time, attain it's final internal temp of 190, with the egg at say...200-210? I usually adjust the egg up to 300+ after 18 to 20 hrs, to bring the butt to 190. Maybe I should just be letting the butt cook longer. Thank you sir! Mike/Seattle

JJ

M~F,
It will eventually attain the temp of 190* at dome temp of 200-210. You will get better results a little quicker using a dome temp of 250* and you not have to adjust cooking temps later on. Remember that the temp on the grid is cooler than what the thermometer reads at the dome.

Nature Boy

M~F,
Once you get into the upper 170s, the plateau is finished and temps can be knocked up closer to 300. In my experiences, and IMO, 200-210 dome temp is lower that you need though. I like to use 250 dome for my low/slows. I find that when I use 200, I have hard time getting anywhere, and that the cook goes too slowly to be beneficial.[p]Just some morning thoughts!
NB

Char-Woody

M~F, both NB and JJ steered you in the right direction. When cooking at the low and slow speeds of 225 or lower, then you can finish em off at the higher temps towards the end of the cook. As NB and JJ said, if you using a Polder, you will see the stall period of around 2 to 3 hours (size of the B'butt determines this) at the 165 area. After your see the rise, go ahead and kick it up to 300 and watch the finish meat temp zip up to 190+..insert fork, and the meat should tear easily..your done..go eat.
Cheers..C~W[p]