My first butt complete

resullivan

My first one turned out pretty well. Going to do a bigger one next time. Took about 12 hours to cook, 4 hours wrapped in towels in a cooler, and then I pulled and refrigerated.

Mark0525

Pulled it looks great. Is there a way of having it not be so dark on the outside? Don't yell at me, I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time

resullivan

I am not sure about the darkness this was my first one. Not sure if the kind of wood I used would affect the color. I used Hickory. Maybe not smoking it?

I will say this though. Even though it is dark it is not charred.

texasAUtiger

That is the way it (the bark) is supposed to look or is going to look if you do it on a smoker.

Most people like bits of bark, in their pulled pork, but some don't.

Boilermaker Ben

could be the lighting. Here are two butts I did a few months ago...one with a standard bbq rub, the other with jerk marinade.
Before the cook:


in the morning light:


inside the house (indirect light):


as you can see in the third picture it looks almost black, but in direct sunlight, it's quite red. Either way, it's lip-smackin' delicious. Unless your thermometer is out of calibration, I wouldn't worry about burning the exterior on an indirect 250degree cook.

Frank from Houma

More rub = more bark
Less rub = less bark

I like plenty bark - More bark = better bite

My bark is much worse than my bite

Loco Lobo

Mmmm, Nice "bark".

That's my favorite part. Having some crunch in with the soft pork. Heaven.

Did you use a rub or add sauce?


When I want to go LARGE for a party, I use several smaller butt's rather than larger ones. More surface area for the bark and each one cooks a little faster so you get good cooking through each.

Bacchus

Congrats, looks good from here.
Most would consider the outer "bark" to be a good thing. Try to disperse it thoughout the load of pulled pork for added texture and flavor.

Florida Grillin Girl

Looks good. Now you see why most everyone makes more than one at a time, same effort, same amount of time, double the amount of nice smokey pork!

Faith

Frank from Houma

Nice!! That last pic is beautimous.

Mark0525

I hope you weren't offended by my comment. I didn't know what is desired when it comes to cooking a butt. Looking at it close up it looks great. Thanks for the info. Some day I will be brave enough to attempt one

resullivan

I used a rub.

Frank from Houma

Can't offend me or disturb me - I'm already disturbed :laugh:

Recommendation:

Turn the "Some day" into a "Soon day" you will be glad you did.

It really is one of the easiest cooks on the Egg

Doesn't take bravery - just takes patience to stabilize the temp before putting the butt(s) on and then not fooling with the vents after introducing a chunk of cold mass.

You will be a hero with whoever takes a bite.

Mark0525

Frank from Houma wrote:

Can't offend me or disturb me - I'm already disturbed :laugh:

Recommendation:

Turn the "Some day" into a "Soon day" you will be glad you did.

It really is one of the easiest cooks on the Egg

Doesn't take bravery - just takes patience to stabilize the temp before putting the butt(s) on and then not fooling with the vents after introducing a chunk of cold mass.

You will be a hero with whoever takes a bite.

Thanks, I'm leaving for Florida on Friday so when I get back I'm going to try it. Were you afraid of running out of lump? How far do you fill the egg up with lump?

resullivan

I filled the lump up to the top of the firebox/bottom of the fire ring, and I had more than enough left over.

Mark0525

so once you have the egg's temp where you want it you put the meat on. The temp will drop because of the cold mass but then it will come back to the temp it was before the meat was put on? I hope I'm saying that right

resullivan

Yep. I actually cooked dinner @250 prior to putting the butt on, so the grill was going for about 2 hours @250 before I actually put the butt on. I got up a couple of times through the night, but it stayed perfect @250 until it was time to take it off.

Mark0525

did you top off the lump after you cooked your dinner?

resullivan

No, the only thing I did was add the hickory and platesetter. I then let the grill get back to 250 then I put the butt on.

Frank from Houma

I'm using an XL and for long cooks I just load it up to the top of the fire ring. I'll get several smaller cooks off of the same load. Can't remember what I was cooking probably a brisket, then some ribs, and then other stuff, but went close to 30 hours once with lump left over.