Best Butt Yet! But could still improve...

Theophan · July 2015

I haven't smoked a pork butt in way too long, have been craving one, finally did it today. Best ever! With some suggestions from others here, I finally seem to have arrived at a method for getting more smoke that works for me: start the fire no plate setter, no wood. When it's up to temp and no more white smoke, arrange 4 chunks or so of wood around where the fire is, radially arranged, put in the plate setter, put on the meat. It gets back up to temp quickly, and I have nice blue smoke for most of the cook. I started it a bit late, so I cooked it around 275 most of the time. VERY happy with the cook and the smokiness!

OK, so I still could use a tip or two: First, the middle part of the butt took way longer (maybe an hour) than the ends, so the ends were probably way overcooked by the time the middle finally got up to temp and was soft enough to feel easily pull-able. Second, maybe because of that, some of the bark was DELICIOUS but so hard and crunchy that I wasn't sure it wouldn't almost feel like rocks in a pulled pork sandwich. So I just ate the hardest pieces while I was pulling the pork (man, they were good!). So, any suggestions on getting the whole piece of meat done at the same time? I suppose if I wrapped it in foil toward the end, the bark would all soften up, but I love it crunchy, so I hate to wrap. Parts of this were just a bit too much so. Any thoughts?

Before:

I forgot to take an "after" picture on the Egg, but snapped one in the bowl before I covered it for a while, and then pulled it:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/4u/333dgon9bph0.jpg

GATraveller · July 2015

I'm with you I hate to wrap. Just seems like adding an unnecessary step to the process. Do you use a drip pan? That may help diffuse heat away from the corners. Maybe drop temp to 260? I only seem to get those crispy ends on brisket.

Ladeback69 · July 2015

Looks good to me. I don't see a drip pan, but I just usually wrap my PS in foil. It looks like it is a picnic end so maybe it was a little long and the ends got a little more crispy from hanging over. I like the burnt crispy parts and I do what you you when pulling it and eat it while I am pulling. Most of my family like the burnt part of the bark. Wrapping is ok, but I too like to let it ride tell it is down. You could try butcher paper like others are using on briskets. That way the bark you have doesn't get soft. Just my 0.2.

Foghorn · July 2015

Yes. As @GATraveller mentioned, blocking the flow of direct or nearly direct heat is the key to avoiding dry overcooked meat on the ends. That's where the drip pan comes in.

I read about it here for a long time and did not initially embrace it, but once I did, the quality of my cooks went up.

Also, the lower the cooking temp, the more slowly and evenly the heat distributes throughout the hunk of meat - but I think this is a lesser issue if you block the heat properly as turbo butts cooked at 350 are hard to distinguish from a butt cooked low and slow. The turbo butt probably has a little more bark, but it tends to be good, edible, highly desirable bark.

Theophan · July 2015

Many thanks to all for the helpful comments! I really didn't think the ends were hanging off the plate setter, but maybe I wasn't looking carefully enough.

It had been so long since I've cooked one of these that I just didn't think about a drip pan, and now I have a lot of crud on my plate setter to clean off. It wouldn't have occurred to me that a drip pan might change the heat distribution, but I'll definitely give it a try next time.

I've never tried butcher paper, but if this happens next time with a drip pan, I'll try that the next time.

Thanks again!

lousubcap · July 2015

One thing to consider-with the BGE design there is a natural hot spot (due to air-flow characteristics) at the back just right of 12o'clock. I put one leg of the PS there to compensate. Also as above-make sure anything overhanging a PS is well foil protected to help balance the cooking pace. FWIW-

GATraveller · July 2015

I've about decided that if I ever decide to wrap butt or brisket then I'll use paper.

Theophan · July 2015

Interesting about a hot spot that's more on the right than the left. I can't think of a reason why it should be that way, but I'll take your word for it.

And I've never tried wrapping in paper, have hardly ever wrapped with foil, but it sure might be worth a try. Thanks to everybody for the tips!

lousubcap · July 2015

The reason for the slightly off-center hot spot is that the incoming air vent is slightly off center as well. Or so I have been told-and the difference is such that a platesetter leg will compensate just fine.

Theophan · July 2015

lousubcap said:

The reason for the slightly off-center hot spot is that the incoming air vent is slightly off center as well. Or so I have been told-and the difference is such that a platesetter leg will compensate just fine.

Ah... Now I get it -- thanks for explaining. Though it doesn't apply to me, as it turns out. For some reason, whoever put together my first Egg (Medium) put the opening dead center, which means the plate with the sliding cover was not centered. It was my first Egg, and it made sense to me that the way to get the ashes out was centered, and I didn't think anything about it. But then I got my second Egg (Large), and the plate was centered, which looked nicer I suppose, but it meant the opening was not centered, and I wasn't crazy about it. It made scooping the ashes out a little awkward, especially in the enclosure they're in now in my new table. So when I had the people come out and install new gaskets for me (I wasn't sure I'd be able to readjust them so they closed properly, so I had them do it, and was grateful I did), I asked them to rotate the top part so the opening on the Large is centered as it is on my Medium, so now they both are.

lousubcap · July 2015

Well played with the adjustment-and I agree, removing ashes from my slightly off-set large can be a bit of a challenge-mine is in a nest. Oh well, if that's the only challenge I have then I'm not pushing the BGE envelope.

HoustonEgger · July 2015

@Theophan I always use a drip pan on my pork butts and I will add that I try to rub the butts the night before, refrigerate for 24 hours and then add more rub just before smoking - this creates some of the best bark I've come across.

For the fire set up - you've got it spot on - the only item I'll add to that is that I foil wrap some chips and throw those onto the hotspot before putting the plate setter on - that way I get some good initial smoke while the chunks are warming up.

theyolksonyou · July 2015

On a really big piece of meat you can place foil under the ends to protect from the heat. Even with a pan, a brisket or long butt may overhang.

Theophan · July 2015

Many thanks for the additional tips! It'll probably be a while before I cook a pork butt again, but I love them, so I'll be doing it again one of these days, and I'll be remembering the advice -- thanks again!

badinfluence · July 2015

@theophan also what is the rub you are using. Make sure it does not have a lot of sugar in it.nthat to may be why it got so hard. Just a thought.

Theophan · July 2015

badinfluence said:

@theophan also what is the rub you are using. Make sure it does not have a lot of sugar in it.nthat to may be why it got so hard. Just a thought.

I wondered about that. In the past I've used a few different ones, liked Bad Byron's, though it was a little too salty for me. This time I had a big bag of sort of a general purpose rub I ordered from some place in Texas a few years ago, figured I needed to use it or pitch it, so I used it on this. And yeah, it was pretty sweet, went on like it was mostly brown sugar, which it may have been. The bark was absolutely WONDERFUL in flavor, and my wife also loved it. But maybe that was part of how it got so hard. I was thinking it would caramelize more, maybe get too "burned" (that wasn't a problem -- it tasted wonderful, and not burned), but I wasn't thinking it might make the bark too hard. Something to think some more about, I guess.

Thanks!

Best Butt Yet! But could still improve...

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