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About to Cook / smoke for my first time - Boston Butt

Tier1Terrier
Tier1Terrier Posts: 129
in EggHead Forum
Picked up a 7.5 lb bone in Boston butt. Got it rubbed down and sitting in fridge. I want to start cooking it tomorrow around 7am and have it done and ready to eat by 5pm. I realize this is not optimal, but this is what I have to work with. I don't want to cook overnight because I'm still learning to control the temp And I don't want to wake up every 2 hours to check it. 

Given this information above, what wood be the best 'formula' to cook this. Time, temp, etc.   thanks in advance!
XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)
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Comments

  • AaronH
    AaronH Posts: 145
    While I have plenty of experience on other smokers cooking butts, I just cooked 2 /10lbs butts yesterday on the egg which wa my first time. I have come to find out that on the egg, it needs to be around 250 degrees. i would invest in a Maverick 733 remote thermometer that will alert you to temp changes. 
    XLBGE /MiniBGE / Maverick 733 x 2/ Woo2 / CGS 17.5 Stone

    North Carolina land
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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,319
    edited September 2015
    @Tier1Terrier - that's a tight time constraint you have. I suggest going turbo: Right around 300 to an IT of 200 and "probes like buttah". If it gets done early, foil/towel/cooler it until you're ready to pull it apart and serve it. A remote thermometer is definitely a great tool for cooks like a butt.
    Living the good life smoking and joking
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  • Tier1Terrier
    Tier1Terrier Posts: 129

    Unfortunately, I will have no gadgets for this first cook.  Soon to be investing in a quality temp control with thermometer.  For this cook, I will have to go by 'feel'. 


    XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)
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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,261
    Turbo, 300 to 195, for a right time restraint.  Use apple, pecan, peach or sugar maple or even any combination of the group. Hickory is always good. 
    You should be fine.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • DaveRichardson
    DaveRichardson Posts: 2,324
    Stay in the turbo zone.  At 300 you can get right at an hour per pound of meat. 

    Id use the wiggle test as well as internal temp. If the bone wiggles and pulls out easily, you are done. That should put your internal temp between 195-200. Make a run to Walmart or wegmans, etc and find a cheap 20$ wired thermo that you can watch the meat temps. 

    LBGE since 2014

    Griffin, GA 

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  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
    Starting in the morning for dinner that night is my normal method. Light the egg first thing. While it is warming up and stabilizing the temp, enjoy breakfast. After breakfast put the butt on and enjoy the day. I normally will cook at 275-290°. Finished product will be as good as low and slow.  If you need to speed things up in the afternoon, you can bump the temp up into the low 300's without a problem.  A very civilized way to cook - I just don't like to stay up all night any more.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    At 160 wrap in hdaf if needed..itll be juicy as hell. 
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • Cookinbob
    Cookinbob Posts: 1,691
    IMHO, there is no reason to cook a butt overnight, unless you want it for breakfast =)

    A butt is a very forgiving cut to cook, and with 7-1/2 lbs and all day, you really are optimal.  A meat thermometer with a cabled sensor can be bought for $20 and is really helpful but not mandatory.  Without one, I would check the meat temp hourly starting about 4 hours in.   Personally, I would start the temp low (225 if possible) for an hour or so to get some good smoke flavor.  Raise the temp to 300 or so then, and foil it when you hit the stall.  You will be done by 3:00, you can wrap in foil, put in a cooler packed with towels, and it will stay hot and ready to pull for hours
    XLBGE, Small BGE, Homebrew and Guitars
    Rochester, NY
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  • Miked125
    Miked125 Posts: 481
    The main thing is to post pictures...
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  • Tier1Terrier
    Tier1Terrier Posts: 129

    Thanks for everyone's input.  At the behest of a dear friend and smoking expert, he said don't worry about a thermometer (I still checked the temp a couple of times anyway).  He basically said to cook it at 300 and beginning at hour 7, take a bamboo skewer (or temperature probe) and poke it in.  If it goes in like a hot marshmallow, it's ready to take out, wrap in foil, and stuff in cooler.  That's pretty much what I did. I did check the temp and at about 5 hours it was up to 180ish with my crappy instant read. 

    I used McKormick Grill Mates Pork Rub (because I didn't have the patience to look up a good rub recipe THIS TIME) combined with equal parts of turbinado sugar.  It never got that very hard crispy scabby type crust on the outside, but it was crispy enough to seal in the juice and add a nice texture to the meat.  It was indeed very juicy and tender and overall I can't imagine it could have been much tastier given the cut of meat and rub I used.  It was delightful to eat with a side of baked beans and corn on the cob.  My 2.5 y/o boys liked it so much that my wife says it was the easiest meal she's ever fed them.  I'll post some pics shortly.  Thanks everyone for the help!

    My next investment will probably be a Flameboss 200.  I have to admit I did stay outside most of the day today since 6:30am checking on the oven temp and I did manage to control it fairly easily at 300.  But I definitely had to tweak it back and forth of few times and I know I would have never slept well trying to do it overnight without an automatic temp control.  Once I get one of those, I'll probably take a stab at a nice brisket and will be sure to invest a little more time into prepping a good rub for that.

    XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)
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  • Tier1Terrier
    Tier1Terrier Posts: 129
    XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)
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  • LKNEgg
    LKNEgg Posts: 339
    Looks great!  Wow that is a clean egg and plate setter!
    Large BGE - 2014
    FB 200, KAB, AR - 2015
    Lake Norman area of NC
    The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten!
    Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing!
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  • Jstroke
    Jstroke Posts: 2,605
    Very well done. You have officially launched. I'm going to say it--do not buy a temp controller yet. Learn how to run your egg for awhile. Learn how to set 225 and 350 and 500 on the vents. I don't care if you burn up a couple of bags while you lay by the pool with no food. It helps to start a small fire and then crack open the door and open the petals half way. Watch it for an hour and then take a picture for referral. Then make a change every hour. Heck 40 bucks worth of royal oak and you will have temperature muscle memory. Then go buy a controller. 
    Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,261
    Just did the best BBQ anything, I have ever done. 17.5 hours at 225F. Brined 24 hours, peach preserves as a pre rub, spicy dry rub, pull, no wrap between 195-200F. Shred, add sauce to peach preserve 4:1. Smoked with 3 chunks peach, 2 chunks pecan, 1 chunk sugar maple.
    best by far!!!!!
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • Tier1Terrier
    Tier1Terrier Posts: 129
    LKNEgg said:
    Looks great!  Wow that is a clean egg and plate setter!
    Thanks - that was my first ever use of my bge. 
    XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)
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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,319
    Awesome first BGE cook....well done!
    Living the good life smoking and joking
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