Small butt questions

mb168 · September 2007

I'm a new egg owner and have mostly cooked ribs so far and bought my first butt last night to try. I just wanted a small one for my first time and it happened to be the nicest looking one there, 2.75 lbs. So I was wondering if the 1.5-2 hr/lbs time is accurate for a small butt or if there were any other considerations for one this size I hadn't thought of, everything I've read so far on everyone's sites (like Wes, Naked Whiz, and Thirdeye) talks about larger ones and overnight cooks.[p]Thanks

thirdeye · September 2007

mb168,[p]The smaller you get, the more the rules of thumb fail to apply. So instead of 5 or 6 hours, your butt may take 7 or 8 hours.... [p]Since the mass is much less on a smaller one, so is the amount of moisture and fat that you start with. With that in mind, I like to let them get some good color, then I wrap in a double layer of foil, add a little liquid, and return to the pit and allow them to finish cooking. (or you could move it to a 250° oven, if you need to free up the Egg for something else). I would guess by the time it gets to 160° - 170° (internal) it would be ready to wrap. Leave your probe in there and wrap around it. [p]~thirdeye~

mb168 · September 2007

thirdeye,[p]I was just on your site and noticed you had a 50 deg temp range (225-275), do you think there is somewhere in there I need to be shooting for a little closer?[p]I'm only cooking the butt so no need to free anything up, plus I have an XL too, I'm attempting this on the medium, first for anything other than boneless chicken breasts so far and they haven't been the greatest while everythng on the XL seems to turn out great, and much easier to maitain temp so far.

thirdeye · September 2007

mb168,[p]It's a good thing I don't cook things like a souffle where you have to be dead on accurate, not only in amounts of ingredients but cooking temps and times. Fortunately, most of the cooking I do can be described in general terms. Where is there is some room to move, I mention it. Like cooking temps of a butt for example. Likewise most of the things shown on my site can be cooked on a variety of cookers, not just ceramic ones, with only slight changes in the methods, techniques or times. I do make some Eggspecific references, usually things involving a plate setter or cooking very raised direct, things like that.[p]So, to answer your question generally, anywhere in that range would be fine. Butts are really forgiving. To be more specific, I shoot for 250° to 260° (at the grate) on a small butt that has been trimmed really close. Just watch your color and how soon fats start dripping out, you may elect to ramp the pit temp down a hair.[p]~thirdeye~

mb168 · September 2007

thirdeye,[p]Almost 5 hrs and I'm still in the plateau I guess. It sat at 165 for a while and I checked it after about an hr and the drip pan was dry so I added some more back and rotated the butt, and moved the probe to the top side again. Went up to 170 for a few minutes then back to about 167 for 20 more minutes. Now seems to be creeping back up to 171. Maybe it'll be done for supper...

thirdeye · September 2007

mb168,[p]Were you going to use the foil or go nekkid?[p]~thirdeye~

mb168 · September 2007

thirdeye,[p]I'm wavering because of a statement on a certain website that says "The quality of the bark is not as good when using foil"....[p]Temp seem sto be moving though again, 174 now.

thirdeye · September 2007

<p />mb168,[p]That's correct, the bark softens in the foil. But it's a trade off. An 8# butt holds a lot of moisture and normally doesn't need foil to hold it in. Of course, if you hold them in the cooler a few hour, you loose the crispness of the bark anyway.[p]Let us know how the cook turns out.[p]~thirdeye~

mb168 · September 2007

thirdeye,[p]Wow, I never would have guessed it would have taken 8.5 hrs for a <3lb butt. But without foiling it came out fine, not dried out at all. My picky 12 yr old daughter just "thinks" she made her second sandwich without me seeing her. I'll go BIG next time, there won't be any leftovers for lunch now but I've got my confidence in my medium BGE now to hold a temp for 9+ hrs without touching it and turn out good food. Thanks for the pointers thirdeye.

thirdeye · September 2007

mb168,[p]Good deal, I figured this cook would work out for you. Yeah, try a larger one next time. Something bone-in between 6 and 9 pounds are my favorites. Oops, here I am with the broad ranges again..... LOL. Get one that is 8 pounds, then you will have a pig pickin' and some leftovers to boot.[p]~thirdeye~

Small butt questions

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