I figure -- I have this awesome new toy and it doesn't make sense to go the regular grocery store when there is a meat processing/retail store about 10 miles from my house. This business has been around quite a while, the owner is an old school smoker who has a smoke house right on the premises. I ask about a fresh (not frozen) bone in pork butt, which he says he has on hand.
I tell him I intend to smoke it -- he proceeds to tell me that I won't be able to get the temperature high enough to make decent pulled pork from it. He says that he can't even do it with his "electronic smoker."
Surely he must not know the awesome power of the BS!
I know there are dozens of recipes for smoking a butt, but I'm looking for just a basic starter guide. Here's my plan – any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I plan on preheating the BS to 210, then dropping it down to 195F.
I am planning on smoking 4 hours with hickory then 1 hour of apple.
Continue slow cooking for another 4-5 hours and FTC for 2-3 hours.
Would anyone like to shoot holes in my plan?
Any ideas on a basic rub?
Cheers!
Quote from: Griffy on April 12, 2007, 04:44:13 PM
Would anyone like to shoot holes in my plan?
Cheers!
I do not see the step where adult beverages are involved. This would seem to be a serious shortcoming... :o
Arcs_n_Sparks
True, however I thought that was implied. ;D I'll baste myself in Wild Turkey every 30 minutes. ;)
Cheers~
Hi Griffy and welcome
When I do my buts I try to keep a cabinet temp of about 210 and shoot for an I.T. of 195. In my experiences it usually takes a total time anywhere from 15 to 23 hours, not counting FTC. Of course there are alot of variables not the least of which is the size of the butt. I use 1 alder then 1 apple for 3 to 4 hours for smoke. I'm sure others will chime in as well.
Good luck
Mike
Wow. 23 hours? I need to learn not to give up so easily. Do you smoke with the vent 1/2 open or mostly closed? On my first smoke I kept the vent mostly closed. A lot of condensation built up in the smoker, which I thought would be good to keep the humidity high.
Condensation on your glass: good
Condensation in your BS: not good
Arcs_n_Sparks
That's a good line Arcs! ;D
Griffy, you really don't want any condensation in the cabinet. Most of my smokes I have the vent 1/3 to 1/2 open. There are times when I open it more or less but thats the majority of the time. You want the vent open enough that there is no smoke backing up through the generator. I find chicken or a big load of jerky gives a lot of mosture off during the first couple of hours so during this period I usually have the vent open more.
Mike
Griffy, these guys are right on. Keep the moisture low. Plenty of time for moisture during the FTC process.
I will disagree most stearnly with Arcs and Sparks.
Condensation on the glass is NOT GOOD. Glass SHOULD STAY FROZEN. 8)
Sorry Sparkler. LOL Just had to do it.
;D ;D
Now that I think about it.... If you are allowing condensation to build on your adult beverage glass... Your not drinking fast enough!
:D :D :D ;D
Mike
Mr Walleye,
You nailed it.
Quote from: Gizmo on April 12, 2007, 07:16:22 PM
I will disagree most stearnly with Arcs and Sparks.
Condensation on the glass is NOT GOOD. Glass SHOULD STAY FROZEN. 8)
Frost on the outside of your glass is condensation; it just froze upon impact. The difference between frost and water is a "matter of degree." :D :D :D
The techie got us there.
Touche'
Griffy: I'm a bit puzzled at why your butcher says about the bone in, and getting up to temp?
Whenever i do pulled pork, i always buy a big shoulder/butt with the bones left in, including part of the neck bone, i just remove the rind, apply the rub and in it goes, comes out perfect every time.
I think as you say he doesn't know the awesome power of the BS? ::)
(http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/Gitster59/bs.gif)
Hey Griffy. I am a new DBS user. I have had my DBS for about 1.5 months now. Just really started to use it about 3 weeks to a month ago.
Your butcher is wrong. You will be able to get the internal temp high enough if you wait long enough. I looked for about 4 days on doing pulled pork. The information was scattered, opinions varied, and there was no "smoking gun" answer. Below I will outline my process, what I did when, and how it all turned out. Hopefully this will help you.
What did I purchase? Bone in Pork Butt
Weight: 7.5 LBS
Cooking temp: 210F-240F
Total cooking time: 19hrs
Rub:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/3 cup garlic salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
You can adjust the above to your taste. I did not put in any white pepper or cumin because I did not have any. This rub makes enough for 2 butts easily.
How I prepared my pork butt:
I took it out of the freezer at noon, 2 days before I wanted to start cooking. I left the meat frozen on a cookie sheet to defrost until about 7pm that night. I just left it out on the counter to defrost quicker at room temperature. It was still a little frozen which is the way I prefer to cut meat. It makes cutting the fat and veins out that much easier. My pork butt had a big fat cap on it. In my reading, the "hard" fat will not render off and it doesn't do much in the cooking process. I trimmed most of the fat cap down to about 1/4", less in places, so that the hard white fat was all gone, and all that was left was the soft squishy white fat. I also found a few veins and cut them out. Don't worry about what your pork butt will look like. In the end, it will all be in a big pile of shredded meat.
After I was done trimming, I washed up, then mixed up my rub. I then liberally rubbed the entire pork butt with this rub. I rubbed it into every nook and cranny I could find. When it wouldn't take anymore rub, I washed up again, then wrapped the butt snuggly in saran wrap and put in a new cookie sheet to put into my fridge in the garage. I sat my butt in the fridge until 3 hours before cooking.
How I cooked my butt:
I let my butt sit from Thursday night to Saturday evening. It sat for pretty close to exactly 2 days marinating with the rub on it.
I took my butt out of the fridge into the house and then unwrapped it slowly at 5pm on Saturday. I let it sit out for 3 hours, until 8pm <when I got back home> so that it would be close to room temperature. I pre-heated my DBS with the vent about 1/4 open.I also pre-heated my DBS to 235 from 5pm to 8pm using both the oven and the smoke generator <minus the maple pucks!>.I put in the water bowl with water as hot as I could get out of the tap. I live about 45 mins away from Mr.Walleye, and last saturday is was about 0(32F) when I left, and when I got back, the BS was all good and warmed up (the temp outside was about -7C(22F?). I know this is excessive to do a pre-heat, but I wanted to make sure it would come up to temp because it was cold, and there was about a 15mph wind that night. I took out the butt on the cookie sheet, and put in on the 3rd rack, right in the middle of the DBS. I replaced the water bowl full with hot water. I put my temp prob into the meat, down through the vent and put it on top of my smoker. I set the probe for 200F. I then reset my timer on the oven and the smoke generator for 9:40. I smoked my butt for 1 hour using maple.
Cooking my butt:
I used 3 pucks of maple for my first butt. That gives you 1 hour of smoke. After the 1 hour, I took off the unused pucks and put them back in the bag. I have to get some bubba pucks for sure.I used a spray while cooking my butt to keep it moist. I used 50% apple juice and 50% pure maple syrup combined in a spray bottle. After the first hour and half of cooking, I hosed the butt down, ever hour after that before I went to bed. Now, when you reset the DBS, you have to turn off the smoke generator and the oven or else it will turn off. I found this out the hard way. My unit turned off about 3am because I just reset the timer. Before you take a nap for the night, turn off the smoke generator, wait a few seconds, turn it back on, and reset the time to 9:40. Do the same for the oven, and set the oven temp as well. I used 210F for over night. I woke up at 6am because my wife was awake doing laundry and decided to check on the butt and go back to bed. What a surprise that the unit was off, and it was -10C outside! Anyways, lesson learned ;D
When I woke back up at about 10 am, I had breakfast, went out and hosed the butt down with the spray. I continued on doing this until 6:30pm on Sunday. my butt reached the plateau <the proccess where all the fat and connective tissue breaks down. Temp I believe is from 140-160 when this happens>. My butt stayed at 156F for 4.5 hours. I lost about 4 hours of cooking time thanks to my mistake. Thank goodness I decided to put it in at 8pm the night before! So for the last 4 hours, at 2:30pm Sunday, I put the temp up to 240 in the box to help finish it off so we could eat before 10pm :P. The butt reached 187F at 6:30pm. I pulled it out, wrapped it in tin foil, and old towels and let it sit on the counter for 45 mins. I do not have a clean cooler, so I just let it sit on the counter in the kitchen.
After that, there isn't much to say. I shredded the pork, the bone pulled out cleanly, took some of the leftover fat and uglies out, and ate supper at 7:30pm. If I wouldn't have lost my time in the night, it would have been done right around 3-4pm and then I could FTC until 6pm. I will know for next time :)
I also used the following sauce for my finishing sauce. I like the Kansas City style bbq sauce rather than the vinegar style sauces.
Paul Kirk's Kansas City-Style Barbecue Sauce
3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ginger ground
1/2 teaspoon allspice ground
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon mace ground
1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
32 ounces ketchup
3 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)
Mix all the ingredients in a pot and simmer for 30 min.
Will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator
Sorry for the long post, but being a newbie myself to smoking, I gathered as much info I could and dumped it all into one spot. That is my brain dump. Feel free to ask questions. I have been lurking for 4 months now and felt I could help another person out!
AFTER YOU GET IT DONE TAKE HIM A SAMMMICH ;D :o
Quote from: SKSmoker on April 13, 2007, 10:02:48 AM
Hey Griffy. I am a new DBS user. I have had my DBS for about 1.5 months now. Just really started to use it about 3 weeks to a month ago.
Your butcher is wrong. You will be able to get the internal temp high enough if you wait long enough. I looked for about 4 days on doing pulled pork. The information was scattered, opinions varied, and there was no "smoking gun" answer. Below I will outline my process, what I did when, and how it all turned out. Hopefully this will help you.
SKSmoker,
Thanks this is AWESOME! Exactly what I was hoping for. Hopefully I can do someone else a proper like this in the future.
Smoke on brother, Smoke on!
Griffy
Pork Butt out of freezer, partially dethawed
(http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/6316/bbq007vq4.jpg)
Pork butt all trimmed up
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/5966/bbq009bt3.jpg)
Pork butt all rubbed up
(http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2817/bbq010xn1.jpg)
Pork Butt going into smoker at 8pm Sat night
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/8619/porkbuttgoingonsmokerattf2.jpg)
Pork Butt in smoker at 12am - 4hrs of cooking time
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3454/porkbuttinsmokerat12ambx7.jpg)
Pork Butt in smoker at 1pm Sunday
(http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3450/porkbuttinsmoker1pmak9.jpg)
Pork butt done at 6:30pm Sunday
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7538/porkbuttdone2ko2.jpg)
Pork Butt spray
(http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/1865/porkbuttsprayel9.jpg)
Pork Butt resting wrapped up
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/8992/porkbuttwrappedrestingpo8.jpg)
Shredding the pork butt
(http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7736/shreddingtheporkbutt2ya1.jpg)
Pork Butt all shredded and ready to eat
(http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/2218/shreddedporkbuttafter18pz8.jpg)
Pulled pork sandwich with Paul Kirks KC Style sauce with baked fries
(http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8503/thebeginningsoftheendfoxz5.jpg)
There is the entire 1st pulled pork history that I just did last weekend. Hopefully the pics will help you out with the cooking. I always wonder "what is it supposed to look like now?"
Ignore the olive oil on the counter. It had nothing to do with the pulled pork! ;D
WE NEED SMELOVISION!!!!!!!!!!! ;D 11 :o
SKSmoker just broke rule number thirty three, chapter two, verse one!!!
Thou shall NOT post pictures like that when guys like me are stuck at the office with a lousy tuna samitch.
I'm gett real tired of replacing my drooled on keyboard!!!
That is some real fine looking grub there SKS. Good job!!! :P ;D
Hi and welcome here SKSmoker, great posts, and the pork looks fantastic! very nicely done ;)
LilSmoker(http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Tip-Hat.gif)
Outstanding butt, post and pictures SKSmoker!
And welcome to forum. I see you are from Saskatchewan... Me Too! ;D
Mike
Getting thumbs up from you guys really does mean alot! I give you all the credit that allowed me to learn quickly how to use the machine. I am glad I did right by this group :D
I had to get you guys back a little bit.. I have been at work and have seen some fantastic pics that I alsmost gnawed off my desk corner waiting to get home to eat!
Wow SKSmoker that looks great. You have great pics, good information, and instantly brought on a hunger pain. It doesn't get any better than that.
Welcome SKSmoker, great post....... you have a lot to live up to here on the forum with a start like this!! ;) :D
dude. Good job. And Griffy you will be there soon also. This group helped me over a year ago to make some amazing things.
Welcome SKS. And don't be intimidated by these guys. That comes later. Griffy, SKS join us sometimes on Tuesday chat...
Outstanding Post! :)
Welcome SKSmoker! Outstanding job! You made a very good first impression! Keep it up. ;)
Quote from: Griffy on April 12, 2007, 04:55:44 PMI'll baste myself in Wild Turkey every 30 minutes. ;)
Cheers~
if i did that :P
my butt would be burnt
nepas
Quote from: IKnowWood on April 13, 2007, 05:55:02 PM
dude. Good job. And Griffy you will be there soon also. This group helped me over a year ago to make some amazing things.
Welcome SKS. And don't be intimidated by these guys. That comes later. Griffy, SKS join us sometimes on Tuesday chat...
I'd love to if I can make it work for my schedule. Can you give me more details? What time? do you use IM of some sort or this forum?
Cheers!
Griffy
SKS,
The flix were exceptionally helpful. I picked up my butt yesterday. It was 9lbs! When I picked up the butt I asked the butcher if it needed to be trimmed -- he said no. Let the fat drip down into it as it cooked. Based on your pictures I trimmed the fat cap down quite a bit. I saved the fat off and will probably place some on the rack above my butt.
I followed your rub pretty closely. I added 1/2 cup of tenderquick and used smoked spanish paprika. I also mixed up a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of JD and Apple Juice and about 2 TSP of molassas and injected that into the butt. Based on the way my grarage fridge smells today, I think I am ready to smoke. I rush ordered a ET-73 -- I paid more in shipping than the product cost. I hope it gets here today. I'll be sure to post my results.
Cheers!
Griffy
Quote from: Griffy on April 14, 2007, 05:14:57 AM
Quote from: IKnowWood on April 13, 2007, 05:55:02 PM
dude. Good job. And Griffy you will be there soon also. This group helped me over a year ago to make some amazing things.
Welcome SKS. And don't be intimidated by these guys. That comes later. Griffy, SKS join us sometimes on Tuesday chat...
I'd love to if I can make it work for my schedule. Can you give me more details? What time? do you use IM of some sort or this forum?
Cheers!
Griffy
The chat is an actual chat room...you have to join (simple, no cost process) at the recipe site http://www.susanminor.org (http://www.susanminor.org), once registered, you get an e-mail to activate account then all ya gotta do is log in and start chatting with anyone in the room. Does this help?
7.62x39moker...
that is one fine pig arse...
i have never had any of those moles arses... im thinking you would need a few hundred moles arses for anything other than a snack...
dang that pif arse looks good...
you gotta eat...
owrstrich
Quote from: Tiny Tim on April 14, 2007, 07:28:51 AM
Quote from: Griffy on April 14, 2007, 05:14:57 AM
Quote from: IKnowWood on April 13, 2007, 05:55:02 PM
dude. Good job. And Griffy you will be there soon also. This group helped me over a year ago to make some amazing things.
Welcome SKS. And don't be intimidated by these guys. That comes later. Griffy, SKS join us sometimes on Tuesday chat...
I'd love to if I can make it work for my schedule. Can you give me more details? What time? do you use IM of some sort or this forum?
Cheers!
Griffy
The chat is an actual chat room...you have to join (simple, no cost process) at the recipe site http://www.susanminor.org (http://www.susanminor.org), once registered, you get an e-mail to activate account then all ya gotta do is log in and start chatting with anyone in the room. Does this help?
Much. What time of day, or is it an all day thing?
Griff
Tuesday nights, but it's always open (just nobody to talk to unless somebody else is running by :D ). I'm usually one of the first in on Tuesday nights and get there between 7:30 and 8:00 Central time.
Quote from: Griffy on April 14, 2007, 05:22:25 AM
SKS,
When I picked up the butt I asked the butcher if it needed to be trimmed -- he said no. Let the fat drip down into it as it cooked. Based on your pictures I trimmed the fat cap down quite a bit. I saved the fat off and will probably place some on the rack above my butt.
Hey Griffy! I hope that everything turned out great. I know when doing something for the first time, the more info and help you can get is always never enough :)
I am glad my pics helped you out. You know what they say about pictures and words :D Always trim that fat cap on the pork butt. Gotta get rid of that hard fat!
To the rest of you guys in the thread, thank you for the kind words. I only hope that my next project will stand up to the expectations!
Results are in. The Butcher was WRONG! This was the most amazing pork I've ever had. See pictures and more information at my website:
http://web.mac.com/griffitm/iWeb/Site/Blog/A7F207FF-6D2C-4CC2-8DF0-D868C0B654FD.html (http://web.mac.com/griffitm/iWeb/Site/Blog/A7F207FF-6D2C-4CC2-8DF0-D868C0B654FD.html)
Thanks to everyone that helped me. I would not have had the courage to cook the meat as long as I did. I thought for sure that it would have been a brick when coming out of the smoker after 13 hours. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Cheers!
Griffy
Excellent job on the butt & the write up/photos Griffy!
:P
Mike
Very nicely done Griffy, looks great! ;)
Btw, did you season your BS, it's just it still looked very silver inside?, anyway even if you didn't, it's definately seasoned now! ;)
LilSmoker(http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Tip-Hat.gif)
Great job Griffy. Thanks for the props on your site!
I am glad your family enjoyed it!
very nice Griffy. It is so rewarding to see a good smoking plan come together. Enjoy and have fun.
Great job Griffy!!! :P ;D
Quote from: LilSmoker on April 18, 2007, 11:54:31 AM
Btw, did you season your BS, it's just it still looked very silver inside?, anyway even if you didn't, it's definately seasoned now! ;)
LilSmoker(http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Tip-Hat.gif)
I did season it for about an hour as the manual said. Then I smoked a brisket in it, and washed it -- eek (Are the BBQ police coming?)
No more washing the cabinet, just the racks and pans.
Thanks for all the accolades; I couldn't have done it without all your help (everyone)
Cheers!
Griffy
Washed a BS!?! (http://www.smileypad.com/v224/Angry/Demonstration.gif)
QuoteI did season it for about an hour as the manual said. Then I smoked a brisket in it, and washed it -- eek (Are the BBQ police coming?)
No more washing the cabinet, just the racks and pans.
;D Well Griffy, i bet you're not the first person to do that, and won't be the last! ;D
A few weeks ago, my sister came round and we were just gonna serve up some ribs, "they look great" she said, there goes my extra portion i'm thinking ::)
Anyway after our little rib fest, my sister can't stop praising the ribs saying how lovely they were and she'll be coming round again for some more etc. Well i'm sitting there lapping up all the comments (like you do) and my sister says can i have a look at this smoker you're always going on about?, sure i say.
So i take her out to check out the BS, and she's saying "oh that's nice and neat" and "what's this, what's that" anyway finaly she opens the door, and after giving me a strange look, says "ooh! don't you ever clean it?"
Anyway i told her "get out of my garage you amatuer" ;D
Women eh?.............LilSmoker(http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Tip-Hat.gif)
LS, you should never have let her look at it until after a couple of adult beverages. She probably left thinking that guys like you is why women were invented, lol. I might get in trouble on this one.
lol
Never let the women see the inside of the smoker or the grate on the grill.
Quote from: Wildcat on April 20, 2007, 04:41:30 AM
LS, you should never have let her look at it until after a couple of adult beverages. She probably left thinking that guys like you is why women were invented, lol. I might get in trouble on this one.
Quote from: Tiny Tim on April 20, 2007, 07:00:51 AM
lol
Never let the women see the inside of the smoker or the grate on the grill.
True guys, very true ::) ;D ;)
Quote from: Wildcat on April 20, 2007, 04:41:30 AM
LS, you should never have let her look at it until after a couple of adult beverages. She probably left thinking that guys like you is why women were invented, lol. I might get in trouble on this one.
Careful Wildcat, your looking down the barrel of a loaded gun there. :D :o ;D
I know. It is probably a 12 gauge full of rock salt! :o