I have just purchased a BPS and I'm new to smoking. I have always wanted to do it and couldn't pass up the price for the BPS. I am going camping this weekend and smoking some pork butt on my BPS for 25 people. I have purchased four 6.5 lbs of pork butt and was wondering how how long to smoke it. I have read some of the other forums and found that most take it out and put it in an oven, I have no access to an oven and need to know about how long I should smoke the pork but. Also, does anybody have any good suggestions on how to prepare the pork butt before smoking on a BPS.
Thank you,
New Smoker.
W E L C O M E to the Forum NewToSmoking!
I would prepare the butts the same regardless of what smoker.
I brine(optional)
Followed by a rub, rest (24 hours)
4 hours of smoke (usually Hickory, but whatever you want is fine)
Foil wrap(optional) Continue to cook @200-225F until an IT (internal temperature) of 190-200F
FTC for at least 1 hour
Pull and eat!
There are more details in the brine and rub, but those are the basic steps I use.
FTC ? IT ? You can find the answers to this and other questions here - http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=481
Recipe site - click on the ribs at the bottom of this post.
Here is a link to a thread on my process:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=8942.0
Looks like I was a little late on the response. ;D Same thing, Smoke for 4 hrs, boat with apple juice and take to IT of 190* (what i do). Good luck and post them pics if you got'em
Hi there NTS and welcome to the forum.
You jsu got jsut about the best adviceyou can get on the subject. Multiplied by three.
HR
Welcome to the fun of smoking
I dont have the BPS so i dont no how long a bottle of propane will last but you might want to bring along more than one as (for me) a butt will take almost
1.5 hr per pound to cook
I personally like to smoke with Pecan, 4 hr on a butt
Hey HTS, welcome to the forum. My technique is almost the same. 4 hours of smoke at 200-225 and continue cooking until the IT of the meat is 185-200. A couple of things I don't do is I don't brine beforehand nor do I foil wrap after the 4 hours of smoke. The day before I am going to smoke them I paint them with cheap yellow mustard and apply the rub, wrap in plastic wrap and into the frig overnight. Day of smoking, out of the frig at least one hour before going on the smoker, preferably two.
Won't give you a time estimate as I have never used the BPS but I get the idea they are less heat efficient than the traditional Bradleys as there is no real insulation. I just did 20 pounds of butts and they took 18 hours.
KyNola
Ky,
What are the ingredients for your rub. That sounds like the way I would want to go. I'm not suppose to have all the salt in my diet.
Is there anybody else that knows about how long it should take to smoke 24 lbs of butt.
Thank you,
NTS
The time depends more on the connective tissue content of the meat than the weight.
I would plan on 18-22 hours.
Some of the butts may get to your desired IT hours before others. That is why I FTC them when the come out of the smoker.
FTC performs 2 functions:
1 - Let the meat temp "coast" down, helps continue connective tissue breakdown
2 - Allows you flexibility for serving times. I have FTC'd butts up to 8 hours.
The unknown factor here for me is I'm not sure how well the BPS maintains temps. With that kind of load, the OBS can struggle to get the temps up. It's no big deal, since low and slow is the name of the game anyway. If the BPS puts out less BTU's than the OBS, it may take longer than we have discussed here.
Every rub I have used in the past has had salt in it but you can always leave it out. The butts I did this past weekend I used Bad Byron's Butt Rub and it is great. There is a good one for butts listed on the website. It is called "The Renowned Mister Brown". I have used it many times and like it very well. I will post a link to the website and a specific link to the "Mister Brown" recipe.
The recipe website: http://www.susanminor.org/
Mister Brown link: http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=86 Good news, not a ton of salt.
KyNola
I'm with FLBR when it comes to time. Too many variables to predict. 24 pounds of meat is a lot of cold mass in a small environment. The wind can be a direct factor. Shelter your BPS from the wind as best you can. Also, the outside air temp can also adversely effect the time required. We're not trying to scare you here but it will not surprise me at all for the entire time to be as much as 24 hours. Hopefully you'll come in less than that but don't be surprised.
KyNola
Ky,
Thanks a lot for the information. As for the smoking still only 4 hours of smoke and the rest without smoke or should I add an hour of more smoke for the amount of meat I have.
Would you suggest to cook the butt in the oven before I go and if so about how long? I will do the rub probably on Wed night and then I can put it in the oven on Friday for a bit before I get to the campsite. I'm in the midwest so the temp isn't that bad and gets down to about 60 during the night.
Once again thanks for all the help, I want this to turn out so I don't disappoint the people I'm doing this for.
NTS
NTS,
I will yield to my more experienced friends but I can't say I would recommend putting the butts in an oven prior to smoking and then taking them to the campsite and trying to smoke and finish there.
You'll be fine, just have fun.
KyNola
I wouldn't pre cook them prior to smoking - you want the smoke to penetrate the meat a bit. I would think pre cooking them may result in a bitter smoke flavor on the outside of the meat...akin to over smoking meat.
My advice - Put the dry rub on, smoke for a few hours (four, perhaps more) if you want a more smokey flavor. (Keep in mind, there is only so much smoke that meat will absorb - anything more will result less than perfect results). At that point, you can throw it in the oven until it's done. FTC it for a few hours and it should be perfect.
If you time it right, you may be able to FTC it just before leaving for camping. This should give a number of hours of keeping it warm. If you have a cooler that can be heated, you may be able to keep it warm for a very long time. Just make sure you have some juice or beer on it when you foil it.
Pork butt is not my speciality, so I would defer to those that have perfected the art, but pre cooking in the oven doesn't seem a good way to go.
Hiya New and welcome. Just something that might help you. Cabelas sells a propane smoker also and they have an insulated wrap for theirs. You might look at it and see what you can come up with to help in retaining the heat. I want one (BPS) and have thought that you might can cut the top out of a new tent and slide two tents on at same time to insulate. Also there is a section for propane owner on forum. Check the post (only 51) and you might find something to help you out. Good luck and like Mike says....show pictures.
Hey New
No need to pre cook your butts or cut your BPS covers. I did a pork butt and ribs in the Florida swamp with my BPS. The BPS works great.
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/DSCF3110.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/DSCF3119.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/DSCF3124.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/DSCF3141.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o290/stlthy1/DSCF3144.jpg)
nepas
Newtosmoking - Welcome to the forum.
Lets look at your 24 pounds of butts. The cooking time will not be based on your 24 pounds of butts, but on the size of the individual butts - then other factors. A good rule-of-thumb estimate of cooking time is 1 1/2 to 2 hours of cooking time per pound when the temperature averages 225 or thereabouts. So if you have 4 - six pound butts, you should expect 9 to 12 hours of cook time at 225. If you have 2 - four pound and 2 - 8 pound butts then 2 should take between 6 and 8 hours and the bigger ones between 12 and 16 hours. The Bradley is essentially a low powered oven with a smoke generator designed for low-n-slow cooking. When you put in a large mass of meat, it takes a while for the heating element to overcome the cool meat and raise the cabinet temperature up to the 225 range. Therefore, the cook times will probably be closer to the 2 hour per pound range. On my bigger stickburners, I don't have the same heating variance and my cook times are closer to the one hour per pound range. I did 8 briskets this weekend on a pretty good sized stickburner (rotisserie)- all in the 11 to 12 pound range, and they started coming off in 10 hours, and the last came off at 16 hours. Until you've done quite a few smokes, the best way to ascertain their doneness is to check the Internal Temperature (IT). If you are doing butts, I would assume, you will "pull" it. There is some discussion about when to take the butts off the smoker for pulling, but generally the target IT would be from 195 to 205.
What you do in the pre-cook, cook and post-cook times - is up to you and how you like your barbecue - 2 hours smoke, 4 hours, 8 hours - up to you. Rub, just salt and pepper, simple rub, hot rub, sweet rub - up to you. Foil, boat, FTC - up to you. Rub and sit for 24 hours, rub and put in smoker immediately, inject, brine - again all up to you. Sauce, no sauce, mopping, all up to you. At first - don't try to combine everybody's recipe and technique into a "perfect" way. Select one that sounds like you can handle and has the flavors you like, and try it. Next time modify something you think you can do better, or have a different flavor and modify. Keep doing that, experiment and change recipes and techniques until you get the butt with the level of fiddling you are content with, an which you and your family and friends REALLY like - not the one Caneyscud likes.
Caneyscud,
Thanks for the information and I want to get this straight. All my butts are real close to 6.5 lbs each and have bone in. When the temp of the smoker gets to 225 then it should only take the same amount of time as if I was only doing one butt. I just don't want to have the butt cooked fully in the amount of time that I have, you know kids want to eat. :D
I know I just should have confidence but it is my very first time using a smoker and I cannot wait to see how it tastes.
Thanks again.
In general - but remember the 225 is average for the cook. Being bone in, they will take a little longer, but the bigger challenge will be getting the cabinet temperature back up to 225 with the 4 butts. Once you can maintain close to 225 then the 1 1/2 to 2 hour per pound kicks in - overall, it can be more depending on the recovery time to 225. The Bradley has a 500 watt heating element, and a 125 watt smoking element - not a whole lot of wattage - your house oven is probably rated 4 to 6 times that much. A Bradley is designed for low-n-slow and does a great job, but when loaded down with big cold masses of meat, there is but a relatively small pool of heat to pull from therefore it takes a while to get back up to 225. That is a big variable as well as how often one peeks - opens the door, if the vent is open (should be at least 1/3 but should be more), the amount of fat, juiciness, windage, ambient temperature, and the inherent "toughness" of the butt (amount of collagen). Overall, on the big smokes it could take more than 2 hours per pound, possibly up to 3 hours per pound - routinely those that put 4 butts in see 16 to 18 hours. I'd start and plan to finish 2 hours before you want to serve them and throw them in a cooler to keep warm - probably starting them like at least 20 hours before needing them on the plate. But check them before 18 hours with not only IT, but the fork test. They can be "tender done" before they are "temperature done". Along about an IT of 175 I'd do a fork test - stick a fork in and twist. If it pulls apart easily, then it is done.
The Bradley propane reportedly does not cook as low as 225 - usually in the 250 to 300 range in hot parts of the country, so they could be done sooner - not a problem, keep them in an insulated cooler. I kept 8 briskets warm for about 12 hours this weekend. For some reason a couple were done very fast - slightly less than 1 hour per pound (about 7 am, but did not need them until 6 pm). Put them in a cooler and as the others got done - added them along with the fatties and bacon explosions and they all stayed warm until serving!
Obligatory Warning - The more you peek the longer. There will also be a plateau. Once the IT reaches 145 to 160, it will stall for what seems like "FOREVER"! Don't worry it is supposed to - you want it to - it's doing very nice things to the meat - tenderizing it! Resist the urge to jack the temperature up - remember low - n - slow is your friend. Another word of advice - the element is either on or off, so setting the temp to 300 instead of 225 will not cause it to recover faster. Most usually start the Bradley at least 30 minutes before to preheat as high as you can before putting the meat in. Helps with recovery a little.
Of course another course of action would be to smoke them in the smoker for 4 hours or more, then put them in a foil pan, add a splash of liquid, seal with foil, and put in your oven. At 350 a butt needs 3/4 hour per pound to get done, but most use 250 until done I believe.
NTS,
You have received an abundance of information from various members that would apply were you smoking your butts in an Original Bradley Smoker or a Bradley Digital Smoker but unfortunately you're not. You're smoking those butts in a Bradley Propane Smoker. You cannot preheat a BPS as you have to remove the "cover" to place the butts inside so all of the "preheat" will instantly will be gone. You don't have a 500 watt electric element to heat the smoker. You have no house oven to move the butts to after the smoke period.
Give yourself plenty of time to smoke your butts. 4 hours of smoke should be adequate. Then it is a matter of cooking until an IT of 185-200 if you want to be able to pull pork. If they get finished before you're ready to pull and serve, you have been given good information as to how to keep the butts warm via the FTC method. Best advice is invest in a digital readout thermometer that you can put a probe in one of the butts to measure the IT and another that will measure the temp inside the smoker. Try to maintain a temp in the smoker of around 225 but don't despair if the temp varies. Pork butts are very forgiving. The "stall" of butts at an IT of 145-160 for several hours is very real. Last weekend my pork stalled in excess of 4 hours at 159 and actually dropped back to 156. That is magic. Don't increase the heat to bump the IT. It will start back up when the butt is ready to start back up.
Most importantly, relax, enjoy yourself and have fun.
KyNola
Thought of one more question.....
When should I start the smoke, before the heat, during heat up, or after the heat is established?
Thanks one and all for your suggestions and help.
NTS
I would start the smoke when the meat is loaded, and the cover is on. Otherwise you are just making smoke for no reason at all, and wasting biscuits.
I have never used the BPS but I would have to second what squirt has said
Start the smoke when you put the butt in and cover on
Good luck and keep us posted on how things turn out
Squirt and 812 have you covered on your last question.
Now...get out there and smoke some butt!!
KyNola
Thank you all for your information. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you but my butts were a hit!!!!! Several people came over to our camp site and had some and then told the head person that they were awesome!!!!! It took almost 24 hours to cook. I didn't let the butt sit out very long and when I put the probe in for the temp the internal temp was at 33F, a bit cold.
One other problem that I had too. I had four 6 lbs butts and put two on each rack. Racks were placed on 1 and 3 to give enough clearance between racks. The butt that was over the flame got a little over cooked on the one end over the flame, but most of it was still usable.
Now I'm going to try to cook some pork ribs this weekend, I'm hoping that they won't take as long to cook. lol Any ideas on the length of time for the ribs?
What is the easiest way to post pictures here? I'll post the pictures when I find out how.
Thanks again to all.
NTS
Hey NTS, glad to hear the pork butt turned out well. Doing ribs, I would guess 4 to 6 hours depending on the ribs and temperature control.
Here's a link on how to post pictures. http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11
NTS here's How to smoke ribs in a bradley (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=581)