Hello everyone,
Just looking for some help choosing what recipe to try for my first pork butt smoke.
I have the smoke and spice book and there are a few recipes in there and I can't decide, so I figured I'd ask and get some input.
The first I am thinking about is The Renowned Mr Brown, Red-Eye Butt, or Citrus-Marinated Pork Butt??
If there are any other recommendations besides these three....I am open to any and all suggestions!
Thanks!!
Have heard good things about Mr Brown.
The others never seen them mentioned.
A commerical brand that is good is Bad Byron's Butt Rub.
Also the Salt Lick and Head Country.
I have done many butts in the Renowned Mr Brown.
Good stuff. A little peppery than most, but good stuff.
I've had good feedback from using a Salt Lick rub clone:
1-1-1/3-1/3 salt/pepper/cayenne/garlic powder.
(1/3 part garlic powder is roughly the same as 2/3rds part granulated garlic)
Can't go wrong with Mr. Brown
It depends on which flavors you are looking for. I have done both types, and both are good. Mr. Brown gives you that Memphis style flavor, while the Citrus-Marinated Pork Butt give you more of a Cuban style. The Mr. Brown is generally my standard rub for butts.
Well I went with Mr. Brown, thanks for the input everyone.
I'll post some pics of the process as I go along.
Quote from: squirtthecat on July 08, 2010, 06:41:16 PM
I've had good feedback from using a Salt Lick rub clone:
1-1-1/3-1/3 salt/pepper/cayenne/garlic powder.
(1/3 part garlic powder is roughly the same as 2/3rds part granulated garlic)
This one is a winner.
Here are the pic's of my first Pork Butt using Mr. Brown
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab48/pdubbu/Meat/IMG_0397.jpg)
Just put in the smoker and I remembered I didn't have a before shot
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab48/pdubbu/Meat/IMG_0402.jpg)
after 4 1/2 hrs of smoke and another hour and a bit of cooking time
What temp did you pull it out at?
I think it was at 172 degree's...pork only needs 170-175 so I wanted to be in the middle.
The Mr. Brown was strong, but gave it some wicked flavour!
Quote from: pdubbu on July 15, 2010, 11:20:30 AM
I think it was at 172 degree's...pork only needs 170-175 so I wanted to be in the middle.
The Mr. Brown was strong, but gave it some wicked flavour!
Next time I would take it to 185-190F
While it may be "done" at 170-175, pork butt has a lot of connective tissue (collegan) that needs to be broken down into gelatin.
That will give you a pulled pork that will not need slicing.
Quote from: pdubbu on July 15, 2010, 11:20:30 AM
I think it was at 172 degree's...pork only needs 170-175 so I wanted to be in the middle.
The Mr. Brown was strong, but gave it some wicked flavour!
I believe you are referring to the USDA safe internal meat temperatures for pork. For tougher cuts of pork you need to smoke/cook low until the collagen has time to convert to gelatin, as FLB has mentioned.
You can get butts tender enough to pull at 175°F, I do it each time I make pulled pork. I use a low cabinet temperature of 200°F, I only take mine to 175°F and they are tender and pull easily. The most important part is to stay close to the 200°F range. It is not only the internal temperature, but how long the meat has been in the range that collagen breaks down into gelatin. Other steps I take is to trim the fat to 1/8" to 1/4", and there may be a couple of fat pockets you may have to discard.
I run my smoker at 225 and pull at 190 to 195 then ftc.
It is still moist and juicy and have hardly and internal fat to discard.
I used to go to 185°F - 190°F, but find the texture and moistness much better at 175°F.
I forgot to mention I rarely FTC.
BBQ is a balancing act of time and temp and there is more than one way to get good/great results. Many, make some great BBQ using a CT of 200 and many make great BBQ at a CT of 225. Personally, I use 225 to 250 - not because of any great preference, but because the smokers I've used are almost impossible to keep any lower. So for me, I'm comfortable with the 225 - 250 temps and that's what I use. I strongly believe the magic is how long the IT is within the 165 range. I just don't want it too take any longer than it has to so I keep to the 225 to 250 temp.
Thanks for the tips guys, I will perhaps keep get the internal temp up a bit more than I did. It didn't really pull for me, I had to slice and dice most of it.
I kept the BS between 200-245 degree's. I started it around 210-15, then the sun shining on my BS made the temp rise, then when the sun had moved it went back down to 210 ish again.