First of all, why I wasn't told pulled pork butt was this delicious? ;)
Smoked a 3ish pounds boneless pork butt yesterday. It took roughly 9hours, is it a normal cooking time for this amount of meat?
What I did is rub it with some Jan's rub(had some leftover) and put some slices of bacon on top of it. I did 4hours of apple smoke at 200F in the OBS and finished it in the oven because it was rainy and windy yesterday. Wasn't sure with the weather, that's why I continued in the oven. At this time IT was 140F, I mopped it with some bbq sauce and wrapped it. Was wrapping a good idea? I was afraid it would dry out in the oven.
After 2hours in the oven, I sprayed some apple juice on it and started gradually increasing the oven temp to 240, till the IT was 190.
Didn't FTC. Could I have set the smoker and the oven to 225-250 right at the beginning?
The meat wasn't falling apart but it was easy to pull with a fork. Made some sandwiches for lunch today, the taste was great. How long can I keep it in the fridge? couple of days?
Each butt is different. I have done 8 lbs that took 20 hours, another took 16 hrs. So you should go by IT and fork tender test.
I do moine at 225 but make sure that the temp probe is under the last rack of meat.
Not sure why you wrapped it at IT of 140*. Bacon wrapped or foil or what?
Never cooked a small 3 pounder.
One day try a larger butt, smoke for 4 hours at 200 then continue to cook at 200 uncovered until 180 to 195 internal temp, cover with foil and let it rest on the counter for at least an hour then pull and eat. It should literally try to fall apart just getting it out of the smoker if done this way. It will take awhile, but FTC will only be beneficial if you have time to kill before dinner time.
There are many ways for making pulled pork. It is a very forgiving dish. The above is how I do it and have never been disappointed. I personally like Oinker rub and apple wood.
Bob,
Sounds like your butt turned good. As for wrapping in foil, there's nothing wrong with doing it that way if that's what you prefer. I know that in some regions it is considered SOP to wrap at 140. Having said that, I never wrap a butt and have finished many of them in the house oven. They won't dry out if left unwrapped. My personal opinion(and it is just that, my personal opinion)is that when you wrap the butt it inhibits the formation of the type of bark that I am looking for. Just my personal preference but I like a good bark. I also trim off the fat cap prior to smoking so you don't lose the bark when you go to remove the fat from the finished product.
Everybody has their own little personal preferences when smoking a butt. Keep smoking. You'll figure out what you like best.
We never wrap a butt in foil because we really like to get a really good bark, which really enhances the pulled pork flavor, but like what was already said to each his own..you will find what you like..keep smokin..