The last time I did a butt for pulled pork I used no drip tray below the meat. What I did do was add 3 quarters of a bottle of barbecue sauce.....it took 3 days to really blend with the pork but when it did it was wonderful. This time should I be using a drip tray to collect the juices and then separating the fat out and mixing the juice back into the meat? If so how much juice - there will be alot of smoke in that juice so could I overdo it? Maybe I should add the drip tray AFTER I do the smoke or just partway to avoid the heavy smoke flavour? Also do I start with liquid in the pan...say apple juice or just water? I am also thinking about the size of the juice pan versuses the size of the butt itself.....as I want the butt to recieve as much smoke as possible should I use as smaller juice pan to collect the drippings and not get in the way of the smoke? If I add the collected juices back into the meat should I perhaps flavour them? I am not inclined to use tin foil while cooking as I want as much hard bark as possible. I was going to foil, wrap with a towel and put in a cooler for a few hours after cooking and hope to retain as much hardness to the bark as I can.
Questions questions......
Any help from a seasoned veteren would be appreciated muchly I assure you.
i use two small bread pans to collect drippings. I start out with some beef broth in the pans.