Somewhat new to smoking and I would like to do a pork should or a boston butt this weekend. Any tips on how I should do this from start to finish. Thanks in advance.
Mike
Mike,
I would start by buying a bone in Boston Butt(plain no injected stuff). I would take it home remove from package and score in a criss-cross pattern the fat side of butt. Take my favorite rub and pat rub into butt.[:D] Use a fair amount. Put rub on the whole thing. Take butt wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight in fridge. After completing that season smoker by using instruction book. This is a great time to enjoy your favorite beverage. Tomorrow take butt out of fridge about an hour before you want to start. Plug Bradley in and turn on smoke gen. without pucks. Make sure you fill water bowl 3/4 way full with hot water. Let temp get to 225f, this will take about an hour.(for me this is bottom bar set half way with smoke gen. on) Load smoke gen with favorite wood(14 pucks, no devil wood) push advance button three times(slowly). Open door and make sure puck is on burner and put butt on one of the middle racks. Insert remote thermometer(IMHO you need one of these with brand name fresh new batteries). Preform this operation as quickly as possible so all the heat dosen't escape. Close door and open top vent 1/4 turn.(this lets enough moisture out so that it dosen't run out the bottom) After this do not I repeat do not open the door for any reason. Let meat cook until internal temp registers 195-200f for pulling or 185f for slicing.(You may only open the door to change water in bowl. It will get full of burnt pucks after 4hrs. Other than this just let the Bradley do its thing with the door closed.) Remove butt from smoker and wrap in heavy duty foil and wrap with two old towels. Put butt in an empty cooler or cold oven. Let butt rest for 1-2 hrs. If you get done to early butt will stay piping hot this ways for 6+ hours. Good luck. I'm sure I left out lots but maybe this will get you started.
Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Hi Mike, I'' try to make this as brief as possible. Butt is super easy to make and well worth it! I usually take the butt, rinse it with water, pat dry with paper towels. I then apply a good lathering of prepared yellow mustard ( some do- some don't). I do cause I have a Costco size jug of it in the fridge. Don't worry, your butt won't taste like mustard, it just kind of helps the rub you're using stick a little better that's all. Next is to take your favorite rub and give your butt a good coating of it. I use disposable rubber gloves so that my hands stay clean for this part. I usually wrap the meat in plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator over night- again some don't do this and pop into the smoker right after applying the rub. You should preheat your smoker for a while then toss the butt into BS. Use your favorite smoke (pecan, hickory etc...). I use 3-5 hrs of smoke (hard to oversmoke butt IMO). I try to have heat set at around 225* for the entire time. The temp will likely drop initially. It takes a bit of time for it to come back to temp.
Leave the door closed- that's a must and be prepared to leave it in there for 9-12 hrs depending on size of butt. You might want to check after 4 hrs or so and add water to the bowl. Your best friend would be a thermometer (ie: Polder, Maverick) to give you a reading of the internal temp of the butt. Most people pull the meat out of the smoker when it hits 190*-195*. You'll notice it will take time for the internal temp to break through the 160-170* mark. This is called the plateau and is normal. You may then wrap the butt in foil and then some old towels and stick into a small cooler. This will keep the meat hot for many hours or until you're ready to chow down.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck!
Cold Smoke
Thanks for all of the great advice.... One more question:
I do not have the bowl for the pucks to drop into once they burn off. Is there anything you can recommend to use as a substitute. Thanks.
Mike
You should have gotten one with your Bradley. Might call cust service on that. For this weekend, use any ovenproof dish, like a pyrex pie pan. Just clean it out and stick it in the dishwasher with the racks.
Smoke rule;
I bought mine used but thanks for the advice... Have a good weekend.
MM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by mike</i>
<br />Thanks for all of the great advice.... One more question:
I do not have the bowl for the pucks to drop into once they burn off. Is there anything you can recommend to use as a substitute. Thanks.
Mike
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">The throw-away bread loaf pans at the grocery store work fine in a pinch for 1X use. Might have to carefully scrunch them down a bit.
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?