Hey guys (And gals!)
I'm going to do my first butt this weekend as the weather is supposed to stay in the 40's-50's. I bought a 8# butt from the grocery and have been reading all morning. I have some of Iceman's rub (and sauce). Would the rub work well with a butt?
Use both. Rub - then smoke/cook - then pull - then serve with sauce. Yummie. ;)
What about the mustard slather? I can't seem to find consise direction on that. That gets applied to the meat BEFORE the rub? Any reason to not do it the night before and plastic wrap it?
If you want to use a mustard slather, that is fine. You don't taste the mustard in the end product, it's only job is to just get more rub to adhere to the butt. I use a mustard slather and lots of rub on my butts because I like a good thick bark on my end product.
I apply the mustard slather and a generous helping of rub onto my butts, then I wrap tightly with plastic wrap, then return it to the fridge overnight. The following day I take the butt out of the fridge about an hour before smoking. I let the butt sit on the counter while I am getting the smoker fired up. I usually add a bit more rub before loading the butt into the smoker.
good luck!
Many folks do like Lefty indicated. I like to use olive oil to hold the rub.
I use olive oil also. Does a good job, and it's less messy for me. :)
I'm going for maximum bark. Bark is good.
So here's my plan (I smoke tomorrow afternoon into Sunday for big game (GO GIANTS!)
1. Rub butt with mustard then rub as suggested and wrap/fridge overnight
2. Take out butt 2 hours before cook time
3. Heat OBS to 250 and get 4 hours of apple with a few hickory's thrown in for good measure ready to roll
3. Insert butt in smoker and probe box and butt with Maverick
4. Apply smoke for 4 hours.
5. Wrap in foil with some AJ/Whiskey mix and place in pre-heated 205 degree oven and go to bed.
6. Wake up and pull when internal hits 190(I believe thats what i made notes for from reading earlier, correct me if wrong. Looking to pull the pork) then FTC for about 3 hours
7. Drink morning beer for good measure
8. Eat pulled pork with lots of Icemans sauce!
Thanks again, you guys are the best!! ;D
Seems like a good plan D'Mick!!
Between the second step 3 :) and step 4, I would add the instruction to keep an eye on the temperature near the meat and adjust the set temperature to maintain your desired box temperature (i.e. 210 deg F) while smoking.
When you first put the butt in, the box temp will drop. It will also take some time to get back up to temperature. You should be measuring the temperature near the meat with a remote probe. As the temperature of the meat rises, the box temp will rise as well. If you have your set temperature higher than your desired box temp to compensate for the meat load and door opening, then you will need to reduce the set temperature gradually over time to keep the temperature consistent. After the meat temperature gets to 140 to 150 or so, your set temperature and box temperature will be very close to each other or right on.
Hope this helps on your first butt.
Will do Gizmo. Thats what i bought the Maverick for. Seems to work well but getting the darn OBS to keep a temperature is a PIA. I'm going to build a PID once its a bit warmer out. Meat just came out of the fridge to come up to temp a bit before going in. Here's a pic before i wrapped it up last night. I'll post more pics as things progress (Thats Iceman's rub. I hope i didn't put too much on. Everyone says its strong stuff)
(http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/776/rubbedea5.jpg)
With Ice's rub you want to go heavy on butt and light on ribs.
Gotcha, i'll add a bunch more before i put it in the smoker. I wasn't sure so i kept it about a medium coating.
Thanks again guys! I'll let you know how it turns out!
Thats a nice lookin butt. Im hoping you also have Icemans sauce for when that baby is pulled.
All done! Its a bit earlier then i wanted but it'll reheat well for the game.
Kane: Of course i do! Matter of fact i think its sitting next to the butt in this one picture.
Out of oven after 9.5 hours at 205 degrees. Hit 190 IT in two places. Time to FTC!
(http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6527/outofovenat190itmm2.jpg)
Pulling the pork this morning. Note the perfectly clean bone i pulled out. Gotta get them in containers with some sauce. I *swear* i didn't eat any while pulling ::)
(http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/3961/almostreadytosaucevk3.jpg)
Thanks again for the guidance. I'll be helping noobs out like myself in no time!!
Mick, looks good and no one here believes for one minute that you did not sample while pulling!
I have not done a butt yet but it's on my list.
Pensrock- I've done ribs, some chicken rolls and now this butt. To be honest, the butt was the far easiest of the bunch. It was a PIA getting the temp to stabalize in the OBS (A pid in the spring will fix that) but it was really quite easy. I just got done separating what i'm putting out for the party and what i'm keeping for myself. I sauced them up and its to die for. Iceman's sauce really is something to behold on some pork.
Next weekend i'm doing some more ribs. I just hope i can get them to not be tough like last time.
The only tip i can recommend for the butt is find a good butcher. I went to my local supermarket (ShopRite up here in the NE) and talked with their butcher. The crap they were trying to pass off was almost insulting. I went to a local butcher and while a bit more expensive (about $2/pound) for the butt trimmed and ready to go the meat was right on the money, perfect marbling and texture. Way better then what the supermarket had to offer. Their's was about $1.25/pound for butt. They stated a sale today for .79 cents/pound on whole shoulders but I'm not quite ready to tackle that yet!
I was leery but now I'm so happy i did the butt asit turned out so well. Just go do it!! Go right now to the butcher! ;D
That looks awesome! I am new to this whole Bradley Smoker thing, but I have read a lot of good recipes and can't wait for the weather to warm up here so I can start smoking things. I live in Iowa and we have had a terrible winter. When I do I will ask you guys all kinds of questions! This fall I smoked a brisket and it turned out ok had great flavor but was a little tough, I am guessing I didn't have it in long enough, I think it went around 9-10 hrs. I also did a venison bacon roll and that rocked!
Here is a question for you, what is FTC? I see that in a lot of posts. Looking forward to smoking soon and communicating with all of you.
Welcome qcrowner! I've yet to attempt a brisket. I think the next few weeks will be ok weather wise here to attempt one.
FTC stands for Foil Towel Cooler. This means to cover the meat in a decent wrap of heavy duty foil, then wrap the whole thing up in an old towel then place it into a cooler.
The reasoning behind this is to allow the meat time to rest and let the juices redistribute. By covering in the towel and placing in the cooler you're insulating it very well. For exmaple that pork butt i pulled this morning at 4:30am. I FTC'd it and placed it in my cooler and went back to bed. I got back up at 7:30 and it was still too hot to handle with my bare hands even after 3 hours of sitting in the cooler.
Most of the veterans here swear by it and i tend to go with their experience in these things. Pick yourself up a Maverick ET-73 and some BubbaPucks too. They make life easier. The guys over at yardandpool.com are regulars here. Here's links to the Mav and BubbaPucks:
http://www.yardandpool.com/product.php?productid=947
http://www.yardandpool.com/Bubba-Pucks---Bradley-Smoker-Woodsaver-p975.html
Welcome to an addictive hobby!!
look great Mick! yup, Icemans sauce is awesome. enjoy
Thanks Mick! FTC was driving me crazy I couldn't figure it out. I am fired up about smoking alot of meat this spring and summer! My wife and I like NASCAR and I am thinking that we need to do pulled pork for the Daytona 500! As long as it warms up here!
Nice job on that butt! ;) Welcome to the forum qcrowner. FTC never hurts on butts, but it is not always required. If you keep the cabinet around 210 or lower, (low and slow), all the fat and colegan will break down/render nicely and it will turn out tender and juicy. At that point all you need to do is wrap in foil and let it rest on the counter for an hour. With this method you can take out of the smoker at 175 to 190. FTC helps with killing some time and IMHO a must if you cook faster than 210. If you cook faster that 210, then you should take to 190. When cooking, your butt will stall for a long time, especially if you are doing it low and slow, so leave yourself plenty of time and do not rush it. It normally takes me 18 to 26 hours (depending on size and fat content) to do a butt but it is well worth it. After pulling, I serve with sauce on the side (in case you or a guest wants some without the sauce). Additionally, if there are left overs you can vac seal and freeze.
Welcome qcrowner. Another Iowan. Amazing how many (currenlty living and from) there are on the board.
Tiny, looks like you need to get an Iowan Smoke out going this year. You seem to have a lot of company there. :)
Wildcat: 18-26 hours? The butt i just did was just shy of 8 pounds (Bone in). I kept the box at 205 for 4.5 hours and then in the oven at 205 for another 9 hours until internal hit 190. What temp are you cooking at to get up to 18 hours?
I usually go for about 16 pounds of butt so that I can have plenty of left overs for freezing. I like to keep stocked up so that I just heat when RVing. I did one once that weighed about 8 pounds (my first one) and it took around 16 to 18 hours, but on that one I kept the temp at 200 or less. Believe it or not, that one was one of my best.
Quote from: Gizmo on February 03, 2008, 11:11:39 AM
Welcome qcrowner. Another Iowan. Amazing how many (currenlty living and from) there are on the board.
Thanks Gizmo! I will throw this out there and see what the response is since there are a lot of Iowans, don't throw me off the board, its all in fun.........Go Cyclones! ;D
Here is another question, which rub do I want to buy from Iceman and which sauce? Or any tips on any others you all have enjoyed?
Just PM him for some Sopn' Sauce and you'll be right on track. Iceman's delivery box is better than a box of cracker jacks. I won't say more.
Welcome qcrowner...are you in the Western, Central, or Eastern part of our fair state? Don't mind the Cyclones, but when they play the Hawkeyes, I gotta go with them since my sister went to Law School at U of I...any other time I pull for the 'Clones.
Tiny Tim, I am in central Iowa. Went to ISU actually and grew up in Ames, but now live close to DSM. My wife and I do exactly what you do, go Iowa except when they play our beloved clones.
How bout you, where are you located?
Right on Highway 59, about 15 miles North of Highway 30 (in the Western Half of the State).
I'm also a Bradley Dealer, so if you don't feel like giving Scheel's or somebody like that any of your money, shoot me a PM or e-mail and I'll try to hook ya up. My inventory isn't big, but they fill orders for me pretty quick (I have a couple of each flavor bisquette in the 48 packs, a couple in the 120's, and most of the accessories on hand).
Hey Tiny...I need to get some pucks sent to Mom...gonna be there in (FLA) next week. Can ya help me...?
I can help ya with 48 packs or with a 120 of Mesquite or Apple....
Thanks for the PM Tiny...I gotta figure out which I (we) need!!
Good stuff, nice job! ;D
-Brian