BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

I have been doing some reading.  This will be my first pulled pork smoke.  I plan to use 4-hours hickory as that is all I have right now.  I plan to use the CYM and then some kind of rub.  I don't know a lot about rubs yet.  I also don't know much about meat selection for this project.  I am thinking from what I have read that a pork butt with bone in or probably a Boston butt with a decent marbling and thin fat cap and also as fresh as possible.  I hope to get some meat ready to start on Friday so there is not much time to get organized.  I will be using my maverick to watch the cabinet temp and the meat and my new PID.  What I need to know is the following:

What is a good reasonably easy and fast to get rub or one I can make for this project?

What size butt can I get for a family of 4 with some leftovers?  Do they come about 4-5 lb. or would I need to get a cut down one if that is even possible?  Would I be better off with a small full butt over a cut down one for quality of finished product?

How long should I plan to cook after the smoke and how long to FTC for one butt?

Should I use a little apple juice on the butt before the FTC?  I think I saw that someplace.  If I should how much?

And last, but not least is there any steps I am missing

Thanks!

As far as rub goes I like using the S&S wild willy rub, but in a pinch I've found the McCormick grill mates pork rub to be quite good!  Last butt I did was an 8 lb.er if memory serves correct smoked for 4 hours and then cooked for another 12 and then FTC for 3 with the spritz of AJ....I don't do pork that often (unless you count bacon)  Somebody with more knowledge of the pig will be along I'm sure!  Good luck!

C

I also find that the McCormick Grill Mates rubs are a good choice if you don't have time to make your own. I prefer The Renowned Mr. Brown Barbecued Pork Butt, also in Smoke & Spice, by Cheryl and Bill Jamison.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Black Pepper, fresh cracked
1/4 cup Paprika
1 /4 cup Turbinado Sugar or Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Salt, Kosher
2 tsp. Mustard, dry
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
(Makes enough for one 6 - 8 lb. Boston Butt)

You got it pretty well covered. Besides what westexasmoker has already stated, I trim the fat cap down to 1/8 - 1/4", so if you get one that is not too trimmed that will work. It's hard to really mess up a butt.

Keep in mind that you will loose 35% to 40% of the weight of the meat when it is finally finished. So if it is around 6 to 7.5 pounds I would smoke/cook the whole butt.  Also pulled pork freezes, and reheats well.

A splash of apple juice works well when you FTC, or just letting it rest.

As for time, I can't help you. There are too many factors, and I only take my butts to 175°F while most go to at least 185°F.

Thanks for the info so far.  I think I will go for about a 7 lb butt and make my own rub.  I have everything on hand but the dry mustered, but if I use CYM on it then I figure maybe I can skip the dry stuff.

I have found a few posts that talk about plastic wrap before the foil for the FTC.  Is that standard?

I plan to put it in about 6 PM to smoke and then change out the water after 4 hr smoke and set it at 210 on the PID and check it about 6 in the morning.  I have seen some wide ranges of time stated and I just don't want it to go too long if I cook it without checking it until it is 12 hr. into the process.  I don't care if it comes off for lunch or dinner so I assume that with a long FTC if needed we can make dinner no problem.  I am just wondering if 14-16 hr. with FTC is about right to make lunch or if I should be thinking more like 10-12 hours and starting later at night or going a little lower on the temp like 200 or less for the 708 lb butt and then raising the setting in the morning to 210-220 to finish.

One other question that I thought of was how everyone does the vent.  I have figured out to vent so the smoke doesn't back up in the generator during smoking, but after the smoke stops what does everyone do with the vent?  I am guessing maybe ¼ or 1/3 vent to let some moisture out so it doesn't condense, but not so much it dries out the meat.

I used the rub from the bradley smoker recipe collection when I did my butts this past weekend but I used onion and garlic powder instead of onion and garlic salt. It was really good.

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork

Ingredients
• 3 kg (6 lb) pork butt roast
Rub:
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) paprika
• 10 ml (2 tsp) brown sugar
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) onion salt
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) celery salt
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) garlic salt
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) dry mustard
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) ground black pepper
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) cayenne pepper
• 3 ml (1/2 tsp) salt
Basting Sauce:
• 250 ml (1 c) apple cider vinegar
• 60 ml (1/4 c) water
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) coarsely ground pepper
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) coarse salt
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vegetable oil

Preparation
The night before serving mix together rub ingredients and massage into the pork roast. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator and let stand for 45 minutes to an hour.

Smoking Method
Preheat Bradley Smoker to between 100°C and 120°C (220°F and 250°F). Using Hickory flavor bisquettes smoke /cook for approximately 8 hours or until the meat reaches a minimum internal temperature of 70°C (160°F). Mix together the sauce ingredients and baste the pork with sauce, setting aside remaining basting sauce. Continue smoke/cooking for an additional hour.

To Serve
To serve pull/shred the pork into slivers. Pile on hamburger or Kaiser buns and drizzle with remaining basting sauce.

http://www.bradleysmoker.com/main-page.asp

Take Hab's recommendations to heart.  He knows his food.  I smoke butts at 200 to 205 until meat temp of 180 to 185.  Mine always turns out perfect.  8 pounder takes me roughly 16 to 20 hours then FTC for 3 or 4 hours.  Time will almost always vary - sometimes by a large margin.  Keep your temps low and you can pull at lower temps and can simply let it rest in foil on the counter instead of FTC.  For butts I use FTC for time management.

With regards to the vent, I usually have mine about 1/3 open during the entire smoke/cook process.  Just make sure the smoke does not back up into the generator.  After the smoke period be sure to change the water bowl.

Heres a good rub to try Xtrema312. I like to cook the pork butts this way also. I've done 5 now so far this spring and they have all turned out great.

1        Cup packed brown sugar
1/2     Cup paprika
2 1/2  TBS ground black pepper
2 1/2  TBS Kosher or sea Salt
1 1/2  TBS Chili Powder
1 1/2  TBS Garlic Powder
1 1/2  TBS Onion Powder
1-2     tsp of Cayenne-you call

This make plenty for at least a couple of pork butts and some ribs. I put the extra into a food saver canaster and keep for the next time.

Mix all the above in to a bowl and rub on the night before. One hr before smoke, remove from fridge and rub again. I have smoked 5 now at 215 until the IT reachs 165. I then wrap it in foil, with all of the seams towards the top. That way, the juice that does come out will pool at the bottom. I stick the probe back in through the foil and cook to a IT of 190-193.

Remove it at this point and wrap in a towel and put in the cooler. I did my first and second for 2 hrs. When I removed it from the foil, I was careful to not spill the juice and poured it into a pan. I then pulled the pork and put it into a large bowl. Then, I  poured some of the juice back over the meat and mixed. You can sprinkle some of the rub into the meat also which adds great flavor.

This is very similar to the other ways that I have read on here on how to cook a butt. Just a couple of different things to consider. Trust me, they turn out great and by pouring the juice back over the meat, I think it adds a little bit more smoke flavor.

I chose a 7.67 lb pork butt for my first smoke. It's kind of lopsided, thick on one end and then narrows. Should I cut this sucker in half or just run with it. I have to figure out how to put pics on here.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk250/smokinsoon/meat.jpg)
I hope this is the pic, should I cut this in 2 pieces for better smoking? Will the small end be over cooked?

That is a normal looking butt (as far as pork goes). Add some rub and run with it.

I echo what Habs says.  I would not cut it.........smoke it as is and prepare yourself for a delectable feast!

Yup... Like Habs and SD said... Smoke that sucker!  ;)

Mmmm... Good eats ahead!

Mike

Well my Auber PID didn't make it yet so I must have been just a little too late with my order to get it shipped before they went on vacation.  :(  However, Ice's sauce made it here.  ;D  I think my butt will wait until I get the control.  So today I just finished up a batch of goose jerky to put in the new smoker tomorrow with some mesquite smoke.  Other than the PID I think I have everything ready to go but the butt now.  

So next questions are on butt's.  I am in SW Michigan in Kalamazoo.  Any recommendations for stores with good butt's in my area if you know or Michigan stores in general?  We have a supper Wal-mart and Meijers real close.  There is a meat store on the other side of town that is supposed to be good and we have gotten a few things there in the past.  There is also a Harding's not too far away.  So far have I have been to the Wal-mart.  They have packaged bone in butt that is by Tyson.  I don't know if this is a decent quality or if I should keep looking.  They look good.  How critical is butt selection and what is a good price per pound for bone in and bone out?

P.S. THANKS FOR THE HELP SO FAR!

One other idea that popped into my head was about the apple juice on the butt.  I see people spray the butt from time to time.  Anyone ever tried apple wedges on a rack over the butt to drip on it as it cooks or is the apple juice going to be too much too soon to do the trick?  It isn't much of a concern now with warm weather, but when it is cooler I hate to open up the BS and loose the heat.

If you're going to dump the pucks and refill the water bowl, you could toss the apples in at that time, or at other intervals when you would have normally spritzed.

Here is a site with info about buying, trimming, preparing, smoking, etc, pork butts. I just found it this morning and have learned a lot of stuff I did not know so my next pulled pork butt will be even better than the last one I made.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/porkbuttselect.html

Thanks!  That was a big help.

Well, we're practically neighbors.  I live in Elkhart, IN but used to live in Portage, MI.  I buy all my pork butts at Sam's Club which come 2 in a cryovac package.  There is a butcher there in Kalamazoo that I've used before who is pretty good.  Can't remember the name of the road but it's the one where Sweetwater Donuts is located and the butcher is located right by the old Gordon Food Service.  It's right off of I-94.  They're pretty nice folks....last time I was up there, I told him what I wanted and he cut it off right there for me on the spot.  Now that I think of it, I believe the road is Sprinkle.  Hope it helps and welcome aboard, neighbor!

Thanks for the info.  That is exactly what I wanted to know.  That is the butcher shop I was thinking about off Sprinkle and a second recommendation is a help.  I was thinking about going there some time.  I live out on M-43 about the Van Buren Co. line so those places are a ways away, but I work downtown so it is not too far to go to Sprinkle if I go after work.  That or pack ice and go at lunch.  I will have to go there this next week at lunch to look around and ask about some stuff.

I will have to see about Sam's.  I don't have a membership so I will have to track someone down with one or eat a lot of butt's to pay for it.   ;D

I checked Wal-mart again and they have nice looking ones, but they say "up to 8% solution"  so I am thinking they are salt water injected and I need to keep looking, but I am not sue on the solution if that is too much or not.  They were trimmed nice with a nice fat cap ready to go.  They had real nice looking full briskets, but I couldn't tell what grade they were anywhere on the package.  I found nice looking choice brisket flats at Meijers right down the road so if I just want to grab a fast one I think those will work, but I will have to check the prices and quality at the Sprinkle road butcher shop.

My sister-in-law (say, you ain't single, are ya?  ;D) lives in Kalamazoo.  I have a membership to Sams.  Maybe the next time we go to visit her, I can give you a jingle and meet ya there and you can get all the bulk meat your heart desires.  Where do you work at up there?

SD

To bad for your sister in-law because I am very happily married and quite the catch. ;D  We spend time apart with friends and they talk about their spouse all the time.  We tray to be encouraging and then come home to thank each other for being so great and usually talk about all the bullet we ducked while finding each other.  We don't spread it around though because we don't want to rub it in.   :D Only been 7-years so far, but never had a fight yet.  No need for one.

That is a very kind offer thanks!  I would like to make a trip some time if it works out.  I may have a sister in-law with a membership, but can't recall if they let it go or not.   

I work at Kingscott.  It is an A&E firm down town by the arcadia creak festival site.  My window lets me watch the ducks land in the creak and I day dream of how to get my hands on them and get them in my smoker.  I love duck and goose jerky better than any other kind.  Mesquite smoke just does something magic to them.

Dear God.......not yet another mesquite lover  :'( :o ;D

I love duck and goose hunting....got a great lab who's AKC and UKC titled.....goes by the name of Steeler

See its not just me....Mesquite smoke just does something magic to them.
!

C

First smoke I feel like an expectant daddy! I dont really understand the oven timer, it does not go over 9 hrs something.
How do I just let it rip?

Smoking Soon,
On the Digital Bradley Smoker, it will not program for any longer than 9 hours and 40 minutes.  You'll need to reset the timer before you go to bed.  I always try to time my smokes so that it was time to change the water about the time I expected to go to bed.  This way, I would change the water and be cool with that and then reset the timer as I knew I'd never get 9:40 of sleep.  Just remember to reset the timer when you get up again.

One way to forget about the timer is to get a PID and that will override the timer on the DBS.

Hope that helps and enjoy the smoke.

SD

Thanks Duck for the quick reply, Now I can relax with a brew, smell the smoke and pull some pork in the morning! I will post results good or bad!

Quote from: Smoking Duck on June 07, 2008, 04:37:07 PM
Dear God.......not yet another mesquite lover  :'( :o ;D

I love duck and goose hunting....got a great lab who's AKC and UKC titled.....goes by the name of Steeler

Yep, I have been a die yard hickory smoke fan for years on my jerky, summer sausage and salmon.  I have played with other stuff on the sausage and salmon, but I always come back to hickory.  With my old smoker I used little chief chips.   One day I was getting ready to smoke a batch of goose and I found out I was out of chips so I ran out to the store where I got them all the time and they stopped selling them.   All they had were those puck things and big wood chunks.  I needed smaller stuff for my electric smoker so I looked all over and I found one bag of medium chips in mesquite and figure that was what I was going to use to get through the smoke.   Best batch of jerky I had ever made.  From then on I used the mesquite on the ducks and geese.  I have not tried it on any other meat, but I think my next batch of venison jerky will be mesquite.   

Had to put down my yellow this March @ just a month short of 13 yr.  Swallowed one to many socks and this one didn't come back up like the first 200. :o  That and the kidney failure was getting close so it was time.

Sorry to here that Xtrema.  At least you have your memories........


By the way, my weapon of choice is the Xtrema 2........probably one of the best duck and goose guns I've owned

Quote from: Xtrema312 on June 07, 2008, 04:14:55 PM
Mesquite smoke just does something magic to them.

Thats what I like to hear!!!

Don't really know how but I dun good! Ribs for breakfast, Pulled Pork for dinner!

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk250/smokinsoon/DSC00478.jpg)
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk250/smokinsoon/DSC00479.jpg)
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk250/smokinsoon/DSC00480.jpg)

Quote from: Smoking Duck on June 08, 2008, 04:22:47 AM
Sorry to here that Xtrema.  At least you have your memories........


By the way, my weapon of choice is the Xtrema 2........probably one of the best duck and goose guns I've owned

Had the X1 then the benelli now back to the good old 870 sps, wingmaster, and A5 mag.  The Beretta's are my favorite auto next to the A5, but the X1 never fit right.  Maybe a X2 some day down the line.  The Benellis don't pattern that great and my others do so back to basics.  I shoot them better anyway. 

Quote from: Smokin Soon on June 08, 2008, 02:24:15 PM
Don't really know how but I dun good! Ribs for breakfast, Pulled Pork for dinner!

Looks good to me.  I wish I could have done it this weekend, but the PID never made it so I waited.  About the time I got the smoke going on my first OBS smoke doing the fall back jerky the storm came through and took out the power.  I managed to complete the jerky on the generator, but I am glad I didn't need to run it 20 hours on a low and slow box full of pork.

Jerky turned out great.  Did 1:20 misquote.  I have read not to use water in the bowl, but when I saw the first pucks were burning down when I rotated racks I did.  Rescued the low rack back strips in the nick of time at one point then the rest turned out quite uniform.  Seamed like the door temp was 15-30 deg. off of the maverick dependent on the temp.  The higher the temp the closer it was, or maybe it just settled out when the cabinet stabilized, but was still to far off to trust IMO.  I may just do a brisket flat next weekend if the PID is not here so I can do something I can finish in a day.

Quote from: Xtrema312 on June 09, 2008, 06:27:17 PM

Quote from: Smokin Soon on June 08, 2008, 02:24:15 PM
Don't really know how but I dun good! Ribs for breakfast, Pulled Pork for dinner!

Looks good to me.  I wish I could have done it this weekend, but the PID never made it so I waited.  About the time I got the smoke going on my first OBS smoke doing the fall back jerky the storm came through and took out the power.  I managed to complete the jerky on the generator, but I am glad I didn't need to run it 20 hours on a low and slow box full of pork.

Jerky turned out great.  Did 1:20 misquote.  I have read not to use water in the bowl, but when I saw the first pucks were burning down when I rotated racks I did.  Rescued the low rack back strips in the nick of time at one point then the rest turned out quite uniform.  Seamed like the door temp was 15-30 deg. off of the maverick dependent on the temp.  The higher the temp the closer it was, or maybe it just settled out when the cabinet stabilized, but was still to far off to trust IMO.  I may just do a brisket flat next weekend if the PID is not here so I can do something I can finish in a day.

Hey, Let me know how the pid thing works, and how the install goes. I'm only looking into this cause I hate the dbs only having a 9:40 cook time. Also which one did you order?

I'm thinking I've got someone else converted....come to the dark side!!  ;D

'Jerky turned out great.  Did 1:20 misquote.'  Mesquite will make you miss spell everytime!  Congrats!

C

I think that was what we term a Freudian slip, WTS.  He meant mesquite but put misquote.  Hmmmmmmm, what's next, mosquitos?


:o :D ;D ;)

Darn that auto spell correct on my note pad I use so the text is nice and big when I leave my glasses at work.  That happens every once in a while.  I did smoke some mosquitoes though being up next to the woods with all the hot humid air this weekend. :)

Great job Smokin Soon. There I go slobbering on the keyboard again!  :D ;D

That food looks great, Smokin Soon.  Wish I saw some of that food in my immediate future!

Well I finally got it done this weekend!  Got Ice's sauce and my Auber programmable control.  Did about an 8 lb butt with CYM and Mr. Brown 4-hours hickory.

Got meat at a butcher shop.  Nice and fresh, but they didn't follow my instructions and trimmed it all up.  It was the end of the day so they had cleaned up and I couldn't get some fat so they had thick cut bacon and I got enough to cover it and the fattiest pieces I could get.  The nice thing is I got my rub under the fat so I kept my bark on without the fat taking it off when I pulled it. 

My Auber ran about 3 deq less than the Maverick in the cabinet.  The Auber was actually right on with the door thermometer.  I checked the Maverick in boiling water and it was about 5 deg. low when tested, but was about on with the thermometer in the house for room temp.  I adjusted temp target and Auber settings accordingly.  Set Auber at 200 figuring it was close to 208-210.  Started at 6 pm in pre-heated smoker with meat out on counter to warm for about 1.5 hr.  Cabinet temp came up without much wait.  Auber did great with 1 deg. temp swing from target all along. 

Changed water after smoke and did apple juice.  At 6 am the butt was about 160 so I added water and apple juice.  I bumped the Auber to 205 with apple juice at bowel change. 

My Maverick meat temp probe tested low in boiling water also so I pulled it out when the temp at the lowest temp part of the meat was at 185 deg. with most parts at 190 or a little more.  Pulled it out at 4pm, 22 hr.  FTC and apple juice.  Set in FTC for about 1.5 hours. 

It was great.  Maybe could have been a little more moist, but it was so good it is hard to say for sure, and really if they all turned out this way it would be fine with me and everyone that has tried it so far.  Not sure how the fat, meat, and longer than expected cook time all played out. 

Loved Ice's sauce.  Tried the mild and regular and liked both.  With the Mr. Brown rub the mild is a nice comb.  I will probably be getting more of each. 

I need to temp check the Auber and my Maverick some more to see what is up.  I think the Auber was closer maybe than the Maverick.  It seemed like the Time was too long, but I also have to check all the temp recommendations as I could have been under set 10 deg. cook temp.  Not sure.  Next time I am for sure going to run the Auber at 205 from the start and bump to 210 maybe at 12 hours.

 ;D oh and thanks for all the help!

I did my second butt last night and had problems with the Auber.  I posted more about the details of the problems in the accessories section of the site.  I started at 4pm with a target of around noon today.  My first one had taken about 21 hours if I recall correctly, but I was running about 200 deg. and took the meat to 190.   This time I was trying to run close to 205-208.  I finally got it set up so I thought it was running right at about 10 pm.  I had some too high cabinet temps, but had been catching it and venting the heat so I thought I had done no harm in the early process although my meat temp was probably on the rise a little too fast with some of the 220 high end cabinet temps I was getting off and on. 

The last check was at midnight.   The cabinet was up to temp, the Maverick was about where it should be with the error it has, and the Auber was working fine again holding temps at 205-207.  Went to bed and got up at 6 to check it.  The Auber was running 205 deg. and holding with pulses of power.  I thought great!  Then I checked the cabinet temp on the door and the Maverick and it was 235 and 238 so over 240 actual.  :(  The meat was 195 so I pulled it and FTC for 3 hr.  I just pulled it and it pulled okay, but it is very very greasy.  Still has a lot of fat in the meat and it is nothing like the last one I did.  The first one had the fat in the sections between the meat, but not all the fat all over the place.  I lost most of the bark because it was too loaded with grease to save for my taste.  It was done 8-hours ahead of my last one. 

I know the fat in a butt and the way it cooks will vary, but I have to think the thing cooked way to fast and didn't have time to really break down the fat and drain it through and out of the meat.  Is this what you get when you go too fast and high with the temp and can I expect my next one to be better quality with less fat still in the meat if I get it slowed down and cook longer or is this more to do with the meat I got this time?

It could just be the meat. Before the PID, I did my butts (usually 4, but at least 2) in my 4 rack OBS. I would keep the slider control on MAX for pretty much the entire smoke/cook, and the bx temps were usually in the 210 - 230 range. The only way I can get higher temps is run the OBS empty. I have not had a butt turn out the way you describe, but I have had them be tougher than usual even though they were cooked to the same IT.

Lets blame it on the pig. I think I have had more variance in texture and tenderness based on meat source than any other factors - box temp, ftc time, etc...


What was the total cook time ?

14 hours, but could have been 13 or less.  Who knows as it was 195 when I checked at 6 am.  My first one was about 21 but closer to 200 deg. box temp and I let it run the meat up to 190.   I was ball parking it at 18 hours this time with a planned 5-8 deg. higher box temp and came up way short of that.