Smoked first butt but not a lot of smoke flavor

[madtown]

I smoked my first pork butt last weekend. I smoked it 4 hours with Apple (that is all I had) and then transferred into the oven at 210 until internal temp hit 185 degrees.  I wanted to finish in the oven because i was doing this smoke overnight so it would be ready for the Vikes game on Sunday and didn't want to leave it in the garage unattended.  I pulled it out and FTC for 2 hours.  It turned out moist and pulled really nice.  I also used Mr. Brown's rub recipe and the bark was tasty.  My only suprise is that there wasn't a significant amount of smoke flavor or much at all.  I don't know if it had to do with the type of wood I used or something else.  It was about 5 degrees here in South Dakota so I did have the smoker in the garage with a 4 inch in-line fan pulling the smoke out of the wind.  I hooked it up a dimmer switch  and had it set rather low.  I would like to point at the vent but I have smoked multiple sets of ribs with this vent system and they have always had a lot of flavor.

Any thoughts on low smoke flavor or is that just how a pork butt takes the smoke?

[squirtthecat]

Apple is the mildest of the pucks...   Use Hickory or that 'M' stuff if you want it really strong.

[FLBentRider]

Were the pucks completely black ?

You are going to get more "smoke flavor" on ribs due to the ratio of surface area to meat mass.

On a pork butt, most of the smoke flavor is going to be on or near the bark, some of us here chop the bark and mix it in with the pulled pork.

I usually use Hickory or Oak on Pork butt.

[pensrock]

I also think it may be the kind of wood used. Try hickory next time.

[KyNola]

Not that you need it but I concur with the others.  Pork butts = HICKORY! :D

Hal is a Kentucky boy who will be along to back up this Kentucky boy about the required use of hickory on butts.  They will throw you out of the Commonwealth of Kentucky if the BBQ police catches you smoking a butt or shoulder with something other than hickory. ;D ;D

KyNola 

[squirtthecat]

CRG did this recently:

Another way to get more smoke in, is to butterfly the butt and 'open it up' during the smoke, then roll it back up tight and tie during the cook.

[Quarlow]

Mesquite-Very strong
Hickory-strong
Oak-strong but not overpowering
Pecan-mild version of Oak
Maple-Mild
Cherry-Mild & fruity
Apple-Mild, fruity with a slight sweetness
Alder-Light with a hint of sweetness

[madtown]

Thanks everyone. The list of woods and strength is helpful. Sounds like I better buy more pucks for this weekend.   ;D 

[classicrockgriller]

madtown, I like smoke. I have smoked a butt for 8 to 12 hrs.

It is part of the learning curve, finding out what you like and what it will take to make you happy.

You did the hard part, getting a moist pullable pig, adjusting the smoke flavor will be the fun part.

Glad to hear it went good on the smoking/cooking end!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Madtown;

Welcome to the forum.

Smoke is an individual taste, but I have had good results with apple. My preferred bisquettes for pork is pecan.