First Pork Butt

[GerryB]

The raw material:



Second time using the OBS. A little nervous about the timing of this project – needed to be done for dinner. It was raining the night before, so overnight wasn't really an option.

The day before I slathered the butt with Cheapest YM and applied the rub. As a former Alaskan, I chose to make some Alaskan Butt Blast for the rub, and besides it has all the good stuff that I usually use to make my rubs. (This was an excellent choice, as it turned out.)

Slathered and rubbed:



I got up at 5:00 a.m. to take the butt out of the fridge, and to set up the OBS in the dark. I put together the new Maverick ET-73 and was ready to roll. Didn't know what to do with the Maverick transmitter – I ended up attaching the wire clip and hanging it over the puck-feeder tube. I clanged around a little when attempting to insert the V-tray in the dark, but apparently not enough to wake the neighbors. I also lost most of the interior pre-heat in this process. Got everything going at 6:00 a.m. as planned, using 2/3 hickory and 1/3 apple for the 4-hour smoke. Outside temperature was 43 at the start, getting up to 63 late in the afternoon.

The Maverick probe registered the interior temperature of the butt at 31 degrees. It had been frozen and thawing for two days. The one-hour-to-room-temperature plan was certainly insufficient. As the OBS got rolling, I noticed that the temp remained at 31 for all of the first hour. I wondered if this was putting me in a time deficit...

I ran the Maverick wires through the side of the door, and noticed that smoke was leaking around them all day. I didn't mess with them, other than to separate them a little. But I continued to lose a little smoke, and, presumably, a little heat all day.

Once the butt temp got rolling I was less worried. I knew, from you good folks, to expect a stall in the 160 degree range, and certainly it did take quite a while to go from 160 to 170. What I wasn't expecting was that even after 170, those temperature increases continue to be slower to come by. I started to get nervous again...

All day I was keeping the OBS temp as close to 225 as I could, but at about 2 hours before dinner time, I cranked it to 235, trying to reach an internal of 190. I knew all along that I would settle for 185, since I wanted time to FTC. 185 is what I got, but still I had only about 45 minutes of FTC. I wonder how much time I lost with the sub-freezing starting temp??

12 hours later:



But of course, I worried too much. The butt was fabulous. It pulled apart with no effort; the meat and bark were delicious. I can't imagine how screwing around with the slather or rub could improve the flavor. I would like another couple of hours next time to get a higher starting and finishing IT. Or just start it overnight as the weather improves.




Thanks to everyone who contributes to this great forum. Your enthusiastic assistance gave me a lot of confidence, and the results were everything a rookie could hope for. You guys rock!

[classicrockgriller]

GerryB that Butt Rocks!

That bone is about to pop out.

Very Very nice.

[KevinG]

There you go CRG is getting kinky again. Nice looking din din.

[ronbeaux]

Nice job.

[SnellySmokesEm]

Looks good, nice bark.  And what a great deal!

[NewfieSmoker]

Looks great.  You're gonna be wishin you smoked a bigger roast tomorrow at lunch when you're drooling for a pork sandwich! ;D

Newfie

[Tenpoint5]

Looks Great!! How did the famdamly enjoy your first attempt?

[pensrock]

Looks great, good job. Next time put the V tray in the day before, add a couple bricks to the bottom of the smoker to help retain heat. The little smoke that leaked out the door will not hurt anything, do not worry about it. I did not notice where your vent was set. I would have kept it full open for most of the cook. Maybe closed 1/2 way when finishing up. Bet it tasted as good as it looked.  :)

[OU812]

Thats some good lookin eats Gerry.

Nice job.

I also run the wires through the door seal and have never noticed smoke comin out, maybe your vent was closed a little to much.

You really dont the smoke comin out where the generator is or it could cause some major problems with the electronics.

[smokeNcanuck]

One never forgets his or her first butt! ;)
Looks outstanding, great work GerryB!

[GerryB]

Good tip on the vent - I'll be that was it. It was never fully opened during the smoke. My wife and I already had two great meals from the butt, and the remainder is in the freezer to be enjoyed again soon.

[OU812]

Garry

When smokin I always have the vent 3/4 to wide open and if I'm doin a long cook, after the smoke close it to 3/4 to half open. You never want the vent closed, it will cause condensation to build up and rain black crap down on your food.

Also when doin poultry keep that baby wide open the whole time.

[GerryB]

The vent was open about halfway, + or -, for the whole time.