Directions: Rub Butt, Smoke, Relax, Eat

[ceeuawlsune]

Does this sound right to anybody? 

I'm coming off a fairly bittersweet first experience with my BS.  I made a brisket, and if you'd like to know more about that, refer to my ealier post.

I'd obviously like to have better results.  Therefore, I'm going to smoke a butt.  I've slow-cooked them before in low ovens, but this will be my first smoking experience.  This, unlike my oven experiences, is a dry-cooking process, unlike the wet-cooking process I empolyed in the oven (the pork was in a "bath" of homemade barbecue sauce).  I'm wondering what differences I should expect, and how it might effect cooking time. 

My formula is going to be: Smoke @ 225 for 5 hours (Cherry:Hickory, 3:1), Hot Box @ 225 Until 170-180 (I'm figuring an additional 7-10 hours).  Then, FTC for at least 2 hours.  Any pointers?

[West Coast Kansan]

Suggesting an internal temp of 185 before you pull them. 170 is definitely too early even with FTC. Let us know how that cherry smoke turns out.

[ceeuawlsune]

How does my timing sound to you?

I couldn't resist and fired the smoker up last night at 1:30 in the morning, waited the prerequisite hour to preheat, and threw in the butt.  Didn't really get to sleep until after 3:00, but if my math is correct, I'll be having smoked pork butt for dinner.  Set alarm for 7:00, went downstairs, changed water pan and turned butt 180 degrees.

I have the temperature set to 220, but it is quite cold out, so she's running in the 205-225 range. 

My Question: After how long should I cut the smoke off?  My original 4-5 hours should be plenty, right?  I don't think I want to smoke for 8 hours (or more, like the whole time), because I'll definitely "oversmoke" the beast, right?

[West Coast Kansan]

8 hours is way much smoke for me.  4-5 is better idea to start with.  Temp range is good - if your reading it on a digital unit display (reality inside the tower should be a little lower which is what you want).

Time is hard to know without size of the butts. Good luck and watch the IT to know when its ready. Be patient.

[Chez Bubba]

I'm wondering what differences I should expect, and how it might effect cooking time. 

My formula is going to be: Smoke @ 225 for 5 hours (Cherry:Hickory, 3:1), Hot Box @ 225 Until 170-180 (I'm figuring an additional 7-10 hours).  Then, FTC for at least 2 hours.  Any pointers?

First thing you might notice as a difference is the wonderful flavor!

As WCK said, 8 hours is probably too much, although I doubt you would taste much of a difference. IMO, anything after 4-5 is wasted money. Think about why you sear a steak on a hot grill in reverse.

Also agreeing with WCK, time is so dependant on butt size & quantity of meat in the cabinet. General guideline assuming 210-220 cabinet temp: 1-5# butt = 4-5 hours, 4-7# avg butts = 15-20 hours & is very dependant on ambient.

Again repeating what WCK said (boy, I'm really kissing his rear tonight!), take IT to at least 185, the lessened effort in the "pulling" will be worth the extra time of cooking. I take mine to 190-195 and I think if I dropped it from 3 feet, it would essentially shred itself.

Personally, I would go with a 1:1 ratio on the Cherry to Hickory. Too much cherry gives a bitter taste to me.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Kirk