Update on My Butt...

ceeuawlsune · December 05, 2006, 04:57:40 PM

Okay, a bit delerious now, but hanging on with adreneline and hunger pains. I'm the idiot who decided to fire up the smoker at 1:30 this morning, thus having to wait until 2:30 to put the rubbed pork butt into the smoker. Here's the story, y'all:

I rubbed the 9.2# butt with my rub, covered well and put in the refrigerator at about 8:30 last night. Eager to improve upon my last effort (a mediocre brisket), I lit up the smoker in the middle of the night. Went to sleep around 3:30 when I was sure everything was going smoothly. Set alarm for 7:30 to change water pan and rotate butt, 180 degrees.

I went to sleep with the smoker set to 220; it was fairly cold last night up here in Greene County (about 10-20), so I found that it settled in at about 209. I was happy enough with that temperature. I set the smoke timer to 5 hours and the oven timer to 6, giving me some time in case of oversleep. I was using 3:1 Cherry:Hickory. Went to sleep.

Woke up at 7:30 and things smelled pretty damn good. All through the house not a creature was stirring except for the dirty swine in my smoker. Turns out it was a good thing I added an extra hour, because I set it to 5 hours smoke at 2:30, then went to bed at 3:30 thinking I still had five hours (for some reason), so it was down to about 2 minutes when I got down there this morning. Good thing my alarm is so loud.

Changed water, pulled and turned pork 180 degrees. Reset the smoke timer for an additional 4 hours, therefore bringing the total smoke time to 9 full hours. Seriously.

After nine hours of the cherry-hickory treatment, I turned off the smoke element, turned the pork 180 degrees. It was 11:30 am at that point.

I also noticed that the ambient temperature immediately dropped about 10 degrees (with smoke element now off), but then held there. I upped my box to 230 at this point, and was pleasantly surprised to have the BS warm up to 219 and hold there. I turned on the timer for 9 hours.

After another four hours, I turned the now beautiful brown pork-child one last time. So now, there are five hours left on the smoke timer. Let her rip for a four hours (8 total after the 9 smoke-hours, total 17 hours) and then checked internal temperature...my digital instant-read crept up to 194.4 and held there...I almost cried I was so happy.

I slipped it back into the box while I preheated my oven for my FTC. Set to 170. Also picked up some extra-wide heavy-duty aluminum foil. Wrapped my newborn in bright, shiny armor, then a fluffy orange preheated (in the drier) blanket (in the form of a beach towel), and put her in her preheated crib, at which point I turned the thermostat down to Zero.

It is currently in the oven, having rested now for 1.5 hours exactly. Going to wait one more hour, if humanly possible. I have to say, going in to the FTC process, things were looking very, VERY good.

Stay tuned for the Christianing Ceremony of my smoker, as well as a final report, including what kind of damage nine hours of smoking can do to a pork butt.

asa · December 05, 2006, 06:35:20 PM

Can't wait to hear the results of this one. Good luck!!!

ceeuawlsune · December 05, 2006, 06:53:18 PM

I will provide the full update (I FTC'd for three full hours before breaking down). Suffice it to say that I'm even more satisfied with the results than I'd expected, and I have to go lie down for a while. I'm feeling a little dizzy...

I can't believe how perfectly cooked the pork is...truly remarkable. The bark came off in one piece, no problem. The smoke wasn't overwhelming AT ALL (surprise, surprise after 9 full hours of smoke and then 7 hours of additional cooking, then 3 FTC) and the meat was literally falling off the bone in it's original muscular structure. Absolutely a thing of beauty.

West Coast Kansan · December 05, 2006, 08:06:33 PM

Super deal! Way too much fun huh?

iceman · December 06, 2006, 02:18:24 PM

Ahhh.... Another happy ending to a great day. Ain't it just purdy when your butt is done right. ;D :D

ceeuawlsune · December 06, 2006, 04:27:58 PM

It feels G-R-E-A-T!

asa · December 06, 2006, 06:35:23 PM

Quote from: ceeuawlsune on December 05, 2006, 06:53:18 PM
I can't believe how perfectly cooked the pork is...truly remarkable. The bark came off in one piece, no problem. The smoke wasn't overwhelming AT ALL (surprise, surprise after 9 full hours of smoke and then 7 hours of additional cooking, then 3 FTC) and the meat was literally falling off the bone in it's original muscular structure. Absolutely a thing of beauty.

Congratulations on a great product. I have one suggestion. Try doing everything exactly the same except only apply smoke for 4 hours, and see if you can tell the difference. That will be of great interest to many, and may turn out to be of interest to you as well, especially if there is no significant difference and you find you can save 15 pucks. On the other hand, if there is a significant difference that you like, then it would be nice for the rest of us to hear about it. Thanks for posting your experiences.

MallardWacker · December 07, 2006, 11:42:30 AM

QuoteI slipped it back into the box while I preheated my oven for my FTC

Sounds like you are off to a great start....but let me ask you about the oven and FTC....I will gaurruuuuntee you that you do not need the oven...to me any way just double wrap that thing with a chug of apple juice and wrap in a couple towels and put in a cheap cooler is all you will ever need and extra heat is not needed. Just my thoughts, once you hit an internal of 185 there is no further need for any more cooking. I know I have served butts that have been FTC'ing for 6 hours and were plenty HOT. Also, save money, the general rule of thumb is about 4hrs of smoke anything after that (at least there is some consensus) is a waste and probably won't add anything significant to out come of your product.

Keep us informed with your projects...

ceeuawlsune · December 10, 2006, 07:22:18 PM

Thanks for your pointers, everyone. The reason I FTC'd in the oven is because I don't have a cheap cooler big enough for the butt. But I can see your point Wacker of Mallards; with the HD foil and huge beach towel treatment, that butt should be sizzling after just a few hours of TLC...

For those who were curious about the extended amount of smoke time: it made no difference, in my opinion. The good news, of course, is that the pork wasn't completely ruined by the 9-hour smoke time. In fact, I thought the Cherry:Hickory (3:1) combination was really good for this dish. Next time, however, I will knock back the smoke time to five hours. Otherwise, I'm extremely pleased (as were several friends/co-workers).

gotbbq · December 19, 2006, 03:24:52 AM

sounds