Pork Butt too dry.

[mikechandler]

I just did my first pork butt. I sed the mustard technique before the rub and looked and tasted great, but it was dryer than I was hoping for. I cooked it for about 5 hours until the internal temp reached 185 then wrapped it aluminum foil and towels and put it an empty ice chest til it cooled down. Any thoughts on how to get it to be less dry? I was thinking about wrapping it in Foil after a few hours of smoke.

mike c

[BigSmoker]

Mike,
If you cooked it in five hours it must have only been about a 2lb portion on a pork butt.  Try a bigger one 6-8 lbs.  The small one probally didn't have enough fat and collegan to render properly.  If your pork butt was a 6-8 lb'er you cooked it at to high a temp.  A 6lb butt will usually take around 12 hrs at 225°f.  HTH.  Ask more questions if you need more details.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[nsxbill]

There are a lot of approaches to this, esp the temperature.  Note that Jeff goes for 225°.  I go in at 210° for longer cooking time, and have experienced superior results.   I cook to 190° if I am shredding it.

If I was walking away from this from start to finish, the lower temps don't boil the water in the bowl, and I know it won't get too dry.  Even though I am controlling the temp with a <font color="teal">Procom4 Guru,</font id="teal"> I <font color="red">STILL</font id="red"> change the water in the bowl at four hours and then about 10 hours into the smoke/cook.  

The vent holes open at about 1/3.  I also cover the top rack with really fatty bacon that drips down throughout the cooking time.  My last butt was 12 lbs, It cooked about 15-17hrs(Can't remember exactly).  Nice Bark.  After the resting time, it was like butter. I hope they all come out that way!  The hard part is alway the wait while it is in the Cooler for at least 2-3 hours.   Doing a butt means committing to the "Long Haul!"

You always hit a plateau at about 165°.  It will sit there for a couple of hours.  Don't rush it.  It is during that time that the collagen breaks down.  Shooting the temp up on the smoker, in my opinion dries up the meat.

Hope your next one is better.

Happy Holidays,

Bill

[mikechandler]

Thanks for the info! Do you inject yours with anything? Also I've seen a lot of traffic on the Guru. What is it?


There are a lot of approaches to this, esp the temperature.  Note that Jeff goes for 225°.  I go in at 210° for longer cooking time, and have experienced superior results.   I cook to 190° if I am shredding it.

If I was walking away from this from start to finish, the lower temps don't boil the water in the bowl, and I know it won't get too dry.  Even though I am controlling the temp with a <font color="teal">Procom4 Guru,</font id="teal"> I <font color="red">STILL</font id="red"> change the water in the bowl at four hours and then about 10 hours into the smoke/cook.  

The vent holes open at about 1/3.  I also cover the top rack with really fatty bacon that drips down throughout the cooking time.  My last butt was 12 lbs, It cooked about 15-17hrs(Can't remember exactly).  Nice Bark.  After the resting time, it was like butter. I hope they all come out that way!  The hard part is alway the wait while it is in the Cooler for at least 2-3 hours.   Doing a butt means committing to the "Long Haul!"

You always hit a plateau at about 165°.  It will sit there for a couple of hours.  Don't rush it.  It is during that time that the collagen breaks down.  Shooting the temp up on the smoker, in my opinion dries up the meat.

Hope your next one is better.

Happy Holidays,

Bill

[/quote]

mike c

[nsxbill]

I tried injecting once...a turkey.  

If anything, I think I would poke holes and stuff whole garlics in the hole.  The Guru with the Raptor is marketed as the ultimate controller.  

I like my toys, plan on using on other smoker with fan, so I bought the Procom4 after owning the Competitor for awhile.  It is the best toy I have purchased for assisting with cooking, and have no regrets.  You can view the home page at http://www.thebbqguru.com.

I talked Shotgun Fred into making the Raptor, and have the first one.  Luckily I bought the Procom4 when it was first offered and saved some bucks on it.  It makes things so worry free.  My Raptor crashed and I smoked a couple of time without it.   What a PIA!

The benefits to me are putting in the meat setting the temp of the BS with it, programming meat temp and then not having to get up and down every 10 minutes to regulate the rheostat to keep it at the set-temp.  The Procom 4 holds it digitally within 2°.  If I wanted to do it (Don't like to do this), I could put it in Ramp mode, walk away, and not only would it hold the meat within the constraints I set, will automatically shut off the heat and stop the cook at a set-point (Haven't tried this).  

For me the range and ease of use was it's selling point.  If I am within 200 yards of the smoker, I can see the temps, and massage them if I want remotely.  If the alarm goes off in the middle of the night to alert me to a problem, or if my cooking times is done, the alarm sounds on the remote.  If it is dark, I can illuminate the display.  It will monitor two separate pieces of meat..one at the top of the smoker and the other on the bottom.  Same thing on cabinet temp  one probe at top and one at bottom.

Pricey, but worth it to me.

Bill

[BigSmoker]

Mike,
I usually inject the pork butt with a soulution of apple juice 75% and Johnny Fleemans(very similiar to Dales).  I use a 10% solution per lb of meat.  I forgot to mention 185°f is the temp I use for slicing and 200°f is the temp I use for pulled pork.  Have fun.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[SmokinMoe]

A big welcome to the forum, first off.
I have done 3 Boston butts so far.  ALL have been good with the last one being the best.  I did inject it with a little beer-not much though.  
Mine usually cook from 12-14 hours and I use the guru competitor with the power raptor in RAMP mode because I usually start it at night and let it go all night.  I set the temp. for 200 degrees and meat temp at 185 degrees and it does all the work. I change out my water after the smoking is done (4 hours of smoke and I use pecan or maple and it is an awesome flavor)  I also set it on the second to the bottom rack towards the door (back of bradley is hotter than the front of the bradley)  Don't open your door unless you absolutely have to, because if you do, it loses heat and will take longer to cook.
I am a person with a million things to do, three little kids, businesses, ect. so I don't have time to be messing with the slider/vent ect to keep the temp up, so the guru was the BEST investment for me.  But, you can do it without it.  If I had the time, I would love to do it without it so that I could learn more, but at this point in time, it won't happen.
Also, if you wrap your Boston Butt in celaphane (sorry if mispelled)and put it in the frig for 1-2 days after applying the rub, it will help it retain the moisture during the smoke.
EVERYONE will tell you-   low and slow
Good luck and keep trying.