Pork butt cooking time

[West Coast Kansan]

ralsty, your oven set point is 220 or the actual oven temp is 220? My dbs will swing around set point about+/- 5 degrees and less on a calm night. The oven temp displayed has however been pretty accurate (accounting for the update lag). I would monitor the oven temp against your thermometer just to learn how they track.

My smoker is slow to update but is consistent and accurate enough over time.  If your puck plate is left to shut down and the night gets pretty cool or there was a wind you may have run overnight at a temp lower than set point... if your butt was a big one your 12 hour time temperature may not be that far off.  Might also move the probe slightly just to see if the temp reacts.

Just babbling about some variables I have seen but you raise a courious question.  Just have to step back and confirm what you can and eventually the answer will display itself.

[ralsty]

It took another 5-6 hours at 220  to raise the internal temp to 190.

[icerat4]

OK guys this is easy. The king of butts is kirk from chez bubba he taught me how to do this with an original bradley smoker no digital .When doing 2 seven to eight pound butts with or with out a preheated bs it dosent matter either way.Place the butts in the machine one one the bottom rack and the next one above.The heat slider is pushed all the way to the right on hi temp with vent open.Now you guys with the dbs you will have to find out at that setting what the hottest that element gets.With the 2 butts in i never move the temp slider just leave it all the way to the right on high.This will not get up to 190 -200 until the next day .dont worry the as long as the temps get to 195 your all right.Just make sure that its at 195 .Not 185 190 .195 is the magic number .Then ftc it and wait a few hours and then the candy is done.When i frist started doing these i had the same fears of doing this but it works.I put mut 2 butts in at 5o clock on friday and by sat morning at 7-8 the frist one is done then i move the one on the upper shelf to the lowest shelf where the first one came off and apple juice it in the prosess.the second one will be 2-3 hours later some where in there .Have a temp guage to moniter it of course.Any other questions feel free to ask.I now sell pulled pork every weekend and its as good as it gets.So find out what the heat elemet temp is on the original bradley set at the highest point and that will be your set temps on the new dbs.Then just let it cook cook cook.Remember the apple juice spray if your peaking at the butt give it a squirt or so .It never hurts.Good luck guys. ;D

[ralsty]

icerat - thanks...that sounds like it would take a bunch of hours off of my current process.  :D

[ceeuawlsune]

icerat - your information is indispensible.  i am currently smoking a butt in my dbs, which i started at about 3:00 this morning. 

i'm trying something different, and going with 3:1 cherry:hickory, so i also upped the smoke time to 8 hours.  wondering if, at any point, you cover/wrap with foil? 

i'm surprisingly disciplined in terms of not opening the smoker very often at all - how important do you find the cider-spray?

[icerat4]

I dont foil it til i do the ftc deal .And the juice i do 4 times usually a good spray all over.8 hours of smoke thats alot let me know how that works out .The most ive gone was 5 1/2.Good luck. ;D

[iceman]

I have to agree with Rat on the 8 hour smoke time. To much for me. 5 hours then let it finish without for the remaining time has always worked for my taste. :P :)