Pulled Pork question

[tsuri]

So I'm going to try my first pork butt and the timing has be concerned.  I've read it takes about 1.5 hours/pound (I'll be using a meat thermometer to be sure it's done).  I've read there are ways to speed things up, like wrapping in foil and putting in the oven.  Can anyone give more details?
A second question is about putting cold meat in the smoker. I want to rub the butt 24 hour before, but do I then need to bring it down to room temp before I put it in the smoker? If so, how long does it take?

thanks again

[Wildcat]

I personally would not recommend trying to speed things up, but if you want to I guess the fastest way is to crank up the heat which may require using your house oven after the smoking period. Most of the magic happens during the stall period. That is when the connective tissues melt down to make it all nice and tender. If you speed things up too much then the stall will be shorter and could have an impact on the final product.

With regards to how long it takes depends on cooking temp, speed of cooking, fat content, and sometimes I think the age and personality of the pig comes into play. It is done when it is done. Most of mine take about 16 to 24 hours for one butt. One thing is for sure - you are cooking with a 500 watt easy bake oven and cold meat will most assuredly add to the cooking time.

[Ka Honu]

At my house, the object of this exercise is to produce an excellent product on time without worrying about not knowing when it will be done.  If you're thinking in the same direction, I'd recommend you take the worry part out by smoking ahead (the day, week, or month before) and refrigerate or freeze until you reheat for serving. 

As everyone on the forum will tell you, a butt can take as low as an hour per pound or over two hours and there's nothing you can do about it except turn up the heat or foil the meat.  Both may have ramifications (in terms of taste and texture as well as meal planning) most of us would rather not address.

If you have freezer space and you're gonna smoke one, smoke two and you've solved the problem twice with no appreciable extra effort. Reheated pulled pork is as good or better than "fresh."

[beefmann]

agrees with both above... if you want a good tasting  pork low and slow is the way to go,,, 225 f box temp till an IT of 195 for pulled pork and it will take as much time as needed

[tskeeter]

tsuri, you can smoke low and slow, as recommended, but still use a few techniques to speed the process along as much as possible.

First, bring the pork up to as close to room temperature as possible before smoking (while still complying with the no more than four hours between 40 degrees and 140 degrees rule of thumb).  For the pork shoulders I did last weekend, I set them on the kitchen counter for a couple of hours prior to smoking.  This brought the internal temperature of the meat up by more than 10 degrees (up to 50) by the time I put it in the smoker.

Second, put a foil wrapped brick or two in the lower part of your smoker before you start to preheat the smoker.  The bricks act as a heat sink.  The thermal mass of the bricks stores a bunch of heat.  That heat gets transferred from the hot bricks to the cold pork when you first put the meat in the smoker.  The thermal mass also helps the smoker temperature recover more quickly after you have opened the door during the smoke.

Third, preheat the smoker to a higher temperature than the temperature that you intend to smoke/cook at.  When you put the meat in the smoker, reduce the temperature to the temp you want to smoke at.  The excess heat in the smoker when you start will transfer to the cold meat, helping the meat warm up to cooking temperature more quickly.  Preheating to 25 degrees or so above your smoking temperature should be in the ball park.

Fourth, fill your puck bowl with boiling water, not cold water.  If you use cold water, it will absorb heat that you want to transfer to the meat.  Using boiling water means that all the heat generated by the heating elements is available to heat the meat, not water.

Using these techniques, my first shoulder (7 1/2 pounds) was at an internal temperature of 195 in 15 hours.  The second shoulder (8 1/2 pounds) followed about an hour or so later.   

[TedEbear]

A second question is about putting cold meat in the smoker. I want to rub the butt 24 hour before, but do I then need to bring it down to room temp before I put it in the smoker? If so, how long does it take?

I take mine right out of the freezer, rub some molasses and sprinkle some rub on it and into the Bradley.  I wait until the first 4-hour smoke session is finished before inserting the meat probe.  I would need a drill otherwise.   ;D

However, I have dual 500W elements, so take that into consideration if you're not going to warm up the meat prior to smoking.