Butt Help

York · August 21, 2009, 11:54:58 AM

I have 4 butts in my BDS for a total of about 30lbs. I am smoking them with maple for 4 hours. I need to have these done by 1 PM Saturday.

My question is can I do the smoke tonight and leave them in the smoker at 230 for say another four hours. After that I will take them in the house and wrap them in cling wrap and put in the fridge. Then in the morning I put them in the oven till IT of 185 boated. I figure to get up early put them in.

Is there anything wrong with this plan? Will the meat turn out bad or anything? Am I leaving them in too long Friday night?

FLBentRider · August 21, 2009, 12:00:32 PM

I would put them in straight the oven after the smoke, at 200F and leave them there.

You might get higher than your target IT, but in my experience, that is not a problem.

I have had them to 210F with no issues.

Caneyscud · August 21, 2009, 12:10:15 PM

Never, have I done this, but I think others have. I think if I was going to put them in the oven anyway, I put them in the oven say at 200 or so, wrapped in foil and set a thermometer to go off when they reach the IT you want - which probably won't be til morning. If you did wait till morning, I'd get up pretty early and start them back in. If they do cool down all the way during their stay in the ref., it will take some time to get back up to temp. and cook some more. If'n they are 7 to 8# butts, you are looking at a total cook time at 225 of about 12 to 16 hours. You will have approximately 8 hours on them then. I don't know why you couldn't crank up the oven to 350. At that temp, starting from scratch you are looking at 6 hours (45 min per pound) for them to cook to fall apart. Others who may have done this will hopefully come along soon and confirm this or set it straight.

KyNola · August 21, 2009, 12:34:41 PM

I'm with FLBR on this one. After your 4 hour smoke period, take them to your house oven at 200-225 degrees. FLBR is right when he says it will most likely take all night anyhow. Next morning check the internal temp of the butts in several places. If you are between 185-200, wrap them individually in foil, then wrap them individually in a towel and place them in a cooler with nothing else in the cooler. No ice....nothing. They will stay warm for hours, like 4-6 hours. When you're ready to serve, take them out and pull them. This is called the FTC method. Foil, Towel, Cooler. Works like a charm!!

KyNola

OU812 · August 21, 2009, 12:37:05 PM

Just my 2 cents here

I would put 2 on each rack, place the racks as close to the top.
Set cabnet temp to 220 F and smoke for 4 hr empty the drip pan and refill with HOT water and put a foil roasting pan just big enough to catch all the drippings on a rack just below the lowest butt add a can of beer to the roasting pan and reset the timer (the digital timer only gos for 9 hr 40 min) then go to bed.

In the morning stab a thermometer in the meat and see what temp your at, if there done FTC till about 1/2 hr b4 you want to eat and pull.

I've had butts stay hot for up to 5 hr in the cooler

If you start now im guessing they will b done around 8:00 A.M. or some where around there.

Works for me anyway. Have fun

mikecorn.1 · August 21, 2009, 01:18:48 PM

Dito, I would go straight in the oven. If you wait till sometime in the morning to put them back, I dont think you will be ready for when you want them. Remember low and slow. I did an 8.5lb, started @5 pm with 4 hours of smoke. then went straight to the oven (boated) at @ 200-225 (was jumping around some using maverick et-73). that bad boy was in there all night and didnt reach 190*; i want to say 12 pm next day. memory kind of shot. should have made a log on it.

Tenpoint5 · August 21, 2009, 01:26:31 PM

At 225 Butts are usually a 16-18 hour cook. So if you start at 5pm it should be at 195-205 about 11am. Now I foil mine after the smoke with a splash of Apple juice. So at 11 you should be able to drain off the juices and then FTC until 4 or 5 pm for dinner.

mikecorn.1 · August 21, 2009, 01:37:31 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on August 21, 2009, 01:26:31 PM
At 225 Butts are usually a 16-18 hour cook. So if you start at 5pm it should be at 195-205 about 11am. Now I foil mine after the smoke with a splash of Apple juice. So at 11 you should be able to drain off the juices and then FTC until 4 or 5 pm for dinner.

Just confirmed, it was 11 am. Then ftc till ready to eat later that day. Wife has better memory of those things. ;D
That would put it in the range that 10.5 just mentioned.

York · August 21, 2009, 02:52:25 PM

Thanks everyone.

I'll take them right to the oven after the smoke. I am glad I asked abot this. I could've had some angry, hungry people tomorrow.

degenerazn · August 22, 2009, 01:37:09 PM

I'm in the same situation as you York. I have 4 butts approx 30lbs that I started last night. I left the butts in each individual rack for about an hour and a half then started to smoke for approx 4 hours. At around 1:30am last night I stuck them in the house oven at 210. Its been 12 hours and the internal temps are only at 170-175. I raised the temp to 225. I need these to be ready in about 4 1/2 hours. Will I make it?

pensrock · August 22, 2009, 01:52:09 PM

QuoteIts been 12 hours and the internal temps are only at 170-175. I raised the temp to 225. I need these to be ready in about 4 1/2 hours. Will I make it?

IMHO, I would think you will make it in 4-1/2 hours easy, depends on what IT you are looking for, I now pull mine at IT 185-190 F. So you only need to go 15 degrees or so. You may want to check several different places in the butts, in case you end up probing a pocket of fat which will give you a different reading that the meat itself.

HawkeyeSmokes · August 22, 2009, 04:08:27 PM

I would agree with Pens. You should be in good shape with time. I've bumped my oven temp up like you did if I felt like I was short on time with good results.

degenerazn · August 22, 2009, 04:37:17 PM

I just checked my butts, they're at 185..phew.. There's a good amount of juices coming out of the butt. What do you guys recommend doing with it?

Tenpoint5 · August 22, 2009, 04:39:49 PM

I like the extra juices when I am reheating, so I just dump it over the top of the pan with all the pulled pork in it and mix it right back in. Probably why I'm on blood pressure and cholesterol pills but it tastes good.

Ka Honu · August 22, 2009, 05:13:20 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on August 22, 2009, 04:39:49 PMI like the extra juices when I am reheating, so I just dump it over the top of the pan with all the pulled pork in it and mix it right back in. Probably why I'm on blood pressure and cholesterol pills but it tastes good.

That's the "natural solution" and we all know natural is best - although you might want to defat the juices before mixing them back. That way you can blame the pills on something else (I see them as my way of "giving back" by providing my doctor's children the opportunity for a good education).

OBTW, as you can tell, I really didn't have much to add here but wanted to get in my 500th post before SWMBO gets home and makes me turn off the computer so we can "relate" or "converse" or some other such silliness.