Comptetion Pork butt Time Constraints Issue - Question

OTB · April 09, 2012, 07:49:49 PM

Hello All!!
I have been quiet for a while. I have cooked more port butts than I can count, thanks to all our help, but now I have a new question/issue.

I have some friends who have signed up for a friendly bbq contest and somehow have decided that I need to do the pork butts. The issue is that the way I cook them usually takes 24 hours depending on the piece of meat....but I will only have 24 hours total to have them ready to judge, including heating up bradley, rubbing pork butt, cooking, FTC, and pulling.

My usual method is to rub with CYM then Mr Brown rub then off to smoke that has been pre-heated. Cabin temp at 210, 3 hours of Maple and Apple smoke then finish smoke at the same 210 until IT of 193-195 and FTC for a few hours (with apple juice).

I have had different pieces of meat take as little as 19 hours, all the way to 26 hours just to come up to the correct IT in the smoker. 24 hours seems to be average.

QUESTION: What is your suggestion to get these prepped and done within the 24 hour constraint? Is just turning up the cabin temp going to do it and if so, what am I sacrificing?

I usually don't inject or sauce, except for vaunted vinegar sauce after pulling....so I am afraid turning up cabin temp will leave me with dry meat.

Thanks in advance.

watchdog56 · April 09, 2012, 08:02:32 PM

Do you happen to have a fan mod or extra element? That may help with even cooking and temps times.

TedEbear · April 09, 2012, 08:04:00 PM

Quote from: OTB on April 09, 2012, 07:49:49 PMCabin temp at 210, 3 hours of Maple and Apple smoke then finish smoke at the same 210 until IT of 193-195 and FTC for a few hours (with apple juice).

I'd say ramp up that chamber temp a bit. I usually go with a setpoint of 220*F, sometimes 225*F, on a pork butt. Mine are never dry. I did a 10 lb butt last Friday and it was at 195*F in 12.5 hours.

How many butts are you smoking at once? That'll make a difference, too.

Habanero Smoker · April 10, 2012, 02:16:11 AM

You can try the below technique. I haven't tried it, but the site is reputable, and I've seen reference to it form other reputable sites.

Understanding and Beating The Stall

If you are going by internal temperature, you can crank you Bradley up as high as it can go, without having any effect on the final outcome (assuming you have a single element). You usually don't have to worry about your butts drying out unless you do an extreme over cook. You are more likely to make the meat mushy if you cook it too long and to too high of an internal temperature. All meat becomes pretty dry once it reaches and goes beyond 140°F. What gives pulled pork the feeling of being moist is when the collagen converts to gelatin it coats the meat meat fibers.

Since this is a competition, if you are changing the way you normally cook something you should always do a test trial.

Good luck! What is the prize? There is no greater prize than bragging rights. :)

FLBentRider · April 10, 2012, 03:20:44 AM

I have done pork butts on my MAK at 275F and the were not dry.

Foiling at the stall helps with time, but IMHO results in softer bark.

OTB · April 10, 2012, 09:21:01 AM

Thanks for the replies. I was reading the thread about turbo cooking butts with the cabin at 260, I might try one this weekend as a trial run at around 240-250 and see what the results look like. I do not have any modifications to the digital smoker other than I use the Auber dual probe PID. I usually try to pull out of smoker at 193-195 and then FTC. I imagine I will probably be doing 4 butts which is a pretty big load.

It is funny that when I do that many butts in the smoker at the same time it us usually the biggest one that is done first and the smaller ones stall forever. Last time I had one big one done in about 14 hours and the smallest took 26 hours.

Next I need to do more research about the "money muscle" and presentation for judging.

The only prize I know of is bragging rights. We are really just competing to have fun and drink some beers. All of the funds from the competition go to a good cause (Mason's 4 Mitts) to buy at risk children baseball mitts and teach them to play baseball rather than join gangs...so win or lose it all is a worthwhile experience. I just don't want to not have anything to turn in because it is not done in time.

muebe · April 10, 2012, 11:48:26 AM

One thing to mention is that there is a safety switch in the Bradley that will trip at 260F in the OBS cutting power to the element for safety. I found that my cabinet temp had to drop down to around 220 F before it would reset itself.

Now maybe the digital Bradley is different but it is something to keep in mind.

I can tell you that my convection fan mod in my OBS made a huge difference in cooking times. Just like in a home oven I have taken 1/3 of the cooking time off of smoking butts.

Good luck at the comp and have fun!

Habanero Smoker · April 11, 2012, 01:48:37 AM

That is a great prize, and the reward of helping at risk children is priceless.

I'm a competition judge, and last year the majority of pork that I judged was sliced pork from the shoulder; the year before it was pulled pork. If the organizers have no restraints on whether you enter pulled pork or sliced pork; then if you find you have run out of time you can enter the slice pork. So that may give you another option.

The sliced pork can be seasoned by either dipping the pieces in a thin warm sauce (like vaunted vinegar), or the sauce is "painted" on just before turning it into the judges; or sent in naked. If you know where the Money Muscle is located, that is the prime part of the shoulder that is turned in to be judged, but I have had slices from other areas of the shoulder that were prepared just as good.

If you find that the Bradley can not provide the heat you are trying to obtain, and you find that it is hovering around 200°F the full time. Try using the fork test. I feel (know) you can pull pork at a much lower internal temperature; and that is should be pulled at the lowest internal temperature possible. My theory is that is not just about the internal temperature, but how low it has been in the "zone" at which collagen breaks down into gelatin. You can always use the fork test to see if the butt is ready to pull, by inserting the fork and twisting. I start testing at around 175°F, and test every 5-degrees after that. You may be surprised. There may be more fat cap left, and pockets of fat; just remove prior to pulling.

OTB · April 12, 2012, 11:58:11 PM

Thanks for all the support and replies. I had been doing research about slicing the money muscle and pulling the meat around the bone and turn both in for judging. I will do a test run this weekend if we ever get done with these unusual CA thunderstorms. I was thinking of cranking the heat to around 250 and see what happens. Do you think that is too hot?

Also, I have never injected a pork butt. I have injected and brined other pieces of meat but I usually let it sit for time afterwards. I had read about injecting with the following: ¾ C Apple Juice, ½ C Water, ½ C Sugar, ¼ C Salt, and 2 TBSP Worcestershire.

I am a bit worried to start messing with flavors and injection right before the real cook.

Any thoughts.

Habanero Smoker · April 13, 2012, 02:05:27 AM

I can only answer the question about the temperature. Cranking it up the cabinet to 250°F will be alright. As a certified judge, we are trained to look primarily for the pork flavor, the other flavors should enhance the pork, and not over power it. The criteria may be different by the judges of your competition.

Hopefully others that inject on a regular basis will provide more information. If you have time to experiment. I would give it a shot to try, but if you have been making consistently good pork; during the pressures of competition you may want to stick to what you are accustomed to doing.

OTB · April 14, 2012, 06:42:56 PM

OK. I just put two 8lb butts in the smoker and set it to smoke for 4 hours with Maple and Apple. I set the temp to 250, although I was rushed and didn't let it preheat enough, and set the PID to cook at 250 until IT of 195. I usually pull them out in the 190 range to FTC with some apple juice. I didn't brine or inject, just CYM and Mr Brown rub. I also did a little check of the money muscle. I believe it is the rounded muscle opposite the bone (actually runs the long side of the butt with is kind of next to the bone depending on how you look at it) . I will try to slice that and pull the rest. I put it in at 6PM PDT and will see how long it takes to finish.

Thanks for all the help and advice. Sorry, no pictures this time, I was in a rush. Just finished a garage sale to benefit the National MS Society.

Habanero Smoker · April 15, 2012, 01:25:29 AM

You zeroed in on the money muscle, and it sounds like you have a good plan. For competitions it is always best to stick to what you have always been doing.

Is this going to be blind judging, or do the judges come to your site to judge while they ask questions?

OTB · April 17, 2012, 11:45:50 AM

Sorry for the delay in replying. So the first butt came out at 11:30 at an IT of 192 and the second one came out at 12:30 at and IT of 185. For these two I was in the 18-19 hour range. But each butt is different. They were both FTC until that evening when I got home and were pulled at about 7pm. I tried to remove the money muscle by slicing and it really started to fall apart. Not sure I would have been able to slice it. I tried with the other butt (which had hit 192IT) and there was no way to slice or remove it without it shredding apart. I got so frustrated with that part of it that I didn't even try to slice them...must have been too many beers but I just didn't have the patience to deal with them.

Also...the smoker never was able to get about about 120 even know I had the PID set to 150. It is too late for the coming weekend but I might want to look into the dual element mod. I actually have a spare element laying around but I am sure I don't want to risk trying to modify anything before Saturday.

Habanero Smoker · April 17, 2012, 01:28:55 PM

Sorry things didn't go as well as you planned in your trial, but now you know you can cook the butts to a stage at which you can make pulled pork, well within the allotted time. Which was your original goal.

When you state the cabinet was able to get to 120 and you had the PID set for 150, are those typos? Did you mean 220 and 250?

The money muscle is like the rest of the shoulder in that if you go too high is makes for good pulled pork. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when you are smoking/cooking around 200°F you should start checking when the butts reach 175°F, to see if your butts are at the stage at which you can use it for pulled pork. I only have to take my butts to 175°F for pulled pork; occasionally just through 175°F, and I don't FTC them. When I prepare them I trim the fat cap to about 1/8".

If it is blind judging and you are preparing boxes to turn in, you can take the best parts of multiple butts and submit that. How much do you have to turn in for the judges? How is the food sent in for judging, if it is sent in? What criteria are they using to judge; is it just by taste only?

OTB · April 17, 2012, 02:30:51 PM

Sorry, that was a typo. The smoker, once pre-heated, stayed at most 220. I did have the PID set to 250.

This will be a blink judging. We are to turn in a container with enough for 7 judges and may be presented in at most three different ways (pulled, sliced, chopped). If I remember they are judging on taste and presentation....but I would have to look at the rules again. They are using KCBS rules.