First Pork Butt Advice

DLV

DLV

New member
I'm having a craving for pulled pork this weekend and never made it before and would appreciate some advice.
I have my rub recipe down.
My questions are related to cook time.
My "butt" is 9.6#'s.
If my smoker temp is 225* how long will it take? I've read between 1.5 to 2 hours per pound. That's 14 to 19 hours cook time! Holy s__t! I'll do it if that's correct.
Should I wrap in foil at some point? If so when?
Thanks brethren!
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
search the rcipes...if you cook at 250 and foil at around 160 you will cut your cooking time in half and have more tender meat...just not as big as a bark
 
MAK DADDY

MAK DADDY

Moderator
Million ways to cook a pork butt as you will see :)
There is a good basic recipe in your MAK cook book (page 55) for time and temps to use as a reference.
Have fun!
 
Pappymn

Pappymn

New member
I did two ten pound boneless butts and they took 16 hours plus at 225 degrees. I did not foil. You also need to allow for a couple of hours of FTC after the cook.
 
DLV

DLV

New member
OK FTC = foil, towel, cooler. See I'm learnin'!
What is the longest time you can FTC for? I think this solves my dilemma of how to guarantee it is ready when guests arrive.

If time is not an issue, would you use foil during part of the cook?
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
I like foil....

Keep a probe in it if you can while iin the cooker...what seems hot to you might be below 245...under 145 you get into the unsafe zone...
 
DLV

DLV

New member
Postmortem.
Used the Memphis Dust rub 24 hours in advance. Put on the MAK at 11pm at 220*. Next morning at 0600 I started mopping with apple juice (stored in the warming area) every hour. I was concerned because the IT was already ~165* so I lowered the temp to 210* (in hind site I really shouldn't have). It took what seemed like a lifetime to go from 170* to 190*. The "stall" is real! I took it off the MAK at 1650 with IT of 192*. I then rapped in foil and towels and put in the Yeti for 2 hours. It was fabulous! Moist and delicious. My family was in complete bewilderment that I have produced such awesome meals with no experience using a smoker. I was in disbelief that it would take 14 to 19 hours to reach the IT, but sure enough it was pretty much a solid 18 hours. A 9.6 pound pork butt produces ALOT of pulled pork. Only necessary if feeding a dozen or more.
 
Pappymn

Pappymn

New member
Great wrap up. The Mak really produces some great food. While I believe you, the rule around here is no pictures, it didn't happen. We really like to look at food.
 
DLV

DLV

New member
We finished it off last night - made a pile of tamales with it - Awesome. I'll keep the pics in mind for the future.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
the beauty of foiling is that you race through the stall...the stall is the evaporative dooling of the surface meat...
 
H

HoDeDo

New member
And you elongate the stall if you are mopping the meat.... think about entropy experiments when you were a school kid. The temp of the glass of ice water didnt change from 32 degrees until that very last sliver of ice was gone. That is because all the energy in the glass is going to melt the ice... the state change keeps the glass at 32. once it is all liquid, temp increases....

Same thing here... you mop the meat, and the surface has to evaporate that liquid off before you can move on. Every mop adds time to the process. Not to mention your cooker door is open, and you are taking away all the ecosystem being built with smoke/steam/love in the pit chamber. So it is a reset everytime you open the door. You will cut your cook time in 1/2 if you dont mop, and foil when it is colored up nice and pretty!
 
DLV

DLV

New member
HoDeDo said:
And you elongate the stall if you are mopping the meat.... think about entropy experiments when you were a school kid. The temp of the glass of ice water didnt change from 32 degrees until that very last sliver of ice was gone. That is because all the energy in the glass is going to melt the ice... the state change keeps the glass at 32. once it is all liquid, temp increases....

Same thing here... you mop the meat, and the surface has to evaporate that liquid off before you can move on. Every mop adds time to the process. Not to mention your cooker door is open, and you are taking away all the ecosystem being built with smoke/steam/love in the pit chamber. So it is a reset everytime you open the door. You will cut your cook time in 1/2 if you dont mop, and foil when it is colored up nice and pretty!
Click to expand...

Yeah when BP said the stall was due to evaporative cooling I had the same thought about the mop - I was probably hurting the time. So if you foil wrap at 165* that means to me that you are no longer getting any additional smoke. Is there a difference in appearance, moistness(??) or taste between a wrapped meat vs the method I used?
 
Pappymn

Pappymn

New member
I think their is a school of thought that meat stops taking more smoke after 140 some degrees, don't remember the actual number. I don't foil, and mine comes out very moist. I cook mine on the upper rack with a water pan below it.

Better cooks will chime in.
 
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