Success!! And mighty tasty I might add. I've been reading for weeks about the smoking process and would like to share my experience in the hopes that I can help a fellow newcomer one day.
I read about the brine process from DM's stickied post. Since I have no prior smoking experience, I can't compare the brined pork butt to a non-brined butt, but the results were fantastic and I plan to brine all butts in the future.
Bought a 2-pack from Sam's and chose the butt that was 10 lbs 5 ozs. Cooked the brine Thursday night using DM's recipe; only change I made was to reduce the amount of kosher salt to 3/4 cup (down from 1 1/8 cup) since I added the Instacure salt as indicated in the recipe. Warmed on stove then poured into my Briner Jr. and into the fridge overnight. Butt went into the brine at 11:30 AM Friday morning and back into the fridge.
Set my alarm for 11:45 PM Friday night to start the smoke. Total brine time was 12.5 hours. Removed the butt from the brine, rinsed thoroughly in sink, patted dry with paper towels, and set on the cooking grate over a cookie sheet. There was a thick fat cap on this one (since I've nothing to compare to not sure if it was a standard size fat cap or not). I read somewhere about opening one side of the cap and creating a 'pocket' on top of the butt; I used my knife to slice under the cap almost all the way to the other side and had a pocket that I could put my hand into. Starting with the non-fat cap side, I slathered on the mustard and Famous Dave's Rub and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I turned it over so the fat cap was on top again and spread more mustard; I also spread mustard inside the pocket between the fat cap and the meat. Again with the Famous Dave's Rub both on top of the fat cap and inside the pocket. Also made sure to get mustard and rub on all 4 sides as I was doing this. Not sure if cutting the pocket was necessary or helpful, and not sure if I would do it again. Might try my next one without and see if there is any difference.
The smoker floor (#2) and wood box lid were foil lined, hole poked. Used 3.3 ozs of cherry and 2.8 ozs of hickory; in my case I had 4 chunks of wood and spread them evenly in the wood box. Used a mini-loaf pan full of apple juice next to the wood box; with the slant of the floor and the lip on the pan it's hard to get alot of contact between the pan and the box but I did the best I could. Outside temp was 40 degrees so not too bad for February around here. Set the cooking rack in the smoker, meat was fat cap up, and as high in the smoker as possible still allowing good clearance between meat and the ceiling. Fed my temp probe in and found what I thought was a good place for it, opposite side from the bone in a thick part of the butt. Closed the door and set the temp for 225 degrees at 12:50 AM Saturday morning. Then back to bed.
Through my reading I've learned that all smokes are different; this could take anywhere from 1 hour per pound to 2 hours per pound. But I also get the impression from other posts that the brining process tends to shorten the smoke time. This was a big piece of meat, so I was anticipating anywhere from 12-16 hours until I saw my desired 195 degrees IT. I tracked temps throughout the smoke, and was looking forward to seeing the stall, but I'm not sure I can identify where in the smoke it occurred. There really wasn't a large block of time where the temp plateaued. If I had to guess it was between hours 7 and 10, but the temp was still climbing during those hours; just climbing slower than the hours previous or after.
My Maverick went off at 3:40 PM, 14 hours and 50 minutes into the smoke, at an IT of 195 degrees. I opened the smoker and used my insta-read themo in several spots around the meat; readings were anywhere from 192 to 196 degrees -- perfect! Turned smoker off and left door open while I double-wrapped in heavy duty aluminum, and then back into the smoker and closed the door for the rest period. The only thing I forgot to do was put something over the vent hole in the top of the smoker. It was an hour before I realized my mistake but I don't think it really hurt anything.
At 6 PM I removed the meat for pulling (about a 2-hour rest). I had my new Cave Tools claws ready but turns out I didn't need them. Just using my hands with BBQ gloves the meat just fell apart in my hands. I was very much looking forward to seeing how the bone came out, and it slid out like butter without a single bit of meat sticking to it. Absolutely no need for any tools at all to shred this pork; I personally like my pulled pork more finely shredded rather than have large chunks. There was plenty of moisture and still plenty of residual heat. I could taste the smoke flavor but it wasn't overpowering. Not sure if the rub added anything to the flavor -- I'm assuming it must have some positive effect but couldn't tell. Separated into 3 portions and tried different BBQ sauces. Bone Suckin' Sauce, Sweet Baby Ray's, and Pierce's. Anybody who has spent any time around Williamsburg, Virginia knows about Pierce's. My Dad started taking me there back in 1975 when it was still just a walk-up window and the building was no larger than about 1000 sq feet. They were all good; I don't care for the Carolina (vinegar-based) BBQ, so I won't use Bone Suckin' sauce anymore (but I'll definitely try it on ribs next weekend). Pierce's was my favorite and would love to find a recipe similar to it so I don't have to pay for shipping and order it online.
Overall this was a great experience and my family and the friends we had over all thought it was excellent. Next Sunday is ribs and I can't wait!!
EDIT: Can't figure out how to rotate the 3rd photo. No matter how the file is saved on my PC it still shows up 90 degrees off once posted here -- sorry.
