1st Boston Butt & Lessons Learned

[Big Red Home Smoker]

Hello All -

Smoked my very first Boston Butt yesterday (9 3/4 pounds).....what a great finished product! This was the best pulled pork I've ever had.  This Boston was juicy, tasty, tender, fat had melted away and had great bark.  Many thanks to the folks in this forum for the great results.  I also have a couple of lessons learned that I am going to share. 


First the details:
- First time smoking a Boston Butt, first time using a brine for pork and first time using a new rub.
- 9 3/4 # Boston Butt from Sam's Club.
- Trimmed the fat cap down and other thick fat also trimmed off.
- Brined in Tony's (DivotMaker's) brine recipe (added about 1/2 cup of Tender Quick to the brine recipe) for 13 1/2 hours and used/bought a Briner Jr. container - works great.
- Used the Memphis Dust Rub recipe that was posted in this forum - let the rub soak in for 12 hours in the fridge.
- Boston Butt in the smoker (fat cap down) at 10:30pm - (Model #3, 2nd rack down from the top, Set Auber/PID at 225 degrees, 3 oz. of apple and 3 oz. of hickory wood, foil pan filled with apple juice inside the smoker for moisture).
- Goal was a 195 degree IT.
- 164 degree IT  at 7:30 am - 9 hours into the smoke.....the stall begins.
- The stall continues........IT reached 187 degrees at 8:30 pm - 22 hours into the smoke.
- No patience on my part........kicked up the smoker temp to 235 degrees to somehow move the needle on the IT temp.  IT did not budge at all after another hour.
- Had to peek........opened door and could tell from the look and feel that this bad boy was done even though the IT showed only 187 degrees.
- pulled, wrapped in double foil, towels and into the cooler for one hour.
- The Tender Quick seems to have provided a nice faux pink smoke ring....pretty cool!
- Used my new bear paws for pulling the pork - what a great invention.
- Had my 1st pulled pork sandwich just after 11pm - 24 1/2 hours after starting the smoke.

Lessons Learned:
- The members from this forum provide enough information and great advice that a novice like me can achieve excellent results.  Thank you everyone!
- Not all cuts of meat are created equal.  I saw some folks say their Boston Butts needed 1 to 1 1/2 hours to finish.  Mine took over 22 hours.  I'm not sure what is up with that but that is what I experienced.
- Patience........still working on that.........after all these years! 
- Be willing to try new things (new cut of meat - Boston Butt, brine and a new rub, Tender Quick).
- Be willing to at some point open the door of the smoker when your instincts and experience tell you that you should check.  Even though the IT showed only 187 degrees, the butt was done perfectly.  I'm a person that never opens the door, but I did in this case and I'm glad I did.
- Now a big believer in double foiling and toweling for 1-2 hours.  This seems to provide the perfect finish for retaining moisture and completing the cooking process.
- Pulled pork sandwiches are just as good if not better the next day!

Pics Below - I read in this forum that if no pics then it did not happen........here they are and thanks again to all that provide so much great information in this forum.

 

[gregbooras]

Terry,

Excellent color and bark, nice!

Greg

 

[SuperDave]

Excellent work!!!  Pulled meat pan looks delicious.

 

[SconnieQ]

I've had boston butts take 3 hours/lb, but for some reason, it's usually the smaller ones that take more hrs/lb. BB keeps warm nicely, so I'd err on the side of it taking longer than you think, and if done early, double wrap in foil and keep it in the smoker at 140, then into the cooler with towels a few hours before serving.

 

[abaran]

Looks beautiful , and I'm ordering some tender quick right after this.

 

[swthorpe]

Great job, Terry!  Congratulations on some good looking pulled pork!

 

[Grampy]

Terry, nice job it looks great. Most of the butts I have done have taken 12-15 hours but it is not unheard of for it to go as long as yours did. Times and temps are suggestions it is done when it is done!

 

[NDKoze]

Looks like you cut the bone out?

If so, my recommendation would be to not do that the next time. The bone helps the butt cook more evenly and when done properly will just slide out with nothing on it.

I have pulled at 190 before, so I'm not surprised that it turned out well when pulling at 187.

Did you use the Tender Quick "instead" of the #1 cure from Tony's brine recipe or in addition to the #1 cure? If you used 1/2 cup of TQ, did you lower the amount if salt?

I always start mine at about midnight the night before, so usually don't have any problems getting done in time. Mine usually take 2.0-2.5 hours per pound. So, I don't think your results are all that unusual. Many here will tell you to smoke at 235 the whole time. So, when you bumped it up, it wasn't unusual either.

The bottom line is that your first butt was a success which is awesome! The pictures look really good.

 

[Big Red Home Smoker]

Kept the bone in and smoked it whole.  The bone did slide out very easily when I started pulling.  I was so surprised that there was zero waste when I started pulling the meat.  I thought there might be a good amount of fat that I'd need to dispose of.

I could not find and of the #2 cure Tony mentioned here locally.  I know it can be ordered on the internet but I didn't have enough time to order the #2 before smoking the Boston Butt.  There were a few posts in the forum mentioning that Tender Quick might be a good substitute so gave it a try...........pretty good results. 

I didn't lower the amount of salt in Tony's brine recipe and the meat really does not taste overly salty at all.  I was extremely pleased with the overall flavor using Tony's brine and the Memphis Dust rub.

I'll have to keep in mind for future pork butts that a smoke time of 2-2 1/2 hours per lb. is not out of the question.  Sam's club had the Boston Butts at $1.69 per lb. so I bought 2) two-packs. I have another 30lbs of Boston Butts in the freezer.  I vacuum sealed them all up ready for future smokes!  That should keep me a little busy!

 

[DivotMaker]

Wow, Terry, looks fantastic!  But man, that took a long time!!   I've never had Bostons from Sam's go longer than 1.5 hrs per pound!  One thing I would recommend is to start them at 235.  It cuts the cook time, and has no bad effects on the meat. 

Just to clarify a couple of posts about the curing salt:  I use Instacure #1, not #2.  2 is for dry-brining, mainly (like bacon), as it has nitrites and nitrates.  #1 is for brines.  No problem - just different stuff.  Adding the Tender Quick to your brine worked, so go with it!  It's also intended to be applied directly to the meat, which you cannot do with #1.

Next time, bump that temp.  You didn't use a big drip pan under the butt, did you?  Just curious...

 

[NDKoze]

Wow, Terry, looks fantastic!  But man, that took a long time!!   I've never had Bostons from Sam's go longer than 1.5 hrs per pound!  One thing I would recommend is to start them at 235.  It cuts the cook time, and has no bad effects on the meat. 

Just to clarify a couple of posts about the curing salt:  I use Instacure #1, not #2.  2 is for dry-brining, mainly (like bacon), as it has nitrites and nitrates.  #1 is for brines.  No problem - just different stuff.  Adding the Tender Quick to your brine worked, so go with it!  It's also intended to be applied directly to the meat, which you cannot do with #1.

Next time, bump that temp.  You didn't use a big drip pan under the butt, did you?  Just curious...

Thanks for correcting me on the #1 verses #2 Tony. I obviously know better. Must have had a brain fart when writing that. I corrected my post.

My butts do take 2.0-2.5 hours. But, it is primarily because I still prefer to smoke at 225. It is not that there is a problem with 235 or anything. I just prefer to start my butts around midnight the night before and if I smoked them any faster they would get done too soon for most of my smokes. Starting at midnight ensures that my butt will be ready for supper even if I get a 1-2 stalls. This is really just a personal preference thing on my part.

 

[DivotMaker]

No problem, Gregg!  And, certainly no problem with 225...I've done a bunch at that temp.  I still use it for long overnighters, when I know I've allowed plenty of time.

 

[NDKoze]

I will say that I always go with 235 when smoking two butts though.

 

[gregbooras]

Looks like the end result was excellent, the only thing that confused me was the 1/2 cup of Tender Quick to the brine recipe.....

Greg

 

[NDKoze]

Looks like the end result was excellent, the only thing that confused me was the 1/2 cup of Tender Quick to the brine recipe.....

Greg

Greg, I think the TQ was used as a substitute for the #1 cure since he was not able to find it locally. My only concern that without lowering the salt in the brine recipe that it would have been too salty. But, he said it wasn't too salty. So, if it works I guess.

 

[drains]

Hey Terry, great job on the pork butt! It looks delicious. Bark looks really good and the pan of pulled pork looks like you'll have plenty to last a while. I still have several bags in the freezer that I vacuum sealed from my last smoke. Whether I am smoking one or two butts it takes 18 hours. Keep the smoke rollin!

 

[Big Red Home Smoker]

Hey Greg,

Yep the Tender Quick was a substitute.  Wanted to see if it would give a bit of a fake smoke ring and it did.  The package says 1 cup of Tender Quick to 4 cups of water in a brine.  I had no clue how much to add in Tony's brine recipe and didn't want to use too much since Tony's brine already has a salt ingredient.  Made a decision to just added between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Tender Quick to the gallon of water and see if that would provide the smoke ring effect.  That didn't seem like too much so went with it.  Pretty much an experiment!

 

[gregbooras]

Hey Greg,

Yep the Tender Quick was a substitute.  Wanted to see if it would give a bit of a fake smoke ring and it did.  The package says 1 cup of Tender Quick to 4 cups of water in a brine.  I had no clue how much to add in Tony's brine recipe and didn't want to use too much since Tony's brine already has a salt ingredient.  Made a decision to just added between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Tender Quick to the gallon of water and see if that would provide the smoke ring effect.  That didn't seem like too much so went with it.  Pretty much an experiment!

Sounds like it worked perfectly!

Greg

 

[DivotMaker]

Terry, those nitrites are potent stuff, and it's amazing how little goes a long ways!  Sounds like you found a good alternative to the #1 Instacure.  Btw, if you order a bag of it off of Amazon, it will last you forever for brines.  I have had the same bag for 2 years, and have barely dented it, 1 tsp. at a time!