1st pork butt

[Snoopy]

Hi all,

Going to try it this wkend. Picked up a 7.5# bone in shoulder. Did a lot of reading on here and I think I have a good grasp on things. I'm a little hesitant to do an overnite smoke but I kind of need to do it if I want to eat at a decent time in the evening saturday. I'm going to keep it simple for the 1st time but will def try brining at some point. I watched a lot of videos on youtube how to best trim it so I think I have that down. Plan is to coat in mustard and Famous Daves rub on fri and let it get happy for 12hrs or so. After all the reading I'm going to try fat cap up, planning on 2hrs per/lb to be safe. Highest rack position in the smoker so it don't touch the top. Will one Mini pan half full apple juice be enough liquid? Plan on using about 3oz cherry and 2oz hickory split small and spread out in the smoke box. I have the maverick 732 to monitor. It looks like you feed the probes down the smoke hole and put it in thickest part away from the bone? Where should the other probe go? I'm hoping for 12-14hrs no peek finish time at 225 with at least an hour rest double wrapped then pull it. I did read about the stall also. Did I miss anything? 

I got some fresh sweetcorn and greenbeans from the garden to go with it and maybe some mac n cheese if girlfriend makes it    MMM I'm looking forward to some awesome Q!

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like a great plan, Lance!  You've definitely been studying us!  lol.  I'm confident you'll like Dave's rub on the butt - it's great.  I fill my loaf pan about 3/4 full, but 1/2 will probably be fine.  It shouldn't dry out.  Also, put your box temp probe on the same level as your meat (btw, put your meat as high as possible - the heat is more stable at the top), but not too close to the meat (cooling effect).  Keep the probe at least 2-3 inches away.  You're also right about meat probe placement; make sure it isn't touching the bone.  Be ready for the "stall," and embrace it!  This is when all that fat and connective tissue in the butt is rendering, and the real tenderizing is going on!  No matter how long it takes, just let it ride!  Once I get through the stall, and the temp starts to climb, I usually bump the temp to 235-240.  The higher temp, post-stall, won't hurt a thing, and will speed things up a bit.

Good luck, and be sure to post some pics!

 

[Smokster]

Hey Lance, are you sure this is your first smoke, you sound like a pro already. You definitely have been doing your homework.

You can't go wrong with your plan of attack and you will definitely have a successful smoke. Good luck and be sure to post some pics.

 

[Pork Belly]

I'm a little hesitant to do an overnite smoke

Why?

 

[es1025]

Lance,
No reason to worry to smoke overnight. Check the weather forecast, if the weather is iffy put the maverick controller in a ziploc bag with a small hole for the probe wires. Allso if your maverick came with a probe clip, place to the far end of the rack below the meat about 2-3 inches away from the meat. I found you get the best readings. Good luck and post some pics after completion.

 

[Smokster]

Over night smokes are not an issue, just be sure to strap down or secure the door locks. I once had a visitor overnight, I notice a few paw prints on the side of the smoker the next morning. Maybe he was scared off thinking he was next in the smoker if he got caught pawhanded.

 

[DivotMaker]

Overnighters are fun! 8)  Nothing like dreaming about the wonderful goodness you're going to wake up to!

 

[Smokster]

I agree. There is nothing better to waking up and having your morning coffee while staring at your smoker, knowing that there is magic going on inside.

 

[Snoopy]

All right then I think im ready  . I trimmed and rubbed down early today and wrapped. Wood came out to 3.2oz cherry, 2oz post oak on the scale. I picked up a can of fosters beer to put in another pan along with the apple juice. Ought to keep it plenty moist. I keep my smoker in the garage so I have to keep the door open to let the smoke out. Was a little hesitant to leave the door open all night but it should be fine. I live in a rural area so I am more worried about deer coming in the garage than anything else. LoL  Hey I could smoke some deer meat to... Hmm...  Thanks everyone for all the advice, I'll try to post some pics when its all done. 

 

[Smokster]

Great to hear Lance. Post some pics when done.

By the way, I come down to Akron a few times a year (I have family there) and picked up my #3 directly from Steve last year, saved on the shipping costs. He recently moved from Akron to Michigan state.

 

[Pork Belly]

Tony my Canadian friend, "Michigan State" is a college. SI is now located in, The Great State of Michigan.

 

[Smokster]

Tony my Canadian friend, "Michigan State" is a college. SI is now located in, The Great State of Michigan.

My apologies, I meant the state of Michigan. I didn't realize there was a difference, but now I get it.

 

[Snoopy]

I ordered my #1 when Steve was in the moving process so he threw in some xtras when he started shipping again. I debated on going up and getting it myself but just decided to wait on the shipping. It would have been a 2.5-3 hour drive and lost a day of work. No biggie I was happy to get the freebies.

Went in at 43* at 2:50 am. I'm sitting at 196 on the butt right now 1:10pm. I set the monitor on night stand with alarms set for 240 box temp hi and 210 low. The butt climbed rather quickly but dropped down quick. No worries I let it ride and it stabilized overnite climbing and falling. Box temp has went from 215-240 so it should average out just fine. Had nice smoke all night and still smoking nicely and garage smells great! I think I hit stall sometime this morning when I was sleeping just letting it ride for now.

I'm shooting for 198-200 temp so if it gets done a little early I can dial back to 145 or so and hold it right? Should I wrap and stick back in smoker or just let it ride naked? Then pull and wrap/rest?

 

[Pork Belly]

I personally don't see a difference between wrapping and resting or cranking the unit down to 145. The butt is not going to cool much it is already 200. You cant hold it forever and you need to keep it above 140 IT. The rest or hold is allowing the juices to calm down and redistribute themselves in the muscle fibers.

 

[Snoopy]

Ok got it thanks. It reached 199 little while ago so I cranked down to 145 and will keep an eye on it. Waiting for girlfriend to get here and make the rest of the fixins  then its chow time!

 

[Pork Belly]

Outstanding, I'm glad you were successful. If you cranked it down without opening for a look you saved a lot of steam. Should be fantastic dinner. Post some pics, I'm off to work no smoke for me today.

 

[DivotMaker]

Outstanding, I'm glad you were successful. If you cranked it down without opening for a look you saved a lot of steam. Should be fantastic dinner. Post some pics, I'm off to work no smoke for me today.

I have to respectfully disagree on this one, Brian.  If you want to stop the cooking, you have to open the door and let the smoker cool down quickly.  If I plan a "hold" after a smoke, I turn down the temp about 10°  below my desired temp, keep the door closed, and watch the IT for a bit.  If I'm close to the IT, I cut the smoker back to 135 and open the door until the Auber (or Maverick) shows it's around 135.  Because these smokers are so tight, they'll maintain that set temp for quite awhile after dialing-down to a hold temp, and you'll have an overdone smoke before you take it out.  Just my 2¢.

 

[Snoopy]

Was a great dinner! I let it rest in smoker for about 2hrs holding at 145-150* till we got all the other fixins done. Here are some pics: Sorry they are so big i'll work on getting them resized.

 

[DivotMaker]

Looks like a fine spread, Lance!  Pork, corn and cobbler!  Sure you aren't from the South??

 

[Snoopy]

Hey Tony I resized the pics by following your instructions. That is actually mac n cheese not cobbler  . My Dad is from W. Virginia so we are kinda from the south  . Thanks again to all for the help, this is an awesome smoker and forum! I have a brisket in the freezer that girlfriend picked up for me to try. Time to study up on that.