3 butts to brine and smoke

S

Snoopy

New member
Hey all,

I haven't posted in awhile but I have been smoking away  ;D mostly ribs. I need to do some butts for a wedding this weekend. I was going to try brining at least one of them. Never brined before. I did buy a briner jr bucket at cabelas when they had a sale. I have 2-8#'s and a 5.5# butts. I was going to try the basic brine that Tony used, looks fairly simple. Should I go 10-12hrs for brine time? I have to do them one at a time due to the size issue. Anything else I should know? I'm going to start smoking thursday morning. Plan on doing the small butt and one large one together then one large one by itself. Thanks Lance
 
If at all possible, I would brine ALL of them. It really does make a difference.

I don't really time how long mine goes in the brine. I use Tony's brine and typically just let them go overnight and I start all of my smokes around 11:00pm-12:00am.

10-12 hours should be enough time though.

Good luck! Sounds like quite the project.
 
10 to 12 hours will be fine for the brining period.  In addition to the brine bucket, you could also get some big freezer bags (2gals) that will hold a butt and pour the brine in.  If you do this, be sure to put the bag in a big pot in case it opens or leaks.
 
Ok thanks guys. How long do I heat the brine? Like bring it to a boil or just hot? I have it simmering with all the ingredients together, it smells fantastic  :D
 
I need a bigger pot to mix the brine in. I have a one gallon pot that's filled almost to the top. I'm stirring it real slow.
 
Hey Lance, I usually just put enough water in the pan to mix everything up good, that way I can use my sauce pan. Then add ice for the balance of the water to cool it.
 
Once the ingredients are dissolved and heated up, I add ice and cold water to cool the brine off quickly.  I usually then put it in a sealed container for a day or so to cool down below 40 before using it on the meat.

I usually use about 1/3 of the water heated to dissolve, 1/3 cold water and 1/3 ice.
 
OK I dumped it in and have it cooling down now in the briner jr. I will let it cool down overnite and put the first butt in in the morning if its cool enough. I looked for giant freezer bags but could only find 1 gallon size. I should have enough time to brine at least 2 of them and smoke them next couple days.

I'll try the 1/3 hot, 1/3 cold, 1/3 ice next time
 
Hey guys had another thought. I'm going to brine one of the big ones first, if I have enough brine left could I put the smaller one in the same brine or would there not be enough juice left to cover it?
 
Hey Lance - sorry for joining your adventure so late! :-[  Sounds like you have a good handle on it, from the guys!  If your brine is still cold from the fridge, I don't think there'd be any problem putting a smaller butt in the leftover brine.  You just wouldn't want to if it warmed up over a safe temp.  I'd think it would still have enough ingredients to do another, but I've never tried this.  If it were me, I'd probably make another batch, cool it (I like to put my waiting brine in a gallon water jug that I keep for brines) in the fridge, and refresh the brine for the other butts.

As far as how long to cook - I never bring brine to a boil, but just simmer and stir until I'm satisfied all the ingredients are dissolved.  Just like good sauces, too much heat can damage some of the flavors (cook the flavor out).  Doesn't take long, if you start with hot water to begin with!

Let me know what you think of the brined butt, or any flavor suggestions you have.  I'm totally open to constructive criticism! 8)
 
If you have mixed you brine according to the recipe you can get by with less of it using a bag. Place the butt and brine in a 2galon or larger zip bag and squeeze out all the air so the brine has contact with all the meat surface. I have also used oven roasting bags when I had nothing else. Always use fresh brine do not swap out the meat in a used brine.
 
Ok thanks guys. I wont try to reuse the brine, don't want to take any chances on contamination. I think I have a handle on everything  :-\ its a little more work than I want to do during the work week but girlfriend asked me real nicely so I cant say no.

I'm going to rub with mustard and famous daves after brining. Plan on using about 6oz of peach wood with pan of apple juice set to 225ish. I have the maverick and plan to use both probes, 1 in each butt and let er smoke with no peak. I plan to pull at 195 and double wrap and in the cooler for a rest. I'm sure the small butt will be done first. Should I put small butt above larger one in the smoker or do you think it matters how they are arranged?
 
Awesome appreciate all the advice! I'll try to post some pics when its all said and done. I'm not sure I want to give all this meat away at a wedding  ;D if it turns out good!
 
Got one in the bath @ 0700. Hope to start them about 6-7 tonight. I forgot I only have one meat probe so I will probe the smaller butt till done then stick it in the bigger one after and finish up.
 
Got 2 butts on tonight at 6:40 set to 225ish. Maverick is reading 153 in the small butt, its been almost 3.5hrs. Box temp is holding pretty steady at 230. I ended up using a mix of peach and cherry about 5.3oz. Smells delish! This will be an interesting comparison, I brined the large one for 11hrs, rinsed and rubbed with mustard and some rub I got from a place in texas and the small one just rubbed with famous daves and wrapped last night. I'm sure they will both be good just want to see if the brined is more juicy. Have one more 8lb'er in a fresh batch of brine to soak overnight then rinse and rub and in she goes  ;D
 
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