My butt for a friend

[SmokinSusie-Q]

A dear friend named Tom has been hospitalized on and off for months.  He was to come home from Duke last Friday, and I decided to smoke a pork butt for him and his family.  I was prepared to smoke it Friday when I found out he had serious complications and would not be coming home.  I just waited to hear from his wife who called Sunday to inform me that he would be discharged on Monday.  The point of this is that I had less time to prepare so instead of 2 nights in the frig, I had only one.  I decided to inject the 7.9 lb butt with Allegro hot and spicy marinade and thickly coat the entire butt with my basic rub.  Thinking I might not have enough time to smoke such a large butt before Tom reached home, I decided to cut it in 1/2.  I ended up with one 4.5 lb half and one 3.4 1/8 half.  I set the temp. at 235 and put the probe (temp. 175) in the largest 1/2  butt (with bone).  I used 3.7/8  oz. of wood (cherry and hickory).  It took 8 hrs. and 20 min.  It was the best butt I've done so far.  Perfect temperature for a roast; very juicy; and just enough smoke.  This will be my recipe going forward.

 

[DivotMaker]

The butts look great, but you got lucky!  Small (less than 5 lbs) cuts, or pork butt or brisket, are very unpredictable, and can take as much as 3 hours/lb!  I always recommend keeping it big, as the larger cuts cook much more stable.  But hey, as long as it worked out!!

 

[Limey]

Very nice story though Sue.. BBQ and friends- that's what it is all about.

 

[DivotMaker]

Very nice story though Sue.. BBQ and friends- that's what it is all about.

+1!

 

[BedouinBob]

Sue, you are a good friend. Your results look fantastic!

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

The butts look great, but you got lucky!  Small (less than 5 lbs) cuts, or pork butt or brisket, are very unpredictable, and can take as much as 3 hours/lb!  I always recommend keeping it big, as the larger cuts cook much more stable.  But hey, as long as it worked out!!

Now I recall a previous post that discussed how unpredictable smaller cuts are.  Glad I didn't think about that at the time.

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

Very nice story though Sue.. BBQ and friends- that's what it is all about.

How true. . .that is what it's all about.  It is fun to smoke just for my husband and myself but I get much greater joy when inviting friends to join us.

+1!

 

[SuperDave]

Sue, time permitting, I always try to brine and inject.  But if I had to choose one over the other, I would choose injecting.  Some of my moistest butts have been injection only. Short notice request tonight for a pulled pork tomorrow so I'll be injecting and putting on the smoker tonight.

 

[Perkolater]

Great cause Sue and great looking butts.  Short notice occasionally leads to really pleasant yet unexpected results.

 

[SmokinSusie-Q]

Sue, time permitting, I always try to brine and inject.  But if I had to choose one over the other, I would choose injecting.  Some of my moistest butts have been injection only. Short notice request tonight for a pulled pork tomorrow so I'll be injecting and putting on the smoker tonight.

It was just a guess on my part but it worked. 

 

[pargolfr2003]

Great job Sue! Those look amazing.