Pork butt overnight style

[es1025]

Teammates
I will strong recommend smoking a pork butt overnight. I started at 930pm and set the auber to 240 and let the magic happen. At 645am the butt was 160 degrees. I double wrapped and waited until 192 degrees. I usually go to 190 but was trying something different. I put the butt in a foil tray and put in the cooler until later in the day. The butt was juicy and even better than the last butt. I would also strongly recommend using smokinlicious wood. Burned so clean and a nice mild flavor. I used wild cherry.

 

[NDKoze]

Hi Ed,

I am curious why you used the Texas Crutch (foil wrapping)?

Were you in a hurry or was that part of your experiment?

My experience has led me to recommend to people to skip the foiling (unless you are in a hurry) to push through the stall and instead embrace the stall, as that is where the "REAL" magic happens. That slow breaking down of the collagen into liquid gold should not be rushed in my opinion unless you absolutely have to.

I too tend to start most of my butts overnight. This is the beauty of the Smokin-It smokers that you can do this. None of my other smokers allow me to start a smoke and go to sleep without a care in the world that my temp will hold all night long. I tend to start them right around 11:00PM to 12:00AM and they are usually done (190-195) mid-afternoon the next day which works our perfect for my evening meal after a generous resting period.

You definitely can't go wrong with the Smokinlicious Cherry or a combination of Cherry and Hickory which is my personal favorite for pork butts.

I would be remis if I didn't ask where are the pictures?

 

[old sarge]

I am also wondering about the Texas crutch.  I see some folks on TV wrapping after just a few hours but honestly, I don't wrap till the meat is done; then foil, towels and into a cooler till "eating time".  But whatever works is good.  Just not something I do.

 

[es1025]

I just like to wrap (going to try brown paper next), it still took another five hours to get to 192.  I think the magic is in the resting time.  I have done this method twice and been very pleased.  I have a beautiful bark, but unfortunately no pictures with a six month old black lab hawking my butt. I am definitely stick with the method.  Next smoke cherry and hickory. I am not in a hurry, I found the without wrapping the butt was a bit on the dry side my opinion. I don't wrap ribs until they are finished.

 

[TX Gent]

Being a Texas guy I've done PBs many ways and whether one wraps or not with foil or paper it's just hard to mess up a bone in PB smoked low and slow. I agree though with the idea that the secret to a great PB or brisket for that matter is to foil and hold for a minimum of two hours before serving. I actually believe it's the real deal secret to a moist and tender finished smoke.

 

[NDKoze]

I just like to wrap (going to try brown paper next), it still took another five hours to get to 192.  I think the magic is in the resting time.  I have done this method twice and been very pleased.  I have a beautiful bark, but unfortunately no pictures with a six month old black lab hawking my butt. I am definitely stick with the method.  Next smoke cherry and hickory. I am not in a hurry, I found the without wrapping the butt was a bit on the dry side my opinion. I don't wrap ribs until they are finished.

That is interesting that you had a dry pork butt. The only time I ever had a remotely dry butt was when I pushed my temp a little to far because I was in a hurry to finish in time for a meal.

Do you brine your butts? If not, that could explain a dry butt as well. But, definitely to each his own for whatever works best for them.

I know a lot of people like to use the brown butcher paper for wrapping briskets with very good results, so I would expect it to work well for pork butts too.

 

[Pork Belly]

When I do an overnight butt in the SI it goes in at midnight. I set the #3 for 225 and do not open it until 4:30PM the next day.

 

[NDKoze]

When I do an overnight butt in the SI it goes in at midnight. I set the #3 for 225 and do not open it until 4:30PM the next day.

This is pretty much 100% what I do. I prefer the 225° temperature versus the 235°-250° that some people are using successfully because I really like how the low and slow tends to produce the most moist flavorful results for me. Plus, it just works from the logistics perspective of being ready at the optimal time for an evening meal.

 

[es1025]

Gregg
When i pushed the temperature over 200 it was on the dry side. I found Oklahoma Joes recipes and said to cook the meat to 190. Thats both pork butt and brisket.

 

[Pork Belly]

Oklahoma Joe's recipes and said to cook the meat to 190

There is no perfect temp or set cook time. Those are only guidelines. If the meat is exactly 190 but not tender, its not ready. I have often written "Cook it until it gets squishy" What are typically 17 to 18 hour briskets sometimes need 20 hours to get the degree of tenderness I want. The same with butts sometimes they are reluctant to breakdown. The difference in diet excessive, genetics all play a part.

 

[NDKoze]

Gregg
When i pushed the temperature over 200 it was on the dry side. I found Oklahoma Joes recipes and said to cook the meat to 190. Thats both pork butt and brisket.

Yeah, I definitely would lean much closer to 190 than 200. But, like Brian said, all cuts are a little different (even meats of the same cut and size) and the optimum temperature can vary when the best time to pull them. The nice thing about a Boston Butt is that they are so forgiving that you can have really good results anywhere from the 190 range all the way up into the mid to upper 190s depending on the particular piece of meat. This is why I always recommend a Boston Butt for people on their first smoke. They are really pretty hard to screw up.

I pretty much try to pull them at 190, but sometimes life gets in the way and they don't get pulled until 195ish or around there and I haven't noticed too much of a difference. But, every once and a while, I will just get one that looks really good coming out and I smoke it like I always do and pull it around 190-193 or so and it is just "a little harder than normal" to pull. I am not saying that in this situation it was a bad smoke by any means.

There are some butts that pretty much seem to pull themselves apart, while others need a little more encouragement. I chalk this up to just getting a tough butt on occasion. This is pretty rare though. I have VERY good luck getting my butts at Sam's Club and for that reason, I rarely buy them anywhere else.