Pulled Pork - Two Butts are Better than One!

[Smokster]

I'm getting ready for the weekend and planning to smoke two (bone in) pork butts for pulled pork. Some will be for consuming now and the rest I will vacuum seal and into the freezer it goes for quick meals when needed. Each butt weighs 8 and 9 pounds respectively.

This past weekend I smoked a whole packer brisket and it was the best I ever had, extremely moist and juicy, even after reheating. I had brined the brisket and it absolutely helped produce sliced heaven on a bun, therefore I am now a true believer of brining.  That being said, these two butts are going for a dip (au natural) into the brine.

I used Tony's butt brine recipe and I will soak them for at least 12 hours, then pat dry, add mustard and dry rub, and into the smoker tomorrow morning.  I haven't decided on the wood combo yet, but it will definitely be a mix of two types, one being apple wood.

 

[Pork Belly]

Sounds great!

 

[DivotMaker]

Oh yeah, baby!  Nothing like a good, brined, 2-butt day!  I'd go hickory/cherry, but that's just me - not an applewood fan. :-\

 

[Smokster]

After 14 hours in the brine, I pulled the two butts out, then patted dry with paper towels and applied a coat of mustard as a binding agent, then applied the dry rub.

There was a recipe for a dry rub which I wanted to try for this smoke which is listed below and which I also added to the rub section of this forum. The interesting part of this rub is the ground rosemary. I didn't have any on hand, however I simply put rosemary in the coffee grinder to achieve the same results.

Memphis Dust Recipe
Yield. Makes about 3 cups. Store the extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.
Preparation time. 10 minutes to find everything and 5 minutes to dump them together.

Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder

After applying the rub, I wrapped in plastic wrap and back into the fridge. After 12 hours of allowing the butts to get happy before there anticipated smoke, I put them in my #3, both on the same shelf, closest to the top of the smoker as possible (second position from the top), added 6 oz of hickory chunks (I wanted to use some apple wood, but didn't have any on hand), added a pan of apple juice to the bottom of the smoker, and set the temperature to 230.

Since the largest butt is 9 lbs, I am estimating approximately 13 hours for this smoke, however I haven't smoked two butts at once yet, therefore I don't know how this will impact the duration of the smoke.

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds good, Tony!  One tip I might give you about brined butts - don't let them sit in the fridge for 12 hours after brining.  You lose a lot of the liquid that infuses the meat.  A good overnighter with rub is fantastic, but I've found it not necessary on the brined butts.  I remove from brine, rinse, pat dry, rub, and in the smoker they go!  You've infused a lot of moistness and flavor with the brine, so the rub is just the icing on the cake!  Plus, it shortens the prep time to 12 hours.

 

[Pork Belly]

Did they have a thick fat layer, why the cross hatch cuts?

From Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman

Allow the meat to rest in the refrigerator after it is brined, for a couple of hours for small items and up to a day for larger cuts. Resting allows the salt within the meat to disperse more evenly. Immediately after it is taken out of the brine the meat closer to the surface will have a higher salt concentration than the interior will.

My opinions:

Allowing the meat to rest in the fridge adds in drying the surface which leads to better bark.
I think any run off you get while it is resting would occur while your cooking possibly loosening bark.

 

[Smokster]

Hey Brian, when I removed the two butts from the brine, I gave them a rinse in cold water, then place them one of the racks from the smoker and placed a tray under the rack ( similar to my pic). Then I covered the whole tray with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge for about 7 hours. This ensured that the meat did not dry out uncovered in the fridge and allowed for any water to drain into the pan.

At that point, I removed, patted dry and applied mustard and dry rub. Then wrapped each individually and back in the fridge overnight.

The butts were well trimmed with the right amount of fat, however I wanted to try the cross cuts for this smoke to see if it makes a difference when brining and with the rub being able to penetrate the meat during the smoke.

 

[Pork Belly]

Are they cooking now?

 

[DivotMaker]

Hehe... never mind me. :-[  When I've let brined meat sit very long, it seemed dryer than when not.  The book says otherwise though...

 

[Smokster]

Brian, the butts are in the smoker now, started about 3 hours ago and currently at an internal temp if 140.  I wanted to start it last night for an overnight smoke, but it was raining and I don't have a covered area for the smoker.

Tony, I didn't plan on letting them sit in the fridge after brining, however something unexpectedly came up and I had to run out and take care of it, it just happened that way.  However when I took the out, there was very little water on the bottom of the pan and the butts had a good consistency to them.

I'm not worried, I am anticipating a good smoke.

 

[Pork Belly]

It sounds like it is going to be a fine meal, I look forward to the after pictures.

 

[DivotMaker]

Looking forward to the pictures!  Nothin' better than a couple of fine butts! ;D

 

[Smokster]

Brian/Tony, thank you both for your feedback. Pictures will follow once the smoke is complete. My previous smoked pulled pork were great, but this is the first time I brined them. It will be interesting to see if it makes a difference. I can honestly say that the brined brisket I smoked last weekend was absolutely fantastic, so moist and juicy, it melted in your mouth and my friends and family who ate it are still raving about it. I even surprised myself.

 

[DivotMaker]

Trust me - you'll see a difference in the brined butt!  I couldn't believe the difference, and never smoke them any other way, now!

 

[Smokster]

With the difference I noticed with the melt in your mouth brined brisket, I'm now a convert and true believer.

The butts are now 9.5 hours in and are sitting at 169 IT.  Looks like I hit a stall, but no worries, I will just ride it out and let the smoker work it's magic.

 

[Pork Belly]

Well came home to look at Q pics and am sadly disappointed. I hope your late dinner was good and you were just to tired and full to log on.

 

[Smokster]

Hey Brian, it is almost 1 AM and the butts are still in the smoker.  One is at 192, the other at 180.  I will pull them each out when they reach 200, then foil and in the cooler. I will then shred them after they sit for 2 hours.  Unfortunately due to unanticipated rain this weekend, the timing of my smoke was off, however since these butts were really for quick evening meals (to vacuum seal and freeze), I wasn't too worried. It just means I will have to get up throughout the night to tend to the butts. At least it will be ready in time for pulled pork sandwiches for lunch.

They do smell great and I just opened it quickly to do a quick probe of the 2nd butt, and they look great, really moist and juicy. Pics will be posted by tomorrow.

 

[Pork Belly]

Sounds good Tony, there are worse things than having to stay up with the smoker. Its 66 here in Michigan, would be a good night on the deck. I will check your pics out tomorrow.

 

[Smokster]

I pulled the first butt out when it reached 200 IT, wrapped and let it rest in the cooler for a few hours. Below are the pics of the first butt.

 

[NDKoze]

That looks awesome! Nice job.