TX Pork Butt With A Twang

[TX Gent]

Howdy Folks

Started my first Boston Butt / Pork Shoulder in the SI#1 @ 4am TX time.

Loaded 3oz Hickory and one once each of pecan and peach along with two small pans of apple juice/ water mix. Outside temp and pork temp started at 50degrees and I set the dial @ 225 degrees. It's 6am as I post this (what's a guy to do after getting up at 3am to start) and I'll provide the recipes I selected/modified for this smoke encase anyone follows forensic trails toward smoking nirvana. Been a brisket / stick burner guy all of my life so here we go ladies and Gentlemen ....

First let me state all that follows is based on this forums invaluable guides, previous cooks and the current contributors who post and offer insight to our newbie efforts. Thank you guys. So being a TX guy I know to pay homage to the Carolina's as the home of pig smoking Ala' brines, injections, rubs and sauces. Added my TX twang so here we go...

Ten pound shoulder to start which I brined for twelve hours double bagged in the refrigerator.

The Brine:
1 cup cane white sugar
1 cup Kosher salt
1 teaspoon #1 cure
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fine garlic powder
1 tablespoon fine onion powder
1 cup apple cider
1 cup apple juice

Low heat to mix and dissolve all the ingredients together, cooled and enough water to cover the shoulder in the bag whole.
After a twelve hour brine I pulled it from the refrigerator, washed the shoulder off and dried it .

The Injection:
In a large a pan I injected the shoulder with one and only one totally top secrete injection .... apple juice ... that's it ... that's all!

The Rub:
Yellow mustard wet rub then the dry rub I premixed the day before after starting the brine.
The dry rub does have a TX twang with the addition of chili powder ... just because ...lol
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon fine sweet paprika
1 tablespoon fine garlic powder
1 tablespoon fine onion powder
1 tablespoon course black pepper
1 tablespoon fine cumin powder
1 tablespoon fine chili powder TX style mix

That's the rub a dub before the tub or .. smoker in this case.

TX Pig BBQ Sauce

Also mixed the BBQ sauce up after starting the brine so the sauce could fuse for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Decided to go with a mostly "Western" Carolina BBQ Sauce as a starter base. Added TX twang and It's a tad hotter than the base Carolina's sauces. All ingredients combined and low heat until  merged and then refrigerated until needed.

1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Malt Vinegar
1 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Tabasco
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon fine chili powder TX style mix

So now we are into the smoke with double probes. I made and executive decision to separate the shoulder so it could fit it into the smoker without touching the walls. One part is smaller and what I would call the flat side and the other is the bone in point ... probably divided into a 3 pound and a 7 pound cut. Put the larger bone in side fat side down on the middle rack and the smaller flat fat side up on top rack. As I'm finishing this post up it's two hours in and the smokers really "smoking" at 225 degrees. The smaller flat is @ 125 degrees and the larger point of the shoulder is @ 90 degrees.

The Start:

 

[JustChillin]

I am betting that you will be enjoying some great pulled pork later today! What did you find to do after starting the smoke?

 

[TX Gent]

Five hours in and BB seems to have stalled @ 163 according to the double probes ... I'm reminded, "Patience is a virtue seldom practiced".

All is well ... puffy is doing her thing


Ten hours in and slight smoke with both BB tapping 180 ...tapping 180 ... tapping 180 and it's looking like a full twelve hour smoke ...

Puffy still working to get ...there

 

[SconnieQ]

Be patient. You will be rewarded. It could take considerably longer than you thought. Your whole process sounds great to me. I like the mix of texas-inspired southwest rub with cumin and chili powder, with the carolina-inspired vinegary sauce. It's exactly what I do.

 

[TX Gent]

TYVM JustChillin and SconnieQ for your encouragement!

The results are in and from beginning to end everything about this first BB smoke in the Smokin-It #1 was well worth the efforts. Really want to thank all who have contributed to the forum knowledge content and guides, current posters and the crew back at the Smoke-It home base for all.

Check this smoke ring out!!!

Smoked 11.5 hours and pulled @190 degrees internal and two hour rest ... beautiful to the eye and great to the taste

 

[40 caliber]

It  LOOKS outstanding. i didnt know a number 1 could cook that well.
i thought capacity was lower. how many baby backs can a 1 do?

 

[TX Gent]

I've cooked one rack of baby backs so far but I'm thinking three would be about right.

Air/smoke circulation space is important and the #1 came with three stainless steel racks but has room for four very close racks. Spaced evenly the ribs will need to be divided in half's to fit on each rack and within the cabinet. Any more than three might impeded smoke and even heat circulation too much and might make for an uneven cook top to bottom.

Others more experienced than myself are more than welcome to expand on this subject.

Hope that answered your question 40 caliber ... OBTW, for the record Tom ...45cal/BMW 

 

[SconnieQ]

It  LOOKS outstanding. i didnt know a number 1 could cook that well.
i thought capacity was lower. how many baby backs can a 1 do?

I just did a 19+ lb brisket (17 lbs trimmed) in my #1 a couple weeks ago. Cut in half on two shelves with no problem. I'm starting to prefer smoking brisket in two halves, since they both benefit from different final temperatures, and the point can go closer to the heating element, shielding the flat from the heat. 3 racks of ribs easily in the #1, 1 rack cut in half per shelf. I have the older rack guides, so mine only have 3. But if I had newer rack guides, I would think 4 racks would be no problem. Also I have done a 14 pound turkey, and 9 pound pork butts.

 

[TX Gent]

I'll second what SconnieQ says regarding racks. I also used SconnieQ's technique of separating both a ten pound Boston Butt and a fifteen pound prime Brisket in to larger and smaller sizes ... Large cut fat side down on middle rack and small cut fat side up on top rack ... both turned out great in the little big #1 and I learned this from reading SconnieQ's posts in other threads and full credit to SconnieQ!

 

[Sirsmokesalot]

Looks awesome TX!! Just to chime in I’ve done two racks of baby back ribs cut in half in my SI1. Will be using this recipe for my next pork butt for sure!

 

[TX Gent]

TYVM Jeff ... The smoke recipe was a combination of all the different threads and posts others have done before on this forum.

I just took a little of this and that and tweaked it for our families taste with a touch of TexMex in the rub. As regards the pig sauce, next time I'll boost the Tabasco, Red Pepper Flakes along with the Black Pepper up a notch ... Things are always just a tad hotter to the taste buds here. All in all the recipes and smoking results are a proven great starting point.

All the best Jeff on your first Boston Butt.

John

 

[shrews824]

Man, that pork looks great!!!  And that smoke ring....  wow!!!

 

[SuperDave]

Tx, was it your intent to go sliced vs. pulled? 

 

[TX Gent]

TYVM shrews824!

SuperDave ... I actually went both ways ...lol, I'll explain.

Divided the BB in to two parts to fit the mighty #1 .... a 3lb and a 7lb, see first post.

We did have a pulled pork party with all the fixings and it was all gone before I could take a picture as we were having great family time together. My two grown supper critical of "dad's cooking" sons both gave it a big thumbs up. I had set the smaller flat aside to save for breakfast/sandwiches/cold cuts and that was all I had left to take a picture of. So I used that to illustrate "proof" of the cook.