Unplanned Butt

[ibbones]

Had to go to the store yesterday for Foil.  Not bread and milk, just foil so I walked by the meat counter and guess what?  Pork Butts are $1.00 a pound.  I have three in the freezer and thought I would grab another to have on hand.
Got home and the wife said "why don't you smoke it tonight for the weekend?"
We had company planned that night so after everybody left I took the butt from the fridge, rinsed and dried, rubbed with mustard, and made a quick rub of 2 Tbs salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar, And about one teaspoon of my smoked-n-dried habanero powder.  Rubbed the butt down and straight into the smoker.  Less than ten minutes from opening the package and rubbed, to turning on the smoker with 7.9 oz of Hickory, Sugar Maple wood mix. 
  It's been a LONG time since I have done something like this with no planning or brining but really interested in the outcome.  I put the Butt in at 11:55pm and right now (2:30pm) she is at 189*.  The wife gets off at 6:00pm tonight so I will have supper ready.

Anybody else ever done a "last minute" smoke?

 

[SconnieQ]

Ribs are perfect for last minute. They can be bought, smoked and eaten in the same day. Another one I do is chicken. Chicken is best if you brine it, and it only needs to brine for a few hours. But you can smoke them without brining and they are still good, just not as good. Again, I have bought, brined, smoked and eaten chicken in the same day.

 

[SuperDave]

I've done butts that didn't have the time to brine but I always inject regardless so I don't see much of a drop in quality.  When my wife goes on a trip I'll smoke a single rack of ribs and eat for my dinner the same day. 

 

[40 caliber]

I've done butts that didn't have the time to brine but I always inject regardless so I don't see much of a drop in quality.  When my wife goes on a trip I'll smoke a single rack of ribs and eat for my dinner the same day.

Dave, what do you use for an injection on a pork butt? i have the needle which was a gift but never tried it out

 

[SconnieQ]

I have injection needles too, but I have yet to use them. I feel that when you create a hole/channel/pathway in the meat and inject, the first thing that happens when you put your meat in the smoker is the meat contracts, and the injection will immediately squeeze right out of that same hole, the same way it came in. The only way the injection is helpful, is if you do it far enough in advance, to the point where the meat fibers can absorb the salt and flavor through osmosis, which is basically the same as a brine anyway. So why create all those holes for moisture to escape? Injecting anything within a few hours of cooking is a waste in my opinion, because it will just flow back out the same way it came in. Oh boy, I am not a believer in injection, and I am going to get a lot of crap from this forum... :-[

 

[SuperDave]

Kari, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.  I know that I put more in than ever comes out.  Smoke a piece of meat with no treatment whatsoever and then smoke one with just injection.  I find a difference.

Tom, I have a pork injection thread in the Brines & Marinade forum with my standard recipe for injection. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Bones, a good bone-in butt is the perfect "last minute" smoke (other than ribs)!  I prefer to brine butts (in case anybody didn't know), but a straight rub and smoke still yields great results!  Pork butts have enough internal fat that it's hard to mess one up, and they really don't need much prep time.  You can improve one by brining (imho), but it's certainly not required!

I'm with Kari, on injection.  The only thing I ever inject anymore is brisket, and that's only if it's going to spend the night in the fridge to get happy.  I think injecting right before smoking is a waste of time.  As Kari said, the injection will not have time to get absorbed by the meat, and will just flow right back out the hole you made for it, along with other meat juices.  So, unless you have good rest time, don't bother injecting.  Just my opinion, but also my experience; that's why I no longer mess with it.

 

[ibbones]

Thanks for the replies.  I usually brine my butts but like I said, this was a spur of the moment thing. 
The butt was not as "great" as the ones in the past but it was really good.  It got to the "magic temp" by 3:00pm and I kept it in the box at 140* until 7:00pm when I pulled it.
I have an injection needle but really do not know enough that I want to use it.

 

[NDKoze]

I did a spur of the moment bone-in Boston Butt a couple of months ago and it was pretty good. But, I could definitely tell the difference in moisture and overall flavor (brined was better). But, I would definitely do it again, if I really wanted a smoked butt. Heck that is better than many other things I could have smoked/cooked for a meal.

 

[DivotMaker]

It got to the "magic temp" by 3:00pm and I kept it in the box at 140* until 7:00pm when I pulled it.

Bones, how did you do the hold?  Did you double-wrap the butt, or just leave it in there?  Did you let the box cool to 140, or just turn the temp down?  If you didn't do these steps, it could account for the dryness.  If you don't wrap, and cool the box, the temp stays up for a LONG time, in these smokers!  Your butt could have continued cooking well-past your target.

 

[ibbones]

Tony, I took the butt to 190* then the next program kicked it and the box went to 140*.  The butt did reach 193*.  I know it kept cooking and stayed hot for a few more hours but most of my butts are cooked that way.  Sometimes I wrap the butt and towel, cooler them but sometimes I just leave them in the smoker knowing the box temp will not drop quickly.
I would still do this again but the brined butts are without a doubt better.  Like I said, this was a decision made about five hours before cook time so there was no real prep done to it.

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like you have a method that works, Bones!  Cooler weather helps, too.  In the summer, that box stays at cooking temp for a long time, if the door isn't opened!