Always looking for an excuse - found two

[Huskee]

Won't that actually give you a 2/3 and 1/3 piece?

[Jerod Broussard]

Sweet cook. I hate pulling pork with that big membrane that sits between those muscles (outlined in blue), so I just about cut them in half by cleaning out that membrane, that way I don't have to mess with it at pulling, and it opens things a little to help that end cook along.

[theroc]

You're a good man!

[FireMan]

Bravissimo! Well done on all accounts. 🕶

[Troutman]

What’s important is the reason behind the cook, as well as celebrating the cook itself!! Nice gesture

[FishTalesNC]

Thankya, it’s a BBQ chopping block with sides, made by a friend. He also does the custom etching on the cleavers.

https://www.edsshapeshack.com/

[Oakgrovebacon]

Good looking pork!

[lemayp]

Is that a rimmed cutting board? Looks really cool.

[FishTalesNC]

My wife and I have two different (unrelated) friends that just made it home from the hospital. One is battling a blood disorder, the other got nailed on a skiing trip and tore her ACL, MCL, and LCL. Both have kids, both parents work, etc so... figured I’d fire up the Bronco and "help out" 😈

Got two 8lb bone in butts from Sam’s Club, trimmed them, cut them in half, and then dry brined them 24 hours.



This morning, hit them with a mustard slather and a fresh batch of MMD.



I lit the Bronco (very full of KBB) with 2 fire starters and let that go for ~25 min, then tossed in a big ol’ applewood chunk, closed the lid and let it preheat for 20 min. When it hit 280F I got the butts on, just after 7am.



After 3 hours of temps 275-295F I opened things up to double checked the probes, but all was well. And the stall hit right after of course. After 5 hours the fuel was giving out - my temps slowly hit 225F even after opening both vents fully.

Bronco Aside: I lit the basket with 2 fire starters because 1) I wanted to cook the butts hot & fast, 2) it was 33F outside, and 3) I typically move them to the oven inside anyway once I’m happy with the bark. I suspect using 2 starters, and the fact it was KBB, contributed to a shorter cooking time despite a full basket. OKJ suggests only using 1 fire starter on an edge of the basket to achieve the 10+ hours they claim is possible. I might try that next time, and with Weber briquettes.

Luckily at that point things were looking good, and I was ready to move them inside.



Knowing the boneless chunks cook faster, I put both of those in one foil pan and the bone in chunks in another and covered them both tightly in foil. Into the oven they went at 285F. After ~90 min the boneless chunks were just over 203F and probed like butter, so I moved them to the lower oven at 170F. I bumped the temp up to 325F on the bone in chunks and they were ready 25 min later, almost exactly 7 hours total cook time. Into the hold they went with the others a little after 2pm. Pulled them at 5:30pm, we devoured the money muscles (oops), and I got to chopping - one butt at a time.



We delivered that with buns, bbq sauce, Mac & cheese and some homemade banana pudding my wife made for a very traditional NC BBQ dinner all at 6pm. It’s nice when a plan comes together and the timing works perfectly! And yeah... we held back 6-8 servings for us.

https://share.fireboard.io/E75173