PBC Pork Butt w/o The Crutch

[Kevin Dinstell]

Anyone letting their Pork Butt hang for the entire cook? I've got a 10lb'er I'm putting on this morning and a pretty busy work day, so I'm considering skipping the foil. Speed isn't important but moisture is - anyone have experience with this?

[Ernest]

I haven't done a butt in my PBC yet but you might want to cook that on the grate.
Hanging the whole time, it will fall off the hanger at some point due to "tendernitis"

[Kevin Dinstell]

I haven't done a butt in my PBC yet but you might want to cook that on the grate.
Hanging the whole time, it will fall off the hanger at some point due to "tendernitis"

Good point - anyone hung a comparably-sized butt for an entire cook without experiencing this?

[David Parrish]

If you let it go all the way to 203F without foil it will definitely fall off the hooks. Ernest is right. Use the grate OR take it off the hooks after it hits 150F or so and put on grate.

[Kevin Dinstell]

Got it. So have you cooked a butt all the way through without foiling on a PBC, David?

[David Parrish]

Got it. So have you cooked a butt all the way through without foiling on a PBC, David?

Yes. It turned out awesome. You won't be disappointed.

And Welcome to The Pit!

[Kevin Dinstell]

Good stuff. Thanks, David/Ernest - glad to be in good company.

[_John_]

I have, and actually have 3 on right now that I have plenty of time for so I won't wrap. When I don't wrap I do spritz with apple juice near the end. They aren't as moist as when I wrap but to be honest I have to remove a bit of juice when I wrap, it's just too wet.

[_John_]

Yeah so 3 hung just fine and I thought I could even have room for 4 if they weren't too large, then I just tried moving them to the grate. Unless you stand them up on their side there is no way to get 3 on the rack, fortunately I had cut one of them in half to cook so I was able to just barely get them on.

[Kevin Dinstell]

They aren't as moist as when I wrap but to be honest I have to remove a bit of juice when I wrap, it's just too wet.

Yeah, I like to avoid that as well. As long as I'm not in the "dry zone," I prefer not to braise. Just curious about the PBC specifically, since it cooks faster and at a higher temp than I'm used to for pork butts (225-250). I went on the grate, fat cap down, 3 oz. hickory chunk for good measure. Fresh bottle of "Kentucky Gold" coming together in the fridge and nothing to do but wait...

[David Parrish]

Yeah, I like to avoid that as well. As long as I'm not in the "dry zone," I prefer not to braise. Just curious about the PBC specifically, since it cooks faster and at a higher temp than I'm used to for pork butts (225-250). I went on the grate, fat cap down, 3 oz. hickory chunk for good measure. Fresh bottle of "Kentucky Gold" coming together in the fridge and nothing to do but wait...

I've noticed the unwrapped butts don't have as much water moisture in them, but they have more moisture from rendered fat, so it's a good trade-off. I used to be a huge fan of wrapping them, but now I prefer letting them go all the way to done completely nekkid.

[Kevin Dinstell]

I've noticed the unwrapped butts don't have as much water moisture in them, but they have more moisture from rendered fat, so it's a good trade-off.

Yeah, that's a trade I can live with any day.

[Marauderer]

I have never used the crutch and have learned to factor in the extra time for the stall. Like anything that is really good you have to have patience.

[_John_]

Finished my 3 and pulled them last night. The bark was a bit thicker and very crunchy, but also quite dry in places. Cooking was very uneven once the meat hit the grates, one in particular was 200 near the bottom, 195 on the right and 193 on the left.
I think its a toss up really, thick crusty bark in exchange for internal dryness in a few areas. I dry brined but that's it, injecting might fix the dryness problem.
In the end I really don't have a preference, if I want to get up 4+ hours early or let it run overnight I won't wrap.

[bep35]

I recently did two butts. One I wrapped and the other stayed on hangers in the PBC. The hung butt did not fall off. In the end the wrapped butt had more moisture. The hung butt had better bark and in my opinion better flavor. I mix in bbq sauce with the pulled pork so if it is drier we don't notice the difference by the time it makes it to a sandwich. Throw some slaw on top and no one will care!