Second PBC cook - Pork butt

[cornbiscuits]

Looks great!

[fzxdoc]

The nice thing about hanging the pork butt is that there is less cleanup required. I like hanging meats because I think they self-baste better. Unless I tie a pork butt for added security, I move it to the grate after it reaches 160 or so before it really starts to soften up. I never wrap a PB. The family likes that tasty bark too much for me to risk compromising it with wrapping.

Kathryn

[abandonedbrain]

Sorry if this was discussed elsewhere (so many threads/messages, so little time!)... I've got a couple of 6.5lb bone-in butts I picked up today to do in a week or two. I'm going to dry-brine them first (they're just cryovac'ed, not frozen yet), then re-vac them and freeze them without letting them sit out. Once I take them out of deep freeze to thaw, that salt should reactivate prior to cooking. Memphis dust rub before they hit the heat, of course.

A couple of questions:
1) If I leave the bones in, should I still hang them at first? Seems like that blade might get in the way of a good "grab" with the hooks.
2) The "wrap vs. don't wrap" debate seems different when throwing the PBC into the mix. Seems like the coals would burn out before the bark had a chance to set up. I did a 9lb butt split in half on my Weber, and the cook time was about 15 hours (at 225 for 75-80% of the time), with a really nice bark setting up when the butts finished at 203F. If you don't wrap, which is my normal preference when cooking butts on my Weber kettle, what are we looking at for required time (approx.)?

I suppose if the coals do burn out before the butts are probe-tender (198 to 203-ish), I could always pull them off and wrap them, finish in the stove. Hate to soften that up, though.

[Gator Lau]

Lots of different ideas abound here, but if you do all that fzcdoc says you won't go wrong. She sums up all I know then doubles that info!

[lschweig]

abandonedbrain I hang the butts until at least 160 and more if I tie them. If you decide to wrap then make sure your bark gets set before doing so (around 180 or so).

The PBC cooks higher than 225 so your cook time will be shorter.

If you are running low on fuel it is OK to throw a few handfuls of coal on the burning coals or even start a chimney and add them.

When finished with the cook it helps to wrap the butt and let it rest in a faux cambro for at least an hour and 2 hours is better.

[abandonedbrain]

If you are running low on fuel it is OK to throw a few handfuls of coal on the burning coals or even start a chimney and add them.

This. I haven't seen anyone mention adding more coals yet, so thank you! I'd imagine you'd want to take the meat out of the cooker in case ash went flying. OK, that fills in a missing bit of info. I feel better.

[fuzzydaddy]

On my last butt cook on my PBC I had to add coals so I took a piece of foil and quickly wrapped the hanging butt to protect it from any ash flying then when I was done just pulled off the foil. It was quick and easy.