Pork Butt: Super Hot Super Fast, by Accident

[JeffJ]

I smoked a pork butt in the PBC last night. It was a 10 pound bone-in butt. It was probably 9 pounds after I removed the fat cap. I cut it in half and because of the bone I ended up with a 4 pound and a 5 pound butt. I have 4 PBC skewers and they look like the letter "T" upside down, so the meat sits on the flat part of the skewer. I pushed 2 skewers through each butt with the bottoms perpendicular to each other. With that much support underneath I theorized the butts couldn't fall into the fire - my theory proved correct. So, I loaded the charcoal basket with Weber briquettes and lit 40 KBB briquettes. Following Kathryn's lighting technique I added 3 golf ball sized pieces of pecan wood and hung the meat. At the 3 hour mark the smaller butt was at 199 internal. I was floored. Because the PBC runs pretty consistently I wasn't measuring cooking temps, just internal temps for both butts. Both rebars were in and the lid was tight. When I pulled the first butt I left the probe in the PBC. Well, it was reading 470. Holy hell! 470??? I had the lid open a couple of extra times earlier in the cook because I was also roasting garlic (pics to follow) but other than that it was a standard PBC cook. The larger butt finished at the 4 hour mark. The bark looked good and I decided to cambro overnight. Well, I just finished pulling the pork and it came out just like any other butt I've ever smoked. The bark was good, the meat was tender and moist and most of the fat had rendered.

I don't know what else to say....here are the pics:

[RobertC]

Do you mean the probe read 470 during the hour that the 2nd butt was in there alone? When you pulled the first 4 lb butt at 199, what was the temp of the 2nd, 5 lb, butt?

[JeffJ]

The second butt was sitting at 180 when I pulled the first butt. It took an hour for it to reach 199, which is when I decided to pull it out.

[RobertC]

JeffJ It went from ~40 to 180 in 3 hours and then in the following hour from 180 to 199 at a pit temp of 470? Yeah, that's a puzzle.

[JeffJ]

RobertC part of that temp was due to having just had the lid off. Once I put the lid back on the temp dropped pretty quickly from 470 to 420. I probably should have included that detail in my write-up.

[Oak Smoke]

Great cook! That's taking hot and fast to a new level. I think you set your self up to succeed when you cut the butt in half. Had it been whole I'm not sure you would have gotten the IT you wanted before the exterior burned. On days when something goes that right for me I go buy a lottery ticket. It has never worked, but maybe someday!

[JeffJ]

I always cut larger butts down to the 2.5-5 pound range. I do this primarily for more bark, but it shortens the stall a bit as well. In this case it had the unintended bonus of bringing the IT up to temp before the exterior burned. The bark was quite good.

[Jared49]

Well, sure looks good to me. I would say "you done well!!"

[Michael_in_TX]

That is something that has kept me from pulling the trigger on a PBC. If the temps run away on me, how do I get them back down? The intake at the bottom doesn't seem to lend itself to easy adjustment (as it isn't designed to), and with the rebar in, plugging the remaining holes doesn't seem like it would help much. (But then, I am beginning to learn that even small adjustments on my kettle can make a big difference.)

[JeffJ]

Yep, I do the exact same thing that FishTalesNC does - plug two rebar holes diagonally with foil. It works. My PBC tends to run hot and I'm sure it's because I like Weber for my unlit coals. It's designed to run on KBB. When I pulled the butts I still had a good fire going so I just threw random stuff in there. It was fun.

[TNPIGBBQ]

You can also get metal washers that fit around the rebar and that’ll block off the air as well.

[adamcoe]

Not trying to start this whole debate again, but just a tip if you're thinking about a barrel cooker: that (and a couple of other reasons) is why I went with a Barrelhouse rather than a PBC. Adjustable vent on the bottom makes temp control much easier. Again, if you have a PBC and love it, then awesome, not trying to stir up anything, just saying if you don't yet have a barrel cooker but are considering one, check out all the options.

[TNPIGBBQ]

I cringed when I read you followed Kathryn’s advice with Weber briquettes. Thought that things gonna be running 500 freakin degrees. I was off by just a touch.

I did the same thing with char logs once and it was 425 6 hours in with 2 rebar holes foiled. Thankfully it was just a test.

my advice is 15 - 25 MAX lit KBB briquettes and no more than 5 minutes with the lid off and rebar in. I’d definitely run a temp probe till it stabilized. Then let it do it’s thing.

[HouseHomey]

Im pretty sure that I have never cringed at anything Katheryn has ever said.

[TNPIGBBQ]

@HouseHomey

That wasn’t what I was saying, her program assumes (and says so explicitly) that you’re using Kingsford Blue Bag, which has a much different burn profile & energy potential than what he used.

There’s a big thread on it in the PBC forum, different fuels in the PBC.

[Ahumadora]

Wheres the problem??? Hot n fast... getter done!

[RonB]

Congrats on a successful cook. I wouldn't worry about the details as long as the meat was good.

[JGo37]

[Ahumadora]

JGo37. Haven't shaved in a while???

[JGo37]

Lmao, um, … cousin Ahumadora

[HouseHomey]

Hey, where did you get my Christmas card photo?

[JeffJ]

The weather for the tailgate was horrific. It was windy, cold and non-stop rain. Yet, it was one of the best tailgates we've ever hosted. In spite of the weather people showed up in droves. We did a great job setting up the canopies so we could try to stay dry (the game was so miserable my wife and I left at halftime). My brother stayed the entire game and this is how he summarized the interior of his car post-game: Crumbs, random spilled beverages, wine corks. The pulled pork sandwiches were a hit and pretty much all got eaten. Oh, and Michigan kicked the crap out of Notre Dame 45-14. Great day all around.

[Huskee]

I think I felt that same weather....

[steve_woolston]

My PBC has burned hotter than I'd like the past few times I used it. I forgot about the foil in the holes trick - will do that next time. I agree a full basket of KBB can burn too hot if the top is left off too long - I think I'll cut back on the number of coals I load in the basket. I usually make a spot in the coals to put a tin can of water to make some steam.

Fortunately, the last meat I was cooking a Boston butt I had cut in half as well. I like the extra bark and I assume it cooks faster that way. It's a pretty forgiving cut of meat, and it came out fine, as did yours. I wrap in foil just to be sure it's done on time.

[kill2grill]

Yeah...if you are cooking chicken run the full 40, otherwise 20 (half of the smaller Weber chimney) consistently nails a 330 start temp that drops to about 290-300 for hours.