Doing first pork butt smoke on my weber 22" this Saturday

[jasonwilliams14]

As the topic states, I bought a pork butt at costco yesterday and family wants pulled pork.
Think I am good to go. Have done a lot of reading for preparing for the smoke. I think the biggest unknown (or one of them) is how long it will take. I am thinking of starting the smoke at 7am, just in case it takes longer than expected.

My plan:
Pork butt is about 8 pounds.
Weber kettle with slow n sear.
Setup the SNS per the website with some jealous devil briquettes or B&B
Setup my thermoworks Smoke for ambient and internal temp.

Crack a beer and relax.

DId I miss anythinng?

Also, any recommendations on preparing the shoulder? I saw one reading where they said to salt and let it sit in the fridge for one or two days.
Should I use a binder like mustard?
I'll come up with a rub today or tomorrow.

I appreciate the feedback! Will definitely post pics!
CHeers

Jason

[Huskee]

Congrats on your first pork butt smoke! Here's my advice:

~Trim as much exterior fat cap as you realistically can- it's not needed with a pork butt, they're fatty enough. Less fat cap = more bark.
~Cut your butt in half. A couple ~4lbers will give you more surface area for rub, salt, smoke and bark than one 8 or 9lber will.
~Yes, salt ahead of time. We call this a "dry brine". Try to do it the night before at least, or 1-2 days before, on thicker cuts like butts. Read up on it here: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...g/dry-brining/
~Binders aren't needed, many of us have tried it and some still do it while some have skipped it. I don't anymore. Wet the meat a little, that's all it needs.

~My personal timing is about ~12 hrs, because I wrap mine, and this includes 1-2 hours of the "faux cambro" hold time to help it soften after it reaches your target temp.
~I wrap mine in foil after the stall, when the meat's IT is about 180 or so. That's usually 7-8 hrs in at your standard 225-250 cook temp, then maybe 2 hrs to 200ish after wrapping (doesn't have to be 203, anywhere north of 200 is fine, up to 210), then 1-2 hrs hold time.
~On the kettle with a SnS I like to flip mine over after maybe 4 hrs, about the time you stir the coals to drop the ash and sweep it. I do this because temps in a kettle w/ SnS are considerably hotter the higher you go from the grate, so I like to flip taller meats to even things out and bark it up uniformly.

Beer, most definitely YES!

[Spinaker]

It sounds like you have it down pretty well.

I would like to add that you should salt or apply your rub a day (or two) before the cook. Place the meat on a wire rack in the fridge. (Place a cooking sheet under it to catch the drippins') I leave mine uncovered and then I will spritz the meat right before it goes on the smoker.

Personally, I like to leave the fat cap on the meat. I just make sure to shred that baby up really well before serving.

12 hours is a good time line but if you are running short on time, do not be afraid to kick that temp up. Pork shoulders have a ton of fat and they can take the heat.

I would make sure to set up your grill and fuel the night before the cook. Then all you have to do if light that SOB in the morning. Then if there is a hiccup, you have time to run errands or remedy the situation if there is an issue.

Finally, I would wrap when you have the color you like on the surface of the meat. I do not wrap until I have some nice golden brown bark built up on the surface of the meat. I do not wrap by temp, instead, I wrap by color. Once the cook is finished and you have held the meat in the Faux Cambro and you go to pull the meat, save the drippins' from the foil wrap......add that juice back into the pulled meat. This will add moisture and concentrated flavors back into the pulled meat. I NEVER miss this step.

Best of luck to you, let us know how it goes.

[Waster]

Good luck jasonwilliams14 and remember to SUWYC.

[Sid P]

Your plan sounds fine, and the esteemed gentlemen above have provided excellent advice, but you didn’t mention at what temp you plan to cook, and what time you’d like to eat. Also, is this your first time using the SNS?

Assuming you’re eating at 5:00 or 6:00, I’d get your fire going earlier, or cook up near 275°. You can always rest the butts for a few hours…

These vent settings for my SNS usually level out the temp at 235-240°, and tend to inch up after a few hours. The SNS works great, but it’s not like the burner on a stove in that you can’t open the vents wide, take it up to your desired temp, and assume it will level off where you want it.

BTW, the rub question is easy - Meathead’s Memphis Dust!

[J-Melt]

I second your Memphis Dust recommendation. I use it exclusively for pork! I’ve even used it on spatchcocked chicken and it was great.

[Murdy]

I use MMD on all of my low-and-slow pork too.

[Santamarina]

+1 for Meatheads Memphis Dust. It rules pork!

[Starsky]

Sounds like you have a good plan. The meat will stop taking on smoke around 165 degrees so don't overdo it. I usually wrap mine at around 170 - 175 degrees and finish in the oven. For easy pulling, I take it to 198 - 200 degrees. As stated previously save the juice and I leave the fat on mine to mix into the meat while pulling it. Good luck!

[J-Melt]

My only thing to add is that I would start a little earlier for your first butt than 7am. My weber with SNS is notorious for taking way longer than I expected. One major question is what temp are you planning on cooking at?

[Finster]

Everything that Huskee said, plus don't be afraid to bump your temps up to 275 - 300 for the length of the cook.
Pork butts (most meats actually) can take it. It will cut your cook time considerably. 2 hour rest is a must..imo.
Congrats on breaking your cherry!
Enjoying a fine meal with family = priceless!!

After this cook, I'm looking forward to seeing you on here next week with questions and/or suggestions about what you want to cook next weekend 😂

[RonB]

One thing that has not been mentioned is that the Costco boneless butts are normally 2 to a pack. So if you have boneless, it's probably 2 pieces. And they can be less than ideally shaped, so you might have to tie them to prevent any small or thin parts from being over cooked.

And with a 7AM start time, I'd start the cook at 275°. A hold of 5 or 6 hours won't hurt a bit, and a shorter hold won't even be noticeable - except in a good way.

[Steve R.]

As others have mentioned, once the bark is formed and the meat is still just sitting there stalling, patience is no longer a virtue. Wrap in foil and bump the temperature up (300° or so won't hurt anything) as needed to git 'r done.

I'd also go ahead and start it late the night before you want to eat it for dinner. Even less stress that way, and holding it (intact) in a warm oven or in a cooler will actually do it some good.

[Finster]

Hey, forgot to mention also,
Start breaking in the wife now to how important it is that you be around to mind the cook (all while enjoying a beverage or 2 or more), so when you have a few cooks under your belt, and realize constant minding isn't really necessary, she won't really need to know any different 😁

Also, if you do run into any issues, you can send up a distress flag here in the pit, and as you probably already know, there almost certainly will be someone here that came help within a moment's notice. The beauty of having so many members.

[jasonwilliams14]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Very helpful.
I did leave out some important bits of information.

What cook temp: thinking 225-250, then move up to 275 (after how many hours should I do that?)
This is my first cook using the SNS insert for my weber kettle.
I think i will do as recommended. Prep the kettle the night before, and get it fired up around 6am, hopefully going at 630am. Adding extra time just in case.

Memphis dust it is. I have used that on some ribs that is really good!.

If I do wrap the butt in the foil boat based on temp/color, (say i wrap at 175 degrees), do i fully wrap it up, or just the boat? and then it goes back on the kettle til it hits 200 degrees (or I could put in the oven?)

SO many questions, but so much excitement!
Thank you again!

Jason

[Spinaker]

See below.

[Huskee]

Double layer, full wrap, tightly.

[bmillin]

Don't forget the salt.

[Mosca]

Pork butts are incredibly forgiving. If it’s cooking too fast, you can drop the temp to 200° and it will be fine. If it’s cooking too slow, you can bump it up to 300° or even 325° and it will be fine. Enjoy!

[Spinaker]

Jsut rip it at 275 the whole time, and hotter if you feel the need. There is zero reason to cook lower than that for butts on a Kettle. If it is done early, you have the Cambro to hold it. Butts can take the heat. I never cook below 275. (Okay maybe sometimes on accident, but my goal is always at least 275 F)

I do not do the foil boat thingy. Just wrap the butt, tightly in two layers of HD foil and throw it back on the kettle until it hits about 200-203. (You could easily jsut put it in the oven at this point, since all of your smoke is on the meat already. The foil stops any more smoke from hitting the meat)

And do not discard them drippin's. Add that back to the pulled/shredded pork. Your guests/family members will thank you and you can thank me later.

Good luck brother! You got this!

[J-Melt]

I second these recommendations. 275 sounds like a great temp. I wouldn't go higher than this until late in the cook as you sacrifice bark for speed at higher temps. I do the same with my dripping, dump them right in for moist pulled pork!

[Whiskeyman53]

Taking into consideration that it's your first go at it, document the cook, time, temp, wood, fuel, wrap, rub, ect.


amazingribs.com › uploads › 2021/02 › meatheads-cooking-log

[Sid P]

Great advice. I wish I’d started doing it about oh, 5 years ago.