A while ago I created a post called "Marathon Butt," where I described my first attempt at a pork butt. I got a lot of good feedback, and here is my 2nd attempt. This was a 7 pound pork butt. I had a much better result thanks to all of you! I loaded my medium Big Green Egg as described in the suggestions, and I had no problems with needing to reload. I didn't use a water pan, and I powered through the stall with foil and 3 oz of apple juice. After wrapping, I cranked up the pit temperature from 225F to 275F and let the butt go up to 203F (see attached data picture). It was very juicy! Final weight was 4 lbs 10 oz. As expected, the bark was much softer with the foil wrap, but tasty nevertheless. Lastly, I substantially cut down my total cooking time, keeping it around 7 hours. Despite only placing 3 oz of apple juice in the foil, it contained 12 oz of liquid when the cook finished. How do you folks incorporate this liquid back into the meal? Do some simply pour it over the pulled pork? Thank you, amazingribs.com, and thanks to all who gave me advice the last time!
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Since you asked, here's what I do. I never add any liquid, whether water, beer or juice, to my foil when wrapping. The reason is as you've found out it doesn't go into the meat, in fact more moisture comes out of the meat. So, any braising that may happen happens from the meat's own juices. And yes, when I pull the meat, I drizzle that liquid (meat juice, seasoning & fat only, since nothing extra was added) back into the finished product. Next time, try going through the stall before wrapping, and wrap at ~180 or so. The bark will be thicker & better by then, and the wrap will still allow you to retain some of those juices to add back in, and it'll still save some time. -
Looks great! Aren't Boston Butts wonderful? Seven hours is a good cook time if you want to serve for supper. I usually let mine go all night and put them in a faux camb to serve for noon. Wrapping for the cambro softens the bark a little, but not as much as wrapping during the cook. When I do wrap because of time constraints I usually mix the liquid with the pulled pork.Comment
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Congratulations on your improved technique. Practice really improves the results. Your pork butt fantastic! Huskee always has good pointers.Comment
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I take the juice and use it for my sauce. Typically I start with equal parts juice and apple cider vinegar then add dry ingredients such as brown sugar, rub, chili powder, garlic powder, sage, cayenne, etc to taste, along with a bit of molasses for texture. (If you're brave add *just* a touch of maple syrup.) I do this over a low flame and let it reduce to get to the desired consistency. I usually wind up with a slightly thicker Carolina style. (And no, it is never the same two times in a row other than being damn good.)
I have never found a need to just automatically add it back in since the meat is always tender and moist using a wrap. The sauce is a bonus that people can add or not as they like.
Be warned that the sauce won't keep without taking special precautions, and you will usually have far more juice than you need so don't make a big batch.Comment
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Looks awesome and great lighting in the pictures!Comment
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Looks great!Comment
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