Butting in before the snow

[DeusDingo]

i had to get one more smoke in this year and we are expecting ~8 inches tonight into tomorrow. 2 pork butts > 5lbs each. dry brined on thursday, MMHD on friday, woke up at 6am today to start them with hickory


dark and snowy



stacked in the snow & waiting to go



currently at 181 with a smoker ~260. interesting thing i tried with my thermometers (now that i have 2) this time was to take the grate temp at both levels and the top grate was 20 degree's warmer than the one below it.

so this smoke is a little experiment for me. one of the butts i am going to do like normal and after shredding i am going to sprinkle in some additional MMHD to boost up the flavor. the OTHER butt i cut 2 big gashes in and put a bunch of MMHD and tied it back up. i want to see which way i like better.

either way i'm sure it will be good!

[Huskee]

Nice! Those will be tasty with all the time & TLC you've put into them. I like adding more rub to the pulled pork too, the interior meat rarely gets much flavor besides cooked pork, even on small butts. I did a 12lb (three 4lbers) butt cook couple days ago to last through the weekend and to have some to vacuum pack & freeze, was on sale $1.29/lb.

[DWCowles]

with cheap beer too 😂

[Huskee]

DWCowles I have discerning tastes

[DeusDingo]

a few glasses of whiskey were consumed to please the BBQ gods

[DeusDingo]

at 196 & 198....those last 7-5 degree's sure do take along time!

[AZRedneck]

Sounds like I'd proudly eat either chunk of meat. I'm curious if the slashes you cut and put dust in turn out mushy and gooey in that area after being tied up. Let us know!

[DeusDingo]

they might turn gooshy but i didn't load it up like a crazy person.

so the first one is done, the one without slashes. i added some MMHD to it and it really does kick the flavor up a bit. i am looking forward to having it tomorrow after the rub has a chance to soak into the meat more. either way, had a sammich. when the next one is done another sammich shall be eat'd


my beautiful meteorite


the bone came right out


pulled like a dream

[Black99vette]

That's some nice looking bark. Dang I'm hungry now.

[DWCowles]

Beautiful

[Mr. Bones]

Great lookin' PB cook, cain't wait t' learn more about th' second one!!!

[fuzzydaddy]

Gorgeous!

[PaulstheRibList]

Super fun!

[DeusDingo]

so second one came out.

here is what i learned and i'm sure most of it will be obvious:
1) the "post sprinkle" or the first one had a more consistent "extra" flavor. this shouldn't be a surprise. it also has the advantage of being seasoned to taste right there since you can add in more if you feel it needs it. the downside to me was that the extra flavor, right away, tastes like raw MMHD which is fine if you want that but i didn't quite prefer it all the time. my wife preferred it and it certainly was less work in the long run. the REAL test will be tomorrow after everything has settled and the rub has a chance to dissolve a little and blend in with the meat better.

2) the "slasher" one was more work and you had to pull the strings out when pulling it. the spots in between the cuts didn't caramelize (and i didn't think it would) BUT the flavors were fantastic. the rub did get a little slushy in there but as you pull the shoulder it gets mixed in and you don't notice it. as opposed to the first one not every bite had the "extra flavor" but it was frequent enough that it made itself known. my slashes were about 2 inches apart and i might do it again with them closer next time. i actually preferred the flavor of this one quite a bit since the rub had all day to melt and cook and influence the adjacent meat. the flavors were more mature and to me it had more of the "come back for more" flavor i strive for.

3) they both cooked the same and pulled to the same consistency. the second one took longer just because it was on my top rack and that rack always takes longer on my "baby's first smoker" by mattel...er....masterbuilt

so TOMORROW i will be testing out flavors. tonight is bad for the cook to test it since i have been smelling it and getting immune to a certain extent. if they come out being about the same i will certainly be doing the post-sprinkle one from now on since it is less work. if i still prefer the second one that may be my new go to thing and i might experiment with slash separation. heck, i might just have to experiment with that just as an excuse.

so pictures... my wife started pulling it (haw haw) before i got my meteorite shot since she was hungry and i cut her off from the first one (otherwise we wouldn't be hungry enough to compare)


had to stop her for this one. you can see how the in-between rub is more of a brown-red on the left hand side


clean bone on this one as well


i love these experiments! both turned out great and i would definitely make either one again

[DeusDingo]

i also forgot: they took 13 and 14 hours at 260-ish

[Huskee]

Looks great! I hack & slash mine pretty good too, I trim fat from them quite aggressively so they get slashes & gouges from that. I too add rub in all the crevices. I also hear you on the "smelling it and getting immune". I call that BSO, barbecue sensory overload. It will taste better tomorrow, I promise!

[Thunder77]

What is MMHD?

[lschweig]

Meathead's Memphis Dust

[Thunder77]

That's what I thought, but I never had seen that abbreviation before. Just MMD

[DeusDingo]

yeah maybe i am throwing an extra H in there with the MMD or something.

So having tried it i still like the slasher one. the post-sprinkle still tastes a bit like raw MMD. maybe when re-heated it will be better but at this point i am doubting it. it's still quite good but i prefer it the other way.