How to cook a pork butt (on the Kamado Joe)

[jgg85234]

One of my clients is having a pot luck lunch tomorrow, and I agreed to provide some pulled pork as a contribution to the lunch. This is the client where I was last summer when my leg had the aneurysm.

Lunch is at noon on Tuesday. Got a 10.8 lb picnic roast from Smart and Final to cook. Dry brined it early this morning, and started the Kamado Joe at 4:00 PM. Dusted the clod with MMD, and put it on at 5:00. Temperature (for those of you in freezing temps) was 72 degrees when I started the cook.

I'll embed some pictures as it cooks.

The most unique part of what I'm doing is that I'm monitoring/managing this overnight cook with a Flame Boss 200. It has probes for meat temp and pit temp, and a fan to help adjust the temperature when necessary. Everything shows up on the Internet, and my login lets me monitor and control the cook. If the pit gets out of range, it texts my phone with a warning. I've set a finish temperature of 195, and told it to drop the fire to 170 after it hits that point.

What's interesting is that anyone can monitor the cook.

Web page is http://www.myflameboss.com Put in Device 1205 and you can see the cook.

Best regards,
Jim

[jgg85234]

The hardware

[jgg85234]

The meat and starting off the cook

[DWCowles]

Where do I get one of those stainless steel vents jgg85234 ? I like it.

[jgg85234]

The vent, the bands, the hinge and the handle are all stainless steel. That's the standalone version designed to be put in a table. I'm sure any KJ dealer can order one for you or you can call KJ directly. The standalones are not at the KJ/Costco roadshows.

Jim

[jgg85234]

There are standalone versions of the Classic and the Big Joe but not the Jr

jim

[DWCowles]

Thanks! I have the Big Joe

[fuzzydaddy]

I never get tired of pulled pork. Looking forward to your pics later today!

[jgg85234]

It's a little past 6:30 AM. Outside temperature is 48 degrees. Meat is in the stall at 162 degrees.

Looks like the Flame Boss web site is only showing others the first cook I ever did back in June. Isn't showing the right one on my computer either, but the phone has the current cook. It's been around 160 for 5 hours. Must be in the stall.

I'll have to call Flame Boss and ask what the problem is with the web site.

[LA Pork Butt]

Good job documenting.

[jgg85234]

I think I need to break it out of the stall. Which way is best?

1. Increase the pit temperature
2. Pull the meat and wrap it

Jim

[Nate]

I think I need to break it out of the stall. Which way is best?

1. Increase the pit temperature
2. Pull the meat and wrap it

Jim

You can easily do a combination of the two... I've been known to wrap and crank the heat...

I prefer not to wrap pre or during the stall just for the sake of bark formation but it isn't a deal breaker for me.

Save that juice if you wrap it... then strain it and you can pour it back over the meat once you have pulled it... adds a little something extra to it... I do that and sprinkle just a little bit of rub back over the pulled pork as well then mix it all up.

[lschweig]

If you are happy with the bark it is OK to wrap it and that will speed things along. The stall can take a long time to get through and then all of a sudden it takes off.

[David Parrish]

I'd crank up the temp and leave unwrapped. You'll have better bark.

Once you crank up the heat don't let it drop back down with unwrapped meat. You risk a 2nd stall.

Now, if you crank up the heat, get the bark like you want it, and then wrap it's OK to let the temp drift down. Wrapped meat doesn't encounter a second stall.

[jgg85234]

I've reset the Flame Boss for 250 degrees. But, first I just had to check on the charcoal. I lit the fire at 4:10 PM yesterday. This is at 8:30 this morning (16.5 hours)

[Nate]

Nice... if you do end up wrapping it and if you need to you can always put that thing in the oven... I also hold my in the oven around 160 or so (in lieu of a faux cambro) for as long as I can after getting it to my desired temp.

[jgg85234]

Even with the higher temperatures, I still was running out of time. So, since bark was formed, I wrapped it, and set the Flame Boss to 350 to finish it. It had to be done at 11:00 AM, so I could drive over to their office in time to serve it. At 11:00 it was at 194 degrees. I figured that it would cook a little more wrapped and in the faux cambro, so I pulled it and started driving.

At about 11:40, I opened the foil. The bone fell out of it's own accord. I knew it was going to be good. We didn't start pulling it until right at 12:00. It was definitely the hit of the luncheon. Owner of the business had a sample, pronounced it "pretty good", and went to talk with one of his customers. When he came back, everything I had pulled was gone. But, I had left a little with the bones. So, I pulled until there was nothing left but a few pieces of fat, some skin, and the bones. Customers kept arriving and everyone went right for the pulled pork sandwiches. Owner still didn't get any. But, his wife had 2 stuffed sandwiches. So, my penalty has been declared. I have to do another one. Soon.

I gave them 3 choices for sauce.
1. Sweet Baby Rays
2. Russells BBQ Sauce (my favorite from growing up in Chicagoland.
3. A Carolina mustard sauce.

People liked all 3, and many had the pork without sauce.

Zero leftovers. Not a morsel.

[Lowjiber]

Awesome cook and obviously great results.

The wife's Christmas party last Friday was gonna feature "Hamburgers & Hot Dogs". She asked me to smoke/pull a couple of butts to take... big hit over Burgers/Dogs.