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

[DWCowles]

Beautiful!

[lschweig]

Good post. Isn't always good when things work out on your side?

[jgg85234]

I learned a few things.

Breadhead is right. From now on, if I'm cooking a big piece of meat, it starts 24 hours before it's needed.

Anyone wondering about the little ceramic feet under a Kamado, just get them if your Kamado is in a table. With nothing more than air insulation, the bottom of the cooker was warm, but you could put your hand on it indefinitely. The wood underneath was the same temperature as wood that wasn't underneath the cooker.

Meathead's Memphis Dust formula is terrific on a big piece of pork.

While it didn't really need it, the Flame Boss let me get a whole night's sleep without incident.

Jim

[jgg85234]

Found out why the Flame Boss web site didn't work correctly. I guess they have 2.

When I first got the unit, I used http://my.flameboss.com

Ever since, I've been using http://www.myflameboss.com

So, the second one still shows the cook when you enter device 1205 (my Flame Boss 200)

Over 11,000 data points in the graph. Not something I would choose to do by hand

Best regards,
Jim

[TheCountofQ]

How 'bout a screenshot, for those of us who had problems with the site?

[jgg85234]

See post #23 in this thread

Jim

[Mr. Bones]

jgg85234 , Beautiful lookin', very successful cook!!! Thanks for documenting so closely, it will be of inestimable value to many who wander this forum lookin' to learn 'how to cook a pork butt.'
I'd love to see an example of th' data yer setup collects, if ya have the time sometime.

[Breadhead]

I learned a few things.

Breadhead is right. From now on, if I'm cooking a big piece of meat, it starts 24 hours before it's needed.

Anyone wondering about the little ceramic feet under a Kamado, just get them if your Kamado is in a table. With nothing more than air insulation, the bottom of the cooker was warm, but you could put your hand on it indefinitely. The wood underneath was the same temperature as wood that wasn't underneath the cooker.

Meathead's Memphis Dust formula is terrific on a big piece of pork.

While it didn't really need it, the Flame Boss let me get a whole night's sleep without incident.

Jim

Jim... for Briskets and Pork Butts I dry brine them a day before I'm going to put them in the cooker. I take them out of the fridge and apply my rub and put them on my cooker immediately, I want them refrigerator cold when they go in the cooker.

I cook at 225° the whole time.
I don't wrap during the cook.
I do not worry about a stall or a double stall... I just wait it out. I plan for either so there's no pressure.

Most of my big clods of meat take between 14 and 16 hours to get to a buttah soft probe check... 195° to 210°.

I determine exactly what time I want to serve the meat and put my meat on the grate exactly 18 hours before that time.

If the meat cooks quick... 14 hours, it gets 4 hours of Cambro time. If it cooks normal 15/16 hours it gets 2 or 3 hours of Cambro time. I've never had a pork butt or a brisket take more than 16 hours when cooking at 225° the entire cook.

It's elementary Watson... I know my cooker. By always smoking meat at the same temperature, 225°, I'm not guessing what's going to happen at various temps. By not wrapping ever I know how long a piece of meat is going to take, within a 2 hour window. By relying on my cambro I always serve my food exactly when I said I would. The one advantage I MIGHT have is Kamado's are famous for retaining the moisture in your meat... no water pan required. That's probably why I don't feel the need to wrap my meat during a cook.

If for some reason I got the meat on late, it never happens, then I would consider wrapping it and turning up the heat. However I would consider that a screw up on my part. Failing to plan, is planning to fail.😡

[jgg85234]

That was the first time I cooked a large piece of pork on the Kamado Joe. The ones I've done before were 5 lbs or less and I thought I had a good estimate at 1.5 hours per pound. Stated at 5:00 PM expecting about an 8:00 AM finish. This particular piece was just over 10lbs trimmed and would have taken about 20 hours remaining at 225. My goal is to record a perfect cook on the Flame Boss website. No jumps from opening the cooker. Just smooth lines start to finish. Then, repeat.

Mr. Bones - raw data is at the myflameboss web site. Just click the link that says "raw data".

BTW, I used pecan and cherry wood chunks. Could have used more wood, but the taste was great

Thanks for the help everyone.

Best regards,
Jim

[Breadhead]

Next time when you buy a 10lb pork butt... you might want to cut in half and smoke 2-5 pounders. Keep them at least 2" apart and your cook will take less time at 225°. Plus you will get more surface area for more bark. More Bark, more flavor.👍

[jgg85234]

But then I wouldn't be able to do an overnight cook

Jim

[Breadhead]

I once did a 16 hour no peek pork butt cook. Once I put the meat on and closed the dome on my large BGE I didn't ever open the dome to check on my meat... until my DigiQ Dx2 told me my meat was at 203°. All came out perfectly. I only did it to see if I could refrain from peeking.🙈

[jgg85234]

Paint image of the Flame Boss graph
Blue is the pit temperature setting, red is the pit temperature, yellow is the meat temperature, green is the fan speed percentage

[jgg85234]

Huskee
How about putting this one in Pork, and change the title to "How to cook a pork butt"

Thanks,
Jim

[Huskee]

Moved, but I've tried renaming it and looks like there's a little delay (or bug?) with that.