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What temp for crutch?

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    What temp for crutch?

    Hi Guys,

    I've got a butt on the smoker that's been there since 7:30 this morning. 3:00 now, west coast time. I'm in the stall, with the meat reading about a 152' internal. My plan had been to power through the stall but I'm starting to worry about timing for dinner, with friends coming over in a couple of hours. I'm thinking about using the crutch but can't seem to find the right oven temp for doing it. Once I wrap the butt tightly in heavy foil, with a couple of ounces of apple juice, what oven temp do I need and how long should I expect it to take to get me up to 203'? I'd also like to dry and firm up the bark after it comes out of the oven, so I'm planning to keep the coals going so I can quickly get the meat back on the grill. Does that mean I should take the butt out of the oven at something slightly below 203' to allow for it to continue cooking while I firm the bark?

    #2
    Butts are very forgiving, so temp is not critical. When you crutch you can go as high as 300*, but if you feel better at a lower temp, try 275*. 203* is not the magic number - you want the butt to be probe tender. The probe should slide in with no resistance. I don't crutch, so someone else can give you better info than I.

    Comment


      #3
      Wrap it now! If you're going to the oven, I would use temp in the 300-325 ballpark. Personally, for pulled pork, I would rather spend any extra time in the faux cambro than worrying about firming bark. You've been cooking for close to 8 hours. Bark should be pretty decent by now. Feed your friends with tender pork, not your ego with firm bark...

      Comment


      • HouseHomey
        HouseHomey commented
        Editing a comment
        Yup

      #4
      Thanks, Ron. 275 feels right. I've never crutched before. Still not sure I'll do it this time but its getting to be time to at least know what I'm looking at.

      Comment


        #5
        Originally posted by HorseDoctor View Post
        Feed your friends with tender pork, not your ego with firm bark...
        Not really sure where that came from. I'm looking to serve good food. Nothing more.

        Comment


        • HorseDoctor
          HorseDoctor commented
          Editing a comment
          Sorry, no offense intended. In my experience, cooks tend to fret over great bark more than eaters! Eaters want tender, flavorful food and hate to wait very long for it. Your getting short on time so I would worry more about tender rather than firming up bark. Good luck!

        #6
        Turn the heat up to 300. Dinner is in a couple of hours. Too late to be fussing with it. Crank it up and act like nothing went wrong. I assure you and average guest will never know unless you tell them.

        Probe tender is the key. Even if you miss that mark a little it will still be good.

        Comment


          #7
          No worries, Horse Doc. My guests will love the food. I tend to look at each individual cook as a learning experience so as good as each is, the next will be better.

          Comment


            #8
            Thanks, HouseHomey. You're right. Time to crank it.

            Comment


              #9
              Solid advice from Horse Doctor and House Homey. In the future cut your butts in half I'm guessing you had an 8 to 10#er and start earlier if you want go nekkid the whole way. Faux Cambro or a 170 oven or both will be easier to deal with than stressing about getting it done. There is nothing like properly rested BBQ.

              Comment


              • Bathgate
                Bathgate commented
                Editing a comment
                I really thought I'd given myself plenty of time today. Only a 5# butt and left myself 10-11 hours. Like I said, a learning experience. While managing my cooker today, I probably erred to the side of lower heat, mainly in the 205-225' range. Dipped below that once or twice and only ran above that range once, briefly up to 240'. Will transfer to a faux cambro in another hour or so.

              #10
              Wanted to circle back and let you all know how this turned out. In a word . . . awesome! I finally foiled it after about 4 hours of stall as time was starting to become an issue. Added an ounce or two of apple juice. Put it in the kitchen oven at 300' and took it up to around 190' internal. Then I took it out of the foil and threw it back in the smoker for about 20 minutes. Took it off, pulled it and we all made our own sandwiches with slaw, pickles, both sliced and chopped onion and a red sauce. Awesome.

              Comment


              • OSB
                OSB commented
                Editing a comment
                Glad to hear it all worked out bro. Next cook plan for a couple of hours of rest in faux cambro before devouring. Its worth it.

              #11
              Sounds like it all worked out. I usually power through on my cooks. However, I’ve now crutched a couple of times. I wrap when the bark gets the mahogany color for which I’m looking.

              Comment


                #12
                Remember that unless you are talking perfect spheres, mass doesn’t scale with the time it takes for heat to penetrate and collagen to break down.


                You can easily cambro just about anything for 3-5 hours, so use that to your advantage to allow that extra time if you don’t need it, cambro it, if you do, no problem.

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