3lbs Boston Butt -- Never done anything like this before; best course of action?

[Chasing_smoke]

At some point it will stop cooking and stay in a warming state. It may render some more fat but if it dips too low the temp won't be high enough to keep the cooking process going. I'm a fan of pulling it and covering with foil while it cools off the grill it really helps the juices stay in.


 "my kettle is more powerful it will do almost anything."

[Tim in PA]

This is a great thread for a newb like me, great information in here!

[chriscw81]

Please don't be afraid to crank the temp up.  I cook all my butts at 275-300 and I've never had a bad one.  The bark is great and I'm eating a 9 pound butt in under 7 hours......and that's with a long rest in a cooler.

Chris




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[1buckie]

Yeah, Chris is right about almost everything.........ramp the bugger up & power thru to the big finish.........

Only thing i don't get about what he said is this:
"I'm eating a 9 pound butt in under 7 hours......"

Only takes me 30~35 minutes to eat a 9#'er.....once it's finished, that's only about 4.5#


oH, AND ABOUT THIS:
"P.S. What'll happen if I cook too long, even at too low a temp?'

How I 1st did low & slow was putting something on, having too many beers (in the olden days, 23 years sober the day after the big convention) or being too tired & FALLING ASLEEP.....next morning or sometime in the middle of the night, wake up, rush out, still sputtering & completely rendered & tenderized.....I have a very good record of doing this & having it not go to completely dried out....maybe 6~8 times in say, 38 years......

[addicted-to-smoke]

I went back outside around 6:30 and the grill's so cold the thermometer's gone off scale, at 140. OK, not a huge surprise since I'd left it to die down. Meat seemed about the same and was telepathically letting me know it was done.

Honoring its wishes I removed it and wrapped in foil on a tray while the neighbor came over to chat. He starts telling me I've got "pot" growing on the side of my house and if I don't want the po-po seeing it I better yank it. Like an idiot I believe him and walk over to look. It's "pot" alright, a cooking pot the kids found in the creek behind the house and had been playing with outside to "cook" yard discoveries like rocks and branches.

Grate off, I'd tossed the corn on, next to the charcoal holder but nothing was much happening. I tossed 3 pieces of lump on but they never really caught. Whatever. I put the corn in the coals and it cooked. Remember this is corn still in the husk.

The meat had now been sitting about 20 minutes because my neighbor Likes To Talk. Inside, I first pulled out the bone because that's what the Internet says to do I'm smart like that. I won't claim it just slid right out but it wasn't a huge yank either. Some meat was attached. The fat on the bottom couldn't be pulled because it fell off on its own.

I got two large serving forks and began pulling. I would say it was more like tearing, I couldn't get it very "flaky" so much and expended more effort doing this that I'd hoped would be necessary. But everything looked cooked.

Next up, some pictures and then an assessment.

[addicted-to-smoke]

As they say on those home re-decorating shows, here is THE REVEAL.

You can see the bone protruding at the bottom/left of the image.



That's a large serving fork on a serving dish making it look like a smaller amount of meat.



Dinner, bachelor style. Eating right from the plate used to pull apart the meat, with the motherfuckin' serving fork, and baked beans from the saucepan.

[addicted-to-smoke]

I'm happy with the tenderness and ease of cooking despite some "interesting" temp swings. The rub was something I found online and has a lot of good flavor but didn't necessarily blend all that well during the cook. What I mean is, on the outside pieces the rub flavor is a little too strong/spicy.

Next time I'll coat with more mustard and use less (thinner) rub. I don't think I used enough mustard and found myself almost clumping the rub on in spots to get coverage. But what do I know? Maybe it's just too strong of a rub.

And let's talk about smoke flavor, shall we? This is so wonderfully smoky I can't imagine wanting to add smoke chips of any kind during the cook! It'd be too much. All the smoke flavor came from the hardwood charcoal briquets plus a few random lump pieces.

**********
I'd still like a respectable thermometer some day but until I can afford one, what I accomplished today works. For my next one I may ditch the single charcoal holder. Doing so should permit more coals, more heat, more airflow and maybe I could have used that today.

[chriscw81]

Yeah, Chris is right about almost everything.........ramp the bugger up & power thru to the big finish.........

Only thing i don't get about what he said is this:
"I'm eating a 9 pound butt in under 7 hours......"

Only takes me 30~35 minutes to eat a 9#'er.....once it's finished, that's only about 4.5#


oH, AND ABOUT THIS:
"P.S. What'll happen if I cook too long, even at too low a temp?'

How I 1st did low & slow was putting something on, having too many beers (in the olden days, 23 years sober the day after the big convention) or being too tired & FALLING ASLEEP.....next morning or sometime in the middle of the night, wake up, rush out, still sputtering & completely rendered & tenderized.....I have a very good record of doing this & having it not go to completely dried out....maybe 6~8 times in say, 38 years......

True story, hot and fast is the way to go.




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[1buckie]

"I won't claim it just slid right out but it wasn't a huge yank either. Some meat was attached. The fat on the bottom couldn't be pulled because it fell off on its own."

 Close......counts in hoseshoes, hand grenades, slow dancing & pulled pork.....


Looks pretty dang good from here.......the way the meat tears are, and your description, I can tell it would have been good to go either a bit longer or at a bit higher heat.......still looks llike dang fine eats to me !!!!


Them little grate thermometers are 4~5 bucks & if you're going to open the lid to add coal;s, just takes a quick look......having them inside the lid, where I usually can't see them, forces me to trust the process......

[1buckie]

Yeah, Chris is right about almost everything.........ramp the bugger up & power thru to the big finish.........

Only thing i don't get about what he said is this:
"I'm eating a 9 pound butt in under 7 hours......"

Only takes me 30~35 minutes to eat a 9#'er.....once it's finished, that's only about 4.5#


oH, AND ABOUT THIS:
"P.S. What'll happen if I cook too long, even at too low a temp?'

How I 1st did low & slow was putting something on, having too many beers (in the olden days, 23 years sober the day after the big convention) or being too tired & FALLING ASLEEP.....next morning or sometime in the middle of the night, wake up, rush out, still sputtering & completely rendered & tenderized.....I have a very good record of doing this & having it not go to completely dried out....maybe 6~8 times in say, 38 years......

True story, hot and fast is the way to go.

Don't doubt it at all.....had some go like that last month....didn't even get the chance to get the drip beans in the cooker.....
I've done some on purpose & some on accident hot & fast & conclude, for me, I like them better a 'little' slower.......
Seemed to lose more juice cooking @300~325 & not as much time for smoke flavor......
Not bad but, 260~275 I just personally like better, faster than 225, but enough time for those other things to happen........

[Cookingmama]

that looks really good!  didya eat the whole thing?!  ;-)

[1buckie]

 Hey......A-to-Smoke......

Found this video that shows some stuff using baskets.....may help if you'd like to stick with that method for the time being.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUUrc9rLmI

[1911Ron]

I like your plate shots     I have cooked many butts and have learned one thing each one cooks differently than next, even when you have two the same weight, the way it is made up will make it cook longer or shorter depending on fat and connective tissue content.  When cooking with a drip pan and water you have to take into account you are heating the water up first and burning fuel to do so(along with robbing heat) so starting with a hotter fire if you use water in your pan would be the way to go. 

I no longer take internal temps nor do i take it off at a set temp, i will use a probe (a ice pick will work fine) to check for doneness (probe like soft butter) when it probes the way i like i take it off, i foil my butt when the bark is set (when you can't rub it off) and probe thru the foil.  Once it is off i let it sit for a bit then i open the foil to let it cool down, once it is cooled enough to not burn me i pull it and enjoy.

I cook at 270 to 280+ and never had a dry butt yet, plus i let it "happen" all on it's own

I have learned a lot from Harry Soo (Slap yo' Daddy BBQ) when i took his class, it has helped me turn out some good food as a result

[1buckie]

Good rundown, Ron......

I like that Harry Soo guy, strikes me as a real even dude, very attentive to his craft.....

I've taken to wrapping for a couple hours & not being concerned about "soft" bark.........after that length of time, tightly wrapped & a towel around that, coolered, the whole thing's juiced thru & I just bear claw it all up.....there's usually almost no shaggy, fatty bits left & everything's edible......

[addicted-to-smoke]

@Cookingmama
Naw, but had some more tonight.

Ron, interesting about the ice pick, thanks. Another tool for the arsenal.

Regarding this: "I cook at 270 to 280+" -- again, this is grate temp, or lid temp? I always feel like I should ask since lid temp wouldn't be the same as down at the meat. Thanks.