Going to be making my first attempt this weekend at smoking a butt for pulled pork this weekend. I have googled and read about it lots and I am going to be giving it a try. I will be using a weber kettle, not sure if I should use harwood charcol or the briquets. Any suggestions on rubs, wood, mops, or whatever you have tried. Thanks in advance.
I have done dozens of pork butts/shoulders on my grill over the years. Sounds kinky eh. LOL Anyhow, I do them the indirect method which is cooking at hotter temp(300 + or -) than true smoking. The results are the same though and depending on the weather, I can do a shoulder in about 5.5 hours.
Fortunately, pork butts/shoulders are a very forgiving chunk of meat to cook and very hard to wreck. They are a great chunk of meat to learn on = cheap and EASY for a beginner. I set my grill (a barrel type Char Griller) for indirect cooking by starting a chimney (A Weber chimney) of charcoal and dividing (once it’s lit of course) that into two piles on each side of the grill. Weber makes charcoal baskets just for that purpose. Wal Mart sells them – go get some! They make indirect cooking a breeze.
I start with about a 5 pound butt/shoulder (I prefer one with the bone in) by pulling it from the fridge a few hours before I want to start cooking. I apply rub (I make my own) right away too although you can apply the rub the night before too if you want. I take an old cake pan and put about an inch of water in it and set that between the two piles of lit charcoal and place the butt/shoulder directly over that on the grate above. On my grill ( NOT very air tight compared to the Weber) I will add ten unlit briquetts to each of the piles of lit charcoal every hour to semi maintain my temp range = 275 – 320 or there abouts. I toss a couple chunks of split Hickory on the lit coals too. I do that for the first 3 hours but that’s it. No need for more and you will get a great Hickory smoked flavor.
I used to mop the but found it really doesn’t add all that much flavor wise JMO.
I have tried hardwood and regular (Kingsford) charcoal as well as lump charcoal and only use Kingsford now. Any name brand charcoal will work but avoid the store brands = Pick and Save, Sams,Wal Mart brands etc. A tip on charcaol. Home Depot runs a sale on Kingsford every Memorial Day and Labor Day here. It sells for about half price and I usually buy 20 bags each holiday. I go through about 30-35 bags a year. Yes, I grill year round rain, snow whatever so I go through a lot.
You will need a meat thermometer. I start checking my butts/shoulders after 4.5 hours. I shoot for an internal temp of about 200 – 210. 190 works too but the meat will be more tender the higher the temp. You need to be patient. The meat temp will plateau usually around 160 to 180 degrees. Wait it out because it will rise after a bit. When I hit the temp I want, I remove the butt , wrap it in foil so it doesn’t leak then wrap that in towels and let it sit for at least an hour. After an hour (minimum) I’ll take a couple forks and pull it apart and serve.
Figuring how many coals it takes to reach and maintain temp in your grill is kind of tricky but it’s key for consistant results. To do that, get yourself a remote meat thermometer. Take the probe and stick it through a small potato cut in half. Set the probe/potato on the grate in the middle of the grill DO NOT put it over the coals/direct heat or you will fry it. Doing this will give you and idea of how many coals you will need to achieve and maintain the temp range you want. I did this the first 6-7 times I did pulled pork but I now know how many coals I need and don’t use it much anymore.
I also suggest you pick up the book “How to Grill” by Stephen Raichlen. That book is a gold mine of information on cooking all kinds of stuff on a grill. I always thought I was a pretty good griller until I bought that book. I soon realized I didn’t know Jack after reading through that book. LOL
I avoid the Butts (ribs too) that come in the shrink wrapped packaging. Those are usually injected (Enhanced they call it) with salt water or whatever. I always go with one that comes from the local butcher or one that’s wrapped like a steak at the grocery store. If they don’t have one the size I want I will ask the guy at the meat counter for the size I want.
I always cook the butt/shoulder with the fat cap facing up which brings up another point. I always look for a well marbled cut of meat when it comes to butts/shoulders. The more fat (to an extent) the more tender and flavorful the meat.
Have fun and don’t be intimidated. You will have this down pat in no time.
Good Instructions Gee…I might even give it a shot one day. You can do this on a kettle grill also?
I marinate my grilled pork in the following,you end up laying these on the roast
brown mustard
chili powder
a ton of garlic powder or fresh minced
2oz Whorishire sauce
onion powder
1/2 cup BarBq sauce
2oz soy sauce
ground swezwan peppercorns use sparingly
Just remember, SLOW, LOW, and LONG.
Quote:
Good Instructions Gee…I might even give it a shot one day. You can do this on a kettle grill also?
You bet. You just have to figure out how many coals you will need to maintain the temp you want. For instance, the same amount of coals I use on my grill (barrel type and not very air tight) would probably run hotter in a Weber (Kettle type and fairly airtight) I run a little over 3/4 of a Weber chimney of charcoal and that gets me up to the temp I want for about an hour. Once an hour passes I add more charcoal (10 unlit briquetts a side) and hickory chunks. Since the grill is already up to temp after the first hour, you don’t need to add as many coals as you did when you first started up. I repeat that on the hour until the butt is done. It usually takes me 5.5 hours but I have had them finish up as early as 4 hours and as late as 7.5 hours. Just depends on the cut of meat = they are close but they don’t all cook the same.
RE temperature: The remote thermometer will help you figure that out. They usually go on sale in the fall and you can pick one up for 15-20 bucks. It just takes some experimenting and a pork butt is a perfect cut for doing that.
Go for it. Butts are about 2 bucks a pound on sale (a bargain with todays meat prices) and are almost impossible to wreck. Just be sure to keep the cooking temp in the 300 degree range and make sure the internal temp is at least 195 and you’ll be good to go.
This is cooking with indirect heat which is different than true smoking. I’m too impatient for a true smoke which is a lower temp and slower way of cooking.
Quote:
Good Instructions Gee…I might even give it a shot one day. You can do this on a kettle grill also?
Absolutely, I use my weber kettle for ribs and pork smoking regularily. I only bank the coals to one side-usually 25-30 briquetts- and pan with HOT water under the meat,on the other. I add 5 new pieces of charcoal every 1/2 hr to maintain the temperature and add hickory chunks the first couple of hours as well. Place the lid vent over the meat to force the smoke to travel across the meat for best flavor and fine tune the temperature by adjusting the lower vent.
Darn it- I am hungry now!
Here is a site that may give you some help with rubs and how to cook the pork. http://www.dadgumthatsgood.com/. I did my first pork butts in a smoker for a grad party a few weeks ago and they turned out great. I agree with taking it slow and low. In the smoker it took about 8 hours for 6-7 pound butts at 245 degrees. It was easier than I thought it would be. I picked up a digital thermometer at Wal-mart for $15.00. 
Quote:
Here is a site that may give you some help with rubs and how to cook the pork. http://www.dadgumthatsgood.com/. I did my first pork butts in a smoker for a grad party a few weeks ago and they turned out great. I agree with taking it slow and low. In the smoker it took about 8 hours for 6-7 pound butts at 245 degrees. It was easier than I thought it would be. I picked up a digital thermometer at Wal-mart for $15.00.
Wow. There are too many good looking recipes to try! I am hungry.
Thanks,
FDR
My advice is to trim off the fat cap and any large chunks of exterior fat. There is enough intra-muscular fat to keep it moist and all the exterior fat does is block the rub and smoke from penetrating the meat and consumes fuel.
Also, the natural charcoal burns hotter and faster. Take that into account if you use it.
Ingy
One thing i’ve learned is that a little smoke goes a long way, especially if you use something strong like hickory or mesquite. If you overdo the smoke the exterior of the meat can get bitter. I smoke with my grill (looks like a small oil drum on its side) and start with a meager pile of lump charcoal (never the biscuits) on the side of the grill with the vent. The meat goes on the other side of the grill with the smokestack. Once I hit a good temp (185) I add a single fist size chunk of wood. About every hour (or beer) I’ll add another chunk of wood and a little bit of charcoal to keep the heat and smoke going. My favorite woods for pork is cherry and/or apple. Generally I get to where I want to be in 5-6 hours. Pork is really forgiving on the smoker. Good luck-
Quote:
One thing i’ve learned is that a little smoke goes a long way, especially if you use something strong like hickory or mesquite. If you overdo the smoke the exterior of the meat can get bitter.
This is very true. You want just a thin blue smoke. If you have billows of white smoke coming out, it is way too much. The thick white smoke will cause creosote buildup and the bitter taste.
When the outside of the pork gets to the color you want but not the temperature, just wrap it in aluminum foil and finish the cooking. One more thought, my wife adds chicken broth to the pulled pork to keep it really moist for serving.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
