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Loves His Wife
Picture of BRL
posted
I'll be putting a 6 1/2 pound pork butt in my barrel cooker tomorrow. After watching many different videos and reading different forums I see that some will take it to 160°, wrap it in Tinfoil and bring it to 200°, sometimes putting a little juice for beer in the tinfoil wrap. The other camp is to smoke it in wrapped all the way to 200° giving it a better bark and smoke ring.

This will be for pulled pork sandwiches. I'm looking to get the juiciest and most tender results. Can I expect to sacrifice some flavor by not smoking a good bark onto it?

Question:
What say the pit masters?

Choices:
Wrap that rascal
Go bareback all the way

 



I am not BIPOLAR. I don't even like bears.


 
Posts: 12930 | Location: Western WI | Registered: January 05, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of JasonATI
posted Hide Post
I wrap it so I can pour the drippings back into the meat after its shredded.
 
Posts: 428 | Location: South Dakota | Registered: October 13, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Good enough is neither
good, nor enough
posted Hide Post
Get a good bark and then wrap it, and keep the fat drippings to put on after you pull it.



There are 3 kinds of people, those that understand numbers and those that don't.
 
Posts: 2034 | Location: Liberty, MO | Registered: November 28, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
Good times. I just did an 8 pound pork butt for Thanksgiving.

quote:
Originally posted by JasonATI:
I wrap it so I can pour the drippings back into the meat after its shredded.


Bingo.

I smoke at ~225ish to 165 internal (usually ~ 6-7 hours), then wrap in foil and finish to 195 internal (usually another ~3-4 hours). I don't add any juice or beer before wrapping. After it hits 195 internal, I take it off the smoker, remove the foil, save the liquid, rewrap it in new foil, and put it in an empty cooler to rest for an hour. Then I pull it, adding a cup or so of the reserved liquid from the previous step back into it.

My typical method of prep is to inject it the night before with a mix of spices and apple juice, let it sit overnight in the fridge, then rub it with yellow mustard and coat with a thick layer of dry rub just before putting it on the smoker, and finally spritz it every 2 hours during the initial smoking with 50/50 apple cider vinegar and water.

I learned from my uncle, who's a multi-time champion competition BBQer down in Texas.

The 6 or so hours of initial smoking prior to wrapping gets it a nice bark. It can't really absorb any more smoke past that point anyway. Finishing in the foil wrap not only reserves some of the remaining liquid and spices to enhance the flavor of the pulled meat, but also helps you get through the "stall" more quickly.

A quality thermometer with an external probe is a necessity. You don't want to be constantly opening the smoker just to get a reading. Insert the probe into the meat when you put it on the smoker, and leave it.
 
Posts: 32414 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
posted Hide Post
They're trying to speed through the "stall" that occurs at 160F by wrapping it in foil (aka "The Crutch" or "The Texas Crutch").

I'm just a backyard bbqer (not a caterer or competitor), but put me in the camp of leaving it the hell alone for 4 reasons:
  • if you're lookin' you ain't cookin'. I've crutched but it's not quick and I feel like I let out a lot of heat that required recovery time.
  • crutching gets the existing bark wet, and you miss out on the best bark forming which happens during the stall.
  • between the liquid people add and the fat rendering you lose a lot of rub from the meat.
  • it's less work and IMO it comes out better



    Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

    DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
  •  
    Posts: 23093 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    posted Hide Post
    Here's what I do. I usually use a 8.5-10lb pork butt, I smoke it unwrapped for 6 hours over hickory at 250F (I just put olive oil on the outside and a healthy dose of weber garlic and herb seasoning). Then I take an aluminum throwaway pan and put 1" of thick, apple cider in the bottom, put that on the smoker and set the butt in it, cover with aluminum foil and continue for another 6-8 hours until it is soft enough to pull....then I take it off, let it rest an house, and pull it.....when I pull it, I mix 1 small bottle of bullseye Carolina vinegar bbq sauce in with it. It comes out AMAZING.
     
    Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Picture of dsiets
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    The other camp is to smoke it in wrapped all the way to 200° giving it a better bark and smoke ring


    I think you mean un-wrapped. A typo I'm assuming.
    I do the unwrapped all the way if it's a big enough cut w/ lots of fat. I see no harm in wrapping it once it hits the plateau, but I like my bark a little more jerky like.

    It will be awesome either way.
     
    Posts: 7317 | Location: MI | Registered: May 22, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    posted Hide Post
    I have a big Green Egg and do a Turbo cook. 350 degrees unwrapped until 200-204 internal. Foil until cool enough to handle and then pull. If it is going to possibly dry out from not being served immediately add apple juice. this stuff of watching overnight is a thing of the past usually finished in 3 1/2 hours or so. nice bark and no discernible taste difference.



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    Posts: 2869 | Location: See der Rabbits, Iowa | Registered: June 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Fighting the good fight
    Picture of RogueJSK
    posted Hide Post
    Wow, that really seems like it's too hot and too fast. But if it works for you...
     
    Posts: 32414 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    Picture of dsiets
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by RogueJSK:
    Wow, that really seems like it's too hot and too fast. But if it works for you...


    I think some have been experimenting w/ those temps but and getting tender results but less smoke?
     
    Posts: 7317 | Location: MI | Registered: May 22, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Fighting the good fight
    Picture of RogueJSK
    posted Hide Post
    It'd definitely be less smoke. Not only is less smoke produced at 350 than lower temps, but also at only a mere ~3 hours of exposure, the meat hasn't has the opportunity to absorb maximum smoke.

    I imagine it's probably fairly tender, much like baking a ham or loin in the oven would be. But without the low/slow breakdown and rendering of all the fat and connective tissue, it likely won't be "melt-in-your-mouth"/"food of the gods" tender like smoked pork butt ought to be.

    I'd suggest trying it at 225ish for 10+ hours, and let me know if it isn't better than 350 for 3 hours. Wink
     
    Posts: 32414 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Alienator
    Picture of SIG4EVA
    posted Hide Post
    Bareback baby. Bone in, it holds plenty of moisture and you get an awesome bark.


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    Psalm 118:24 "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it"
     
    Posts: 7054 | Location: NC | Registered: March 16, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    posted Hide Post
    Recently I purchased a Traegger smoker. I can smoke a pretty good chicken but that is easy as hell. I need to learn to do large cuts of meat. I will be paying close attention to this thread for sure. Posters, please don't hold back on your opinions of marinades (or don't marinade).
     
    Posts: 7521 | Registered: October 31, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Wrap after four hours. Many times I will finish it on the gas grill.

    Malcom Reed is a bbq competition winner.

    http://howtobbqright.com/pulledporkrecipesimple/


    "You can take your pistol and stick it so far up your ass, the muzzle of it is visible when you cough."
     
    Posts: 1248 | Registered: February 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Fighting the good fight
    Picture of RogueJSK
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by Bytes:
    Posters, please don't hold back on your opinions of marinades (or don't marinade).


    I inject, rather than simply marinate. Marinating is for smaller/thinner cuts of meat (steaks, pork chops, chicken breast, etc.).

    For pork butt, I usually use this simple injection:
    1 cup Apple Juice
    1 cup Water
    1/2 cup Brown Sugar
    1/2 cup Salt
    1 TBS Soy Sauce
    1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

    Lately, I've also been trying out some of the commercial injections. I'm impressed with Meat Church's hog injection, as well as Sweet Smoke's Q Juice.


    For dry rub on a pork butt, I like Bad Byron's Butt Rub (a bit spicier), or Texas BBQ Rub's Grand Champion rub (a bit sweeter). Apply heavily over a thin coating of yellow mustard, as I described in my earlier post.
     
    Posts: 32414 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Drill Here, Drill Now
    Picture of tatortodd
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by Bytes:
    Posters, please don't hold back on your opinions of marinades (or don't marinade).
    Don't waste your time and money marinating a large cut of meat as it'll penetrate about 1/8" which is useless with something 8" diameter and 12" long. If you're going to do anything, inject it (e.g. apple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, water, Worcestershire sauce, and salt).

    As a warning, many of the commercial injections contain MSG so you need to know if any of your guests have a MSG recipe.



    Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

    DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
     
    Posts: 23093 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Oh stewardess,
    I speak jive.
    Picture of 46and2
    posted Hide Post
    tater knows what's up. just leave it alone, and don't try to hurry it by any of the methods.

    slow and low is good. good is slow and low. there are no real shortcuts, I think.
     
    Posts: 25613 | Registered: March 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Member
    Picture of Garret Blaine
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by bettysnephew:
    I have a big Green Egg and do a Turbo cook. 350 degrees unwrapped until 200-204 internal. Foil until cool enough to handle and then pull. If it is going to possibly dry out from not being served immediately add apple juice. this stuff of watching overnight is a thing of the past usually finished in 3 1/2 hours or so. nice bark and no discernible taste difference.


    This! I smoked them low and slow for years...not anymore. I cannot tell one hint of being inferior when cooked hot on a ceramic. Maybe different with a traditional smoker?

    After taking off the grill I foil, wrap in a towel, and place in a styrofoam cooler for a couple of hours to rest. It is still too hot to handle at that point but I feel the rest is most important to having tender meat.


    -----------------------------------
     
    Posts: 335 | Location: Buffalo, WY | Registered: June 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    Frangas non Flectes
    Picture of P220 Smudge
    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by 46and2:
    tater knows what's up. just leave it alone, and don't try to hurry it by any of the methods.

    slow and low is good. good is slow and low. there are no real shortcuts, I think.


    My uncle has been perfecting his meat smoking method for a good 40 years just outside Ft. Worth. His only piece of advice to me as a knee-high racing around his pit was "anything worth doing, is worth taking the time to do right. Some things happen in their own time, and this is one of those things. You can't race nature."

    There's the way everyone else does it, and then there's the right way. That was his contention, and it was before the BGE existed and I don't know if he's a convert, but he surely never produced poor product that I experienced.


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    Posts: 17046 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
    My dog crosses the line
    Picture of Jeff Yarchin
    posted Hide Post
    I have a BGE and go the low and slow route.

    I apply a dry rub and vacuum pack it for a day or two in the fridge before I smoke it. The night before I'll soak the hardwood I use in water, usually wild apple, and add these chunks to the lump charcoal.
     
    Posts: 12915 | Registered: June 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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