OT: Pork butt

[Chris Mannix]

I think you're underselling the egg as a smoker. I don't care for the egg as a grill. If I'm doing direct heat, I can have less hassle and do just as well on any charcoal grill and can come close on a gas grill, except for steak, which I don't like to use a grill for anyway. The egg is basically an oven with smoke to me. Anything I'm not putting on direct heat, which is pretty much anything other than hamburgers or chicken breasts for me at this point, the egg does great with.



I don't think people are intending to imply that you cook for a certain time per pound. But if you are cooking for somebody else, you have to plan ahead, so you need to know roughly how long it's going to take and when to put it on the grill. I've had butts take significantly longer than expected based on guidelines, and other times had to wrap when I didn't intend to in order to have meat ready in time.

Not that I have a catering company, yet, but I have done several cooks for parties and other things. I always plan ahead for other people so I can guarantee them a pick up time that includes time for things like resting. The stuff on the egg is my opinion, I do not think it smokes very well at all. Again, that is just from experience with it versus other brands and types of smokers. I could be completely wrong hence is why I went out of the way to state that was my opinion.

 

[doggystyle]

My butt is 12 lbs. at 2 hours per lb that’s 24 hours. Wow. Thinking I may cut the butt in half. Is that ok to do and freeze other half?

 

[SheltonChoked]

My butt is 12 lbs. at 2 hours per lb that’s 24 hours. Wow. Thinking I may cut the butt in half. Is that ok to do and freeze other half?

You can do that, or cut it in half, cook both, and freeze it whole cooked. Always nice to have one in the freezer for a random day.

 

[doggystyle]

You can do that, or cut it in half, cook both, and freeze it whole cooked. Always nice to have one in the freezer for a random day.

Thanks. Wondering about cook time if I cut in half and cook both

 

[SheltonChoked]

Thanks. Wondering about cook time if I cut in half and cook both

In my experince, the cook time is for each cut.

I.e. you cook 1 - 6 pound butt, or 4 - 6 pound butts at the same time for the same amount of time.

 

[aTotal360]

Christ. If you are really going to follow some archaic and unsophisticated rule like "2 hours per pound" you're screwed. There are a half dozen variables. Fat content, temp at which you are cooking, humidity inside the grill, shape of the shoulder, amount of collagen, etc.

Essentially you are looking to render collagen.

 

[mcdawg22]

I think he is just using that as a baseline for timing. Nothing worse than a bunch of hungry people waiting for your pulled pork and it’s sitting at 170°.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

The collagen isn’t what slows it down. Collagen gradually increases during cooks. There’s not enough in a pork shoulder to suck up all the energy to make it stall. Basically, the meat starts sweating and stops the temps from its cooling.

 

[aTotal360]

Never said that’s what slows it down. But that is what you are trying to break down.

 

[SheltonChoked]

Smoking my first butt Saturday. What are have to's to get a good smoke? Using green egg.
Thanks.

Ok after all this, I want to see how it turned out.

 

[doggystyle]

Smoked 2 6lb butts on my green egg at 225 yesterday. 12 hours total cook including FTC. Seasoned with Memphis BBQ rub. Hit a 3 hour stall at about 160 which had me worried for finishing on time and cranked heat to 325 to finish them. Did not wrap. Did not mist. Did not open lid. Used the little whiskey blocks for smoke. Had good smoke for as long as I needed it. Turned out great. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[hatfieldms]

Sous vide is the way to go

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Not that I have a catering company, yet, but I have done several cooks for parties and other things. I always plan ahead for other people so I can guarantee them a pick up time that includes time for things like resting. The stuff on the egg is my opinion, I do not think it smokes very well at all. Again, that is just from experience with it versus other brands and types of smokers. I could be completely wrong hence is why I went out of the way to state that was my opinion.

If it tastes good to you and your family then it's great. There are no bad ways to cook a pork roast except to under or over cook it. I like to experiment with flavors but the time, smoke, and slow cooking are the only prerequisites for doing it for most people.

For example, after I feel like whatever I cook has smoked enough I put it in the oven to finish where I can monitor it and know the temp is accurate. It also makes the kitchen smell awesome while I finish up sides. I am sure purists would flog me for using the oven on Boston butt, ribs, or brisket but it works for me.

I really love these OT cooking threads.

 

[Dawgbite]

Sous vide is the way to go

Meat boiler! Pork shoulder/ Boston butts are the most forgiving meat you can cook. The only way to screw it up is pull it early or late. You can cook it for 12 hours at 225 or 4 hours at 375 and as long as you pull it off at 203, it will be good. It helps to let it rest for an hour or two in a cooler. Search " Turbo Method " for smoking, I was skeptical but I haven't cooked a bit over 5-6 hours in a while.

 

[hdogg]

Question, how do you smoke something on a green egg and not open the lid? Is there an apparatus I dont know about? Like, how do you add wood throughout the day?
Mine is an older medium size, with one opening at the bottom for circulation

Glad it worked out well! I've only done one, so have been interested in this thread!

 

[doggystyle]

Question, how do you smoke something on a green egg and not open the lid? Is there an apparatus I dont know about? Like, how do you add wood throughout the day?
Mine is an older medium size, with one opening at the bottom for circulation

Glad it worked out well! I've only done one, so have been interested in this thread!

I added what I thought would be enough to get the meat temp to 140. Just a guess. After that they say the meat can’t absorb any more smoke because
Of the bark.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

One more thing. A nice long rest in a cooler will do wonders. At least an hour.

Just to clarify, putting a butt in a cooler is not resting. It continues to cook your butt. I do this sometimes with ribs if I’m taking them somewhere other than my house, but really if you cook it to the right temp it’s unnecessary.

 

[SheltonChoked]

Glad it turned out great.

Now you can be an expert in the next post.

 

[The Peeper]

Definitely the way to go, who wants to sit outside around a grill w/ cold beer, smoke, etc when you can sit inside and watch water circulate around a piece of meat for hours..............

 

[Dawgbite]

I'd rather smoke on my Egg than on my offset, I guess that I'm just more familiar with the eggs characteristics. I rarely add any wood to my smokes, I get plenty of smoke flavor from the lump charcoal for my taste. I was skeptical of the Turbo method but after trying it a few times , I'm sold. It gives a very consistent cook time, there is no stall to deal with and that helps with the time, and it just easier to maintain 350-375 than it is 225. I use a BBQ Guru temp controller for lower temp and longer cooks but 350-375 for 4-5 hours is a no brainer. I haven't turboed a brisket yet but I've done ribs several times with great results. I tried something different recently. I smoked some boneless skinless chicken breast, put them in the Dutch Oven with the ingredients for a Ms Pot Roast and put it back on the grill for a hour and a half. Best chicken breasts that I've cooked in forever, juicy and flavorful.

 

[jblailock]

I'd rather smoke on my Egg than on my offset, I guess that I'm just more familiar with the eggs characteristics. I rarely add any wood to my smokes, I get plenty of smoke flavor from the lump charcoal for my taste. I was skeptical of the Turbo method but after trying it a few times , I'm sold. It gives a very consistent cook time, there is no stall to deal with and that helps with the time, and it just easier to maintain 350-375 than it is 225. I use a BBQ Guru temp controller for lower temp and longer cooks but 350-375 for 4-5 hours is a no brainer. I haven't turboed a brisket yet but I've done ribs several times with great results. I tried something different recently. I smoked some boneless skinless chicken breast, put them in the Dutch Oven with the ingredients for a Ms Pot Roast and put it back on the grill for a hour and a half. Best chicken breasts that I've cooked in forever, juicy and flavorful.

That chicken recipe sounds promising. What temp did you smoke the breasts to before Dutch ovening them?

 

[TimberBeast]

Man thank y’all for the info in this thread. I smoked my first butt today and it turned out awesome, the whole family loved it. I have a small green egg that is very old. The size makes it a pain to use sometimes. I finally put a new lower vent on it and got a new dome thermometer and it has finally started holding temps very well. Once I got it stabilized it sat on 250 all day.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

We should make a separate page to post and keep this kind of stuff where we can look at it from time to time. It would make it really easy to add to it as well. I've always found super great information from you guys but the search function brings up so much to try to clean through I can understand why someone would start a new post to get this information.

Is that something difficult to do on the website here?

 

[johnson86-1]

Question, how do you smoke something on a green egg and not open the lid? Is there an apparatus I dont know about? Like, how do you add wood throughout the day?
Mine is an older medium size, with one opening at the bottom for circulation

Glad it worked out well! I've only done one, so have been interested in this thread!

As long as you have enough wood for it to keep smoking in the first couple of hours, you should be good. I will soak my wood chips and then put it in tin foil with holes poked in it. Not sure how long it really smokes but I've never had a problem getting a good smoke ring and flavor with that method. Of course I've never tried just smoking it with the lump charcoal without any wood. I wouldn't bet a lot of money that it would be noticeably different.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Semi-OT. Had a friend with some weird symptoms. Went to the doc. Low iodine. All they'd been eating was home cooked, using just fancy whole food salts w/o iodine, and weren't getting enough iodine from other sources. Back to good ole Morton's.

 

[The Peeper]

And do the same for bitcoin, Tesla, and Elon Musk please so we don't have that cluttering up the regular page