I have smoked about a half dozen butts in my 009 so far and keep trying things differently each time. This last one was my best so far.

I did a few things differently on this one that I have not done on the others.

1. Smoked fat side up instead of fat side down
2. Marinated for 6 days instead of the normal 24 hours.
3. Did not use mustard on the meat but just rubbed the meat with spices.
4. Used a heavy dose of red and black pepper. Used the normal rib and chicken rub but very heavy; actually was a little too heavy as the meat had a hit of salt taste
5. When removing butt from smoker and placing in foil to rest, rotated to opposite of smoking position for the resting period - i.e. since it was smoked fat side up, switched it to fat side down
6. Reduced my cook time by about 1 hour or so. Pulled meat at 185 instead of 190 degrees.

Meat had a really good spicy flavor all the way through. I took bbq sandwiches to work all week and never used any sauce on the meat. Had other people taste it that had eaten my smoked pork before and they too agreed that it was really good. One of my best.

Dale

Great success.

Really progessing as a cook when you can take the basics and adapt them through your experience to get your end results.

Congrats!

Smokin'

Gotta a few questions for ya Notsdale;

You said you "Marinated" for six days. Was this a real marinade (i.e., something to tenderize the meat) or was it your rub that sat on the butt for six days?

Did you rotate the butt while in the fridge?

Did you apply rub again before tossing it into the CS?

Details Dude! Details!

Wheelz,
After I posted I realized I had failed to put in some the info that would have answered your questions.

The marinade was the CookShack rib rub and chicken rub. The only thing I added was the blend of red and black pepper.

I did rotate it in the fridge, turning it over about 4 times during the 6 days.

I did not add anything else to it after it was removed from the fridge.

I had planned all the listed changes except for the 6 day marinade. I prepared everything on Friday night with the intent of putting it in the smoker on Saturday night. I prepped the smoker and started to put the butt in when I realized I did not have my temp probe. I had left it in the RV the last time we had gone camping. As a result I did not get to use the smoker until the following Thursday night.

I enjoyed the full flavor of the meat so much I duplicated the marinade time on a pork loin this past weekend. I used fresh ground peppercorns and the Cookshack spicy BBQ mix as a rub. Prepared everything on Tuesday and smoked it Sunday morning. Turned out very good also. Only problem was a mistake on my part. I was thinking the internal temp was 165 instead of 145. Goes to show you can't always rely on your memory.

On the pork loin, the last day it was in the fridge I placed 3 pieces of thick cut pepper bacon on top. I left the bacon on when I smoked it. Even though it is overcooked by 20 degrees it still came out really good, just a little dry. However, not as dry as it would have been without the bacon.

My home town is just up the road from you...Jonesboro. Haven't visited there in almost 20 years.

Dale

pork butt in the frige for "6" day's??

Keep your notes in your BBQ log as you will want to save this one. Then you can compare later on...

Preston D

I'd want to be real sure I bought fresh butts or loins real close to the the kill/pack date,if I were holding them out of cryovac for much longer than that.

Just a thought.