Boston Butts Cook Temp and Times

Mornin' and welcome.

Butts are pretty forgiving and they can be manipulated a good bit.

I usually advocate cooking them at about 225� until you get used to your cooker and the finished product.

Now product may still vary by large vs small,boneless,butterflied,tumbled,etc.

I usually suggest allowing yourself about two hrs/lb. in overall scheduling.

Butts have enough internal moisture that they can be cooked at a good bit higher temps,without greatly altering the finished product.

But,we are talking about rendering internal fat and breaking down collagen and these are somewhat a function of time.

Hope this helps a little.

Butts are THE easiest thing to do in a CS. You didn't mention what kind of smoker you're using?

In the "science" of Q, I don't think there will be an appreciable difference in the end result.

My theory about butts is that the longer the cook, the more need for a good mop/baste.

So cooking at your temps for 20 hours, it will probably dry out without some assistance (either a lot of fat and or a mop/baste).

I cook my small butts (less than 6lbs) and have zero issue with them drying out, at 225 and 250. Larger butts will dry out on the really long cooks, so I cook them at 250 to shorten the time.

But I always mop if the butt is larger (over 6).

Sorry for not including the smoker I'm using--I have the Smokette Model 009. I usually let the butts smoke at 215 degrees for 10 hours or so and then mop (with Smokin' Okie's Apple Cider Vinegar Mop--excellent, by the way!) every 2-3 hours until the butt(s) are done. The butts have always been moist for me with good bark due to the mopping, but I'm wondering if there isn't a way to speed this up, and it seems by what you're saying, there is. Next butts I'll do I'll do at 225.

Also, do you have any thoughts on how loading up the smoker affects cooking times for butts? If you put 6 5-6 pound butts in there, how much longer would you expect it to take? I know that temperature, not time is the determinant, but I'm curious if anyone things that the Smokette takes much longer on a full load.

Thanks!

I do my butts @ 225 and they go about 14 - 16.5 hours and take them to 190 - 195. Great bark.

If you want more bark, try mustard under the rub.

I would not overload the smoker much past 25 - 30 lbs.

I would not suggest the opening like you do on the smoker. The 009 is smaller and you will lose moisture and increase the cook time by another 20 - 30 minutes each time you open the door.

I have never opened up the smoker until I hit my temp. I have never had a dry piece of pork either.

HAve fun.

I'll have to disagree. You get certain benefits by opening the door, and if you're cooking that many butts and/or adding moisture by mopping, then they're not going to dry out. Extending the cooking time because of the heat loss isn't a big deal, just cook till it's done.

One thing about the CS line, as an electric, adding more meat doesn't affect the temp as the smoker will just do what it needs to to maintain a temp. Now, putting that much in will add to the humidity level (can be good or bad). Also, if you have meat on the lowest rack, make sure you rotate it at some point as it's the closest to the heat source and will dry out/overcook.

And for me, I'm not sure that mustard will add much to the bark. I've done a lot of tests with and without mustard and it truly added nothing for me. But if it works for you, that's great. For me, the bark needs something more, such as a sugar, to carmelize.

You can also butterfly a butt to get more meat exposed to get more butt.

Smokin'

Mornin,

You got a bunch of pretty good advice above and some of the approaches must be personal preferences/needs.

I'm not a huge moppin' fan on butts in the CS and they usually get it once when I get up in the mornin'.

The smokette takes about 25 mins,I think,to come back to temp.- after holding the door open.

Nothing wrong with that,but you should factor in the time and be aware of the moisture lost.

I think the smokette cooks better with a full load, than light, and I tend to load mine higher than the manuals recommend.

I really have seen no time difference from light to full.

I have done six butts on the three racks,but you have to pick the butts for shape/flatness.

You will need to rotate the bottom to top,at least once,because of the faster cooking near the wood box.

If you have a fatter cap/false cap you may prefer it untrimmed and down on the bottom rack.

I have found that a bunch of butts keeps a pretty moist cooker and not much liquid is needed.

Another thing that I do ,rather than opening a lot to mop,is spray my bottle heavily down through the vent hole.

I feel that the mist moisturizes the cooker cavity and the rest runs down from top to bottom rack.

I have no scientific evidence,but it seems so.

Just for personal info,you might try using a heavy rub on a six lb. bone in butt,probe it,place on the center rack at 225�,and not check it until it hits 193�-195�.

If that bone will wiggle,wrap in plastic,foil,a towel and cooler for a couple hrs.

Put your note pad beside you, when you pull it, and take careful notes of what you have and what you wish you had.

It is always nice to have that one standard to do your variations from.

Thanks for the responses. The last time I did the butts I did 6 5-6 pound ones, and did notice that the butts, while they reached done temperature (190 in this case as it was midnight and I had to go to bed!) some of the butts definitely were not as dry as I was used to seeing (when I typically do one or two 6# butts), and that left me concerned. I ended up discarding some of the wet meat.

If I do so many butts at any point in the future, I'll definitely rotate the racks.

Also, it seems that some folks mop, some don't when doing the butts.

The cons of not moppping are the you don't get the mop flavor. The pros: your butts are done much faster.

The cons of mopping is that you add ~1/2 hour to your cook times every time you open the door. The pros--adding the mop flavor to the bark.

It may be that butts are the easiest thing to cook on the smoker, but I also believe that there is a Zen-like quality in pursuing their perfection.

Tom,

Thanks for the post. A question on your benchmark butt. Are you saying that you let your butt rest for a long time in the cooler until you pull it? Some folks say that you should let your butts rest for 15-25 minutes before you pull. Is it your opinion that the butts taste better if you let them rest for a long time? I know that in roasting or pan searing the rule of thumb is that a piece of meat should rest for 1/3 the time it was cooked to let the juices repatriate. Could it be the same for smoking?

Thanks.

Sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on it.

I'd say you'll make adjustments as the situations or needs dictate.

Thanks Tom. One final question for you: does the butt pull easily after resting for a few hours or has it firmed up a bit?

Smoke Fu,the reason I settled on two hours is that often we are involved in holding periods before serving.

It "usually" becomes easier to pull IMO.

I just picked a time to be a standard.

Most of us cook early to be sure it is ready when needed,rather than after the company leaves.



A large chunk of meat,or several,could continue to rise another 5�-15� internal while being coolered a few hours.

If you had cooked that butt to 205�-210� you might be pleased with it ,when pulled right out of the cooker.

It might also have gone mushy,or dried after a long resting period.

Other large chunks of meat may take up even liquid added to the plastic,during the resting period.

Smokin' gives a lot of good advice to the forum,but probably the two most important are:
1. record well,so you know how to replicate/vary your product.

2. its done when its done.

Thanks so much Tom!

There are SO many ways to do pork butt and the best is for you to keep track of your successes by keeping great notes.

For example, holding. If you cook them to 205 and let sit for 2 hours and they hit 220, you might love them, hate them, whatever. The notes will help you settle in on what works.

Like Mustard. It works for DMA so that's great.

The key is we can tell each other general techniques, the the final answers will always come down to you, hence, the keep good notes idea.

Smokin'

6lb2oz butt. happy holla and mustard 28hrs under celephane. cold into cs. 3 oz hickory and set cs to 220. 9hrs later the internal temp was 163. i figured it was going too slow so raised cs to 250. 5 hrs later (14 hrs total) temp 195 internal. took butt out. took multiple temps at other places in the butt and readings were from 198 to 205 (must be that pocket around the probe that yall talk about) wrapped in foil and cooler for 2 hrs. pulled great and tasted wonderful. thank yall, tom and okaysmokay i mean SmokinOkie.

I get good bark from a rub made with lots of brown sugar and a little of any spice you like and a little salt. I haven't used dry mustard yet.

hey thanks GLH. I used that generic yellow mustard. What kinda proportion do you do with the brown sugar, salt and herb? Sounds pretty good to me. thanks again jan

With small cuts of pork or beef, like say 5 pounds or less, I use 2 Tbls. brown sugar and larger cuts I use 4. Then I either use 1 tsp. each of whatever spices I want or half a tsp. each. I like onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ground red pepper, cumin, and salt.

thanks. now I know this subject sounds stupid but my brown sugar seems "wet" and would be difficult to shake on. How do you mix it with the herbs and other spices and then apply? Maybe I should post this as a separate subject. Jan

yeah, you might go for a new post, this one is going all SORTS of places

Jan, simple. I just put it all in a bowl and mix in around with my fingers and palm it all into the meat.

Since you didn't post elsewhere...here are some thoughts.

Some people "dry" their brown sugar before they mix it so you don't get your other rubs wet.

Others put the brown sugar on first then sprinkle the rub on.

Others use turbinado instead of Brown Sugar because it's easier to use.

There is also a brand of brown sugar that comes in shaker bottles and is "granulated brown sugar"

There are still others....

Smokin' pretty well covered the drying and that should handle it.

I'm here on the coast in south Fl[high humity] and Turbinado never clumps.

If you are doing large pieces,i.e. butts,shoulders,chuck rolls,clods,briskets,bronto spares,etc.-mix your rub with a little apple juice and use as a paste.

I'm not a mustard person and Paul Kirk may not want you to mix mustard and rub,but you could always make a paste of them.

thanks, sounds as if one wants a rub with brown sugar it may be easier to mix with turbinado. BTW my 2nd butt wasn't as good as the first. 8#s the mustard and happy holla wrapped and refrig 3 days. (don't scold. i had time prob.) then 4 oz of hickory at 225. but the butt went right in from the frig.and the other time i let it sit for 4 hrs prior to starting. anyway at 12 hr. i used 2 oz of smokinokie's apple and maybe this "steamed" it a bit. raised cs to 250 at 14 hrs (butt at 178) and took it out at 191 at 18 hrs. still good but not as flavorful as the first. i cannot thank you enough for your help. jan