getting ready to put a 8 lb pork butt on the Smokette

Yes, middle rack

Thanks.

Take good notes, start to finish. Rub, temp, weather, likes, dislikes, etc. Next time, change something, but take good notes each time.

Experiment, have fun !

I did take notes, but my temp probe crapped out on me. It was a little dry. I'll try another one this weekend with a new temp probe and bringing it to 190.

You don't HAVE to have a temp probe. Even if it dies, just "poke" it with the probe and feel for resistence. It will get to feel little almost no resistence and you can pull it.

I assume you are going to check the therm for accuracy,before you use it?

Is there a particular reason you will take it to 190º?

My thermo was checked at 212 and 32 degrees F. Right on the money. When I get another one I will check it too. From what I've read about butts, I thought that the magic number is 190 degrees internal temp. You've got a tip for me regarding temp?

Well,I'm no expert on butts,but I do cook with a few that are.

Like Smokin' says,above,use the probe to poke thru the butt in 2,or 3 places.

It should go thru like warm butter.

You can wiggle the bone,and sorta mash the whole butt and see if it is startin' to collapse in on itself.

Now, folks may only go to about 185º- if they wish to slice,or even chop the butt.

Butts are about the most forgiving of any meat you may cook.

You can overcook one,but most folks around here like at least 195º,or some even 200º.

Different butts may come tender at different temps-for different reasons.

I'd give it a shot at 195º,take good notes and adjust from there.

The poke test may tell you to take it higher,yet.

Hope this helps a little.

Depending on how long you let it set in the cooler,with how much other meat,it may rise a few more degrees.

I am also curious about the 190-195 temp. question. the first few butts I smoked I took them out at 198 and the next at 195. the one at 198 I thought came out nicely. the next one I did at 195 and it was a bit mushy so I thought it was overcooked. The last ones I have pulled at 190 and the meat was easy to pull but I felt maybe a bit stringy and not really tough but not really fall apart either. So I am on the fence about when to pull them. They were fairly close in weight and the brands were the same. I am also using the smokette and also feel the cooking times and temp vary quite a bit then those who compare it to outcome on larger cookers. Does the size of the cooker make much of a difference?

Hey Tom...........Thanks. Excellent pointers.

Roger

quote:

Originally posted by Kim Logue:
I am also curious about the 190-195 temp. question. the first few butts I smoked I took them out at 198 and the next at 195. the one at 198 I thought came out nicely. the next one I did at 195 and it was a bit mushy so I thought it was overcooked. The last ones I have pulled at 190 and the meat was easy to pull but I felt maybe a bit stringy and not really tough but not really fall apart either. So I am on the fence about when to pull them. They were fairly close in weight and the brands were the same. I am also using the smokette and also feel the cooking times and temp vary quite a bit then those who compare it to outcome on larger cookers. Does the size of the cooker make much of a difference?

There's one thing that you're leaving out of the equation when comparing results. Although they were the same brand all those butts were different in their own way. When dealing with meat it's never cut and dry on what's the perfect temp. After a while if you take notes on the smoke process as well as noting the look and feel of the butt before cooking you'll get a better idea of how to get them closer to perfect each time.

I'd say there's a few competition teams that would love to find a source for butts that were exactly the same every time.

Anyway, the best way I can put it is if you go out and buy 10 2 inch thick ribeyes and grilled them the amount of fat and its placement in the meat on each one would keep you from cooking them all the same. Over time you figure out where to place them and when to move them. Although they were all grilled you tweaking from experience made them better.

Good points by all.

As to cooker size,I can pass on one bit of personal experience,that I can't scientifically account for.[and I don't care]

When I would cook one ,or two butts in my 008,at around 220º-or maybe just butts down around 6 lbs,I sometimes found a second plateau around 187º-189º.

If I would open the cooker around 192º-193º,the butt would be falling apart and difficult to get out of the cooker.

Yes,for those folks that like to cook butts at 200º,to 200º internal-it is hard to get a cycling cooker to the temp.

Many cookers have a temp they "like" to cook at.

My 008 "liked"to run at a verified temp of 235º on the center rack,cooking butts/shoulders.

Temp dial setting is irrelavent.

It was most consistent on a timeline,when cooking 7.5-8.0 butts.

It was even more consistent,with smaller temp ,when cooking over 20 lbs of butts.

If I probed them ,tender,at about 195º-197º,wrapped them in double foil and let them set 2-3 hrs in a warm cooler,they were usually at my best.

If I used peviously frozen butts,they MAY take longer to come tender.

Now,crony is starting to take you to many other places,that experience/notes will help with.

My comments are NOT RULES,they are my personal observations,about my own cooking-good,or bad.