Moisture on outside of pork Butt

I usually give them a half hour to get closer to room tenp, but a lot of smoke penetration depends on what temp you are smoking at and your temp-time profile. Many experts here have said that meat no longer absorbs smoke after an IT of 140. If that happens too quick, you might be losing out on smoke flavor. Also, the amount of wood will of course affect it.

I take the butts out of the fridge...rinse them off...pat them dry, rub down and stick in the cold smoker...set temp at 224 and time at 16 hours. Perfect.

The longer the meat is below the 140 zone the more smoke will have time to penetrate the meat. So in theory you would want the meat to go in cold. If it's a long smoke this shouldn't be a problem. But I noticed when I do my prime rib I have to put the meat in as close to room temperature or else the middle doesn't warm up fast enough to keep the outer edges from over cooking.

For PB's and ribs I put them in cold. For Prime Rib and steaks I like to put them in closer to room temperature.

I have been experimenting with the smoke enhancer but will save that for another post.

quote:

Originally posted by hatteraspk:
I have had my smoker for a few years - do a lot of pork butts my question is it always appears like a lot of moisture on the surface of the pork - I take the meat directly out of the refrigerator so it's 60 degrees when I start smoking thinking all that surface moisture blocks the smoke from getting to the meat - would I be better of getting the meat to room temperature before the smoke process?

Most electricians would tell you to beware of water because it's a good conductor of electricity. With that in mind, some old cooks would tell you that water is a good conductor of smoke.

quote:

Originally posted by Padrefan98:
The longer the meat is below the 140 zone the more smoke will have time to penetrate the meat. So in theory you would want the meat to go in cold. If it's a long smoke this shouldn't be a problem. But I noticed when I do my prime rib I have to put the meat in as close to room temperature or else the middle doesn't warm up fast enough to keep the outer edges from over cooking.

I've been cooking my PR at 200*, never had this problem.....

Cal-I use the reverse sear method, maybe the difference?

I found that getting the PR into the smoke at room temp, or close gave me a much better result then putting it in cold. Also, allowing it to rest for a really long time is the most important thing I think. I am resting mine for 2-3 hours.

My pork butts are typically at around 45° or so when I put them in the smoker. I don't seem to have any trouble with them absorbing smoke.