PORK BUTT

Hi,

You might try the "overnight" method. I put a 8 pounder on at 10PM and I took it off around 12:30 PM the next day. Then I wrap in foil and put in a small cooler for a couple of hours, then have an early dinner. The thing is, when it goes overnight you never get tempted to peek too much! Never try and time Pork butts or brisket too closely. You'll get very anxious when your buds show up and your meat ain't done. These cuts hold so well for hours in a cooler as mentioned above that I personally have learned to aim for being done 3-4 hours ahead, and then if there's a glitch, or a disaster you can still order pizza or get the burgers going. Besides, it is VERY impressive to have everything cleaned up and be relaxing when the company shows up and you have this AWESOME food and it looks like you never broke a sweat (which of course you didn't, because you weren't battling your offset woodburner for 12 hours, with your clothing REEKING of smoke worse than a fireman coming off a five alarm blaze! I used to have to plan in a shower and a change of clothes before the company came in my pre CS days!)

I also consider a probe type thermometer (much discussed on this forum!) a must--you can watch the core temp of your butt go up without opening the door. Polder is a popular brand.

For a check, you can put the probe through a potatoe with the end sticking out at and run your unit with nothing else as a temp check. This will ensure that you don't have a thermostat problem, and generally creates peace of mind that you aren't crazy, and eliminates one source of frustration, namely a temp setting problem.

Have you had timing problems with other things cooked in your CS?

Roger

Hi Chipky,
A few things that could increase the cooking time are opening the door frequently, putting the meat on the bottom rack instead of top or the cooker is not working at the set temperature. You can stick a thermometer probe down the vent hole to measure the internal temperature. If the internal temp. is not within 25 degrees of where your thermostat is set, try a different ac outlet or call Cookshack customer service. Hope you get it worked out.

John

DEAR JOHN AND ROGER,

THANKS FOR YOUR TIPS ON THE TEMP.PROBLEMS
WHEN COOKING MY FIRST PORKBUTT. I HAD A
FEELING I WAS PEEKING TOO MUCH BUT WITH NO
EXPERIENCE I DID NOT WANT TO OVERCOOK EITHER.
DO YOU BASTE YOUR PORK BUTT.?? I DID AND
OBVIOUSLY I WD HAVE TO OPEN THE DOOR TO
BASTE IT ?? REMARKABLY, THE BUTT CAME APART
VERY WELL AND TASTED QUITE GOOD. I AM GOING
TO TRY AGAIN THIS WEEKEND.

THANKS AGAIN.

CHIPKY

Sorry to hear of the problems. But we've all had problems with our Butts.

Make sure you read
Pork Butt 101

it talks about bastes, mops, etc.

Yes you can open the door, and for every time, start with adding 30 min to the cook time (unless you open and close it REALLY fast).

There is also a famous "plateau" which, when you hit it, it can take hours for the temp to ever get over it.

Don't worry about overcooking a butt, it's pretty hard to do that without really trying. Butt -- it can be done.



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Smokin Okie
It's done when it's done
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