Separating Butts in Cryo

Rather than have the 2nd butt thaw and refreeze, I'd recommend smoking them both together. Keep in mind that after you cook the butts, they'll shrink in half. Plus, it's pretty tough to mess up a pork butt in the smoker, especially if you use an internal probe to keep track of the temp.

Thanks Studs.. I didn't receive an answer so I partially thawed.. split under water and vacuum packed the smaller butt.

I appreciate your answer and will certainly do that next time. I was just not sure enough about the 'recipe' to do both at once.

I made a rub of CS Rib Rub and mixed a bit of turbinado with it.. rubbed it in last nite. Tonight I re-applied the rub and made the SO's mop/basting sauce. I'll let the rub settle in for another 24 hours and start the smoking the beast tomorrow night. It's about an 8#er

Lookking forward to the experience.

Bill

Weewilly, you doing a "bone in" or boneless butt??

Fresno

Boneless.. gonna put it in this evening. Should take 16 or so hours.. Looking forward to dinner tomorrow night and left overs for a while..

Bill

First of all it is a killer cut of meat from an eating aspect...you should really enjoy it. Secondly, you are familiar with cook times for a butt, they vary alot, and that is putting it mildly!! Also, all that talk about "plateau" believe it. When it gets somewhere around 170 it is just getting started. Mine stayed there 5.5 hours. Total cook time 24.5 hours, internal cook temp 199 degrees. Cooked entirely at 225. One more thing, it looks like you plan to "mop", this also will add more time to the cook. If I were to do another butt I would get a "bone in" butt because I think the heat of that bone helps in cooking the internal part of the butt better, plus it will probably taste better.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Fresno

If you have to do this again, try microwaving the stuck-together meat for 1 minute. Then either whack it on a chopping block or try to pry it apart with something like a butter knife or strong spatula. If nothing happens it's possible to microwave a few more tries each for 1 minute before it gets too thawed. Usually all that's necessary is to soften up the ice crystals enough to break the pieces apart, and applying some prying pressure helps too.