Boston Butts...Round One

[JackRDeen]

Hey guys, Im new to this forum, but just from looking around this thing, it looks like everybody here can provide a wealth of information about bbq. Im a student at Texas A&M and didnt really get into bbqing until after acquiring a pit that my dad built back in the 80s and redoing it this last summer. Now that I have it down here in College Station, I have found my self bbqing all the time. So far, I have mainly been cooking briskits, ribs, and chicken leg quarters (probably the greatest thing ever on a college budget  ), but now I am looking into cooking some boston butts. My dad got me interested in trying to cook one of these things a couple of months ago and now all Im looking for is some advice on how to do just that. Basically, any info would be appreciated...rub suggestions, how far in advance to prep the meat, how long to cook, at what temp, what to do with the meat while its on the smoker, etc, etc. Any advice or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

Heres a picture of my smoker to let you see what Im working with...

[JackRDeen]

One more picture...

[DKM]

Nice.

A friend has one almost just like it.  I have used it a couple of times.  Done some really good smoking on it.

DKM

[Steve]

Nice smoker! Did you build it?

[Randy]

The Butt is probably the easiest of all barbecue.  Buy the leanest whole butts possible try to stay below 8 pounders.  Be careful of Sam's meat you can get some real bad ones.  Coat the meat with a very, very thin coat of cheap yellow mustard like Frenchs.  Then coat with a 50-50 mixture of salt and pepper.  Use hickory if you have it along with pecan or oak.  Run your smoker at 250 grill level temperature for 1 1/2 hour per pound.  Tip, leave the butt in the refrigerator until you put it on to maximize the smokering.  If you want slices then use 185 as an internal temperature Pull Pork around 190 and if you chop go to 195.

That should get you cranking.

Nice pit.   Next time you rebuild the firebox, consider making the firebox a little bigger.  The extra tall stack you have now compensates for the smaller box so if it is making good Q, I would leave it as it is until you burn out the firebox many years down the road.  Because of the airflow you might want to try a pan of apple juice between the meat and the fire to pick up the moisture in the cooking chamber, this is especially true for ribs.  Just don’t let it run dry.
I have one to build this summer that will have a small fire chamber because of the two small tanks I have to work with so not to worry.

Randy

[JackRDeen]

My dad built it back in the 80s along with a few more. It was pretty ugly looking when I started messing with this last summer, but after I grinded all the rust off of it welded a few additions on to it, and repainted it with some high temp bbq paint, I got what you see there.  So far its worked out really well and it will hold quite a bit of meat. I cooked 40 lbs of chicken leg quarters on it here recently, but that pretty much maxed out how much it can handle.

[JackRDeen]

Thanks Randy, thats pretty much everything I need to know, but whats this trick with apple juice you are talking about, Im kind of confused about it.

[Randy]

The apple juice will simmer adding a bit of aroma and increase the moisture in the pit since the fire leaves the air flowing through the pit dry.  Is it something that you have to use; no.  Just a nice touch.

Randy

[DKM]

I know guys that use all sorts of different liquids, with apple juice and apple cider being the top two.  I use vegitable broth personally.

DKM

[JackRDeen]

Alright, I went down to the meat market today and got me a couple of butts that were right around 8 lbs a piece. I think Im gonna try cooking these things, along with a few other things this coming Sunday 

[Steve]

Good luck with the butts!

I highly recommend the "All South Barbecue Rub" found on this website... I use it exclusively!

http://www.pitcooking.com/forum/index.php/topic,4.0.html