Pork Butts .... still dry....what am I doing wrong?

[bwerth42]

Congrats! Quite a feeling of success!

[L20A]

Another idea is you could have hot & cold areas in your smoker which could cause the meat to be done on one side but not the other. I move the meat at least twice during the smoke, just in case it is getting uneven heat. Most times I just turn it 180* in place. I'm glad you got a great butt cook this time. Feels good, huh? Well done (no pun intended).

[Conumdrum]

Congrats! Think it was the salt hump on the meat. When you soak a big ol' chunks of meat overnight with lotsa slat, you end up with a massive pool of juice the next day. That was moisture you lost. You got it figgured out now!

In fact, I used to rub my BB ribs the night before. And yep, got a pile of liquid (not a lot) the next day. Seemed the ribs when cooked had a cure kinda flavor. Now I just rinse to get the bone bits off, rub and on the grill.

For a Bearcarver rib roast I still think overnight is the best. Butt my rub has very little salt that I use for that.

You got it figgered out, very happy for you how hard you have worked to get this right!

And your doing it right with automation and the fine use of new tech. Electricity! Inside joke...............

[curious aardvark]

dry brine with kosher salt for 12-18 hours.

Well that works for fish - because it draws the moisture out and makes the meat firmer - which was what was happening to your pork.

But yeah, basically hotter and faster gives less time to dry out.
You can go up to 300 with no loss in product quality and a decent saving in time.

I cook my pp in foil trays with apple juice from the start. Foil at about 160 to about 195 - I don't like it too soft.

One trick is to collect all the liquid - another reason for using tray (also keepos bbq clean). Remove fat, add to saucepan. I usually add some redcurrant or blackcurrant jelly and reduce the liquid down to about 50%.
This is then mixed thoroughly back into the pork.

Another thing you can do.
Either rub the pork with mustard or ketchup (for me ketchup is just better) and then liberally cover in the Mad Hunky's general purpose rub. And I do mean cover :-) If you can still see meat, use more.

Some people do this over night, I've done that and also done immediately before putting in the smoker. Couldn't tell any difference.

Anyway have some pulled pork

[TasunkaWitko]

Internal temp does not - in my opinion - need to go to 200/205. The temp continues to rise after you pull it off the grate, and that means moisture leaving the meat.

If you pull the meat off the heat at 190 or 195, double-foil it, wrap it in towels and put it in an empty cooler for 2 to 3 hours, the meat will rise in temperature on its own while the fats and connective tissues continue to break down. When you open the foil, the meat will pretty much fall apart on its own. and will be juicy-tender as can be.

The importance of an adequate resting time cannot be over-stated; my best barbecues were ones with the meat off the heat at 190 or so, then resting for at least 2 hours.

225, in my opinion, is a little low, and another opportunity to lose moisture during a long cook. Try 230 to 240 for a couple of hours, then bump it up to 250 or 260 for the remainder of the cook. 90 minutes or so in, mop it periodically with an oil-based mop, and brush it with its own juices. You can foil at 165 if you want, but not necessary in my opinion, since your cooking temperatures - being higher - will not rob moisture like 225 will.

And it would most likely be good to skip the dry brine. Dry brining is by-and-large a curing technique meant to draw moisture out of meat for the purpose of preservation. mustard slather, then rub the night before.

Do these things, your problems will most likely go away.

[Conumdrum]

Great advice. Please note aardvark is from Great Britain, so spices could be a bit diff.

[curious aardvark]

Two schools on oil based mops and marinades.
Mine: never ever use one :-)
And most other peoples lol

basically oil seals the surface of the meat and prevents flavour uptake for the deeper parts. The oil also absorbs the flavours of whatever spices and herbs there are. And while the surface tastes okay, none of thet flavour penetrates. Also your adding empty calories to your food.
Fruit juice based marinades/mops are better. They're slightly acidic so will help tenderise the meat, they'll also penetrate better and carry flavour deeper into the meat. And the sweetnees just works really well with pork.
That said I never mop pulled pork anyway - no need if it's in a tray with liquid to start with. It'll self moistouirese.

And yep I'm also against oil based salad dressings. Again why add unhealthy calories to salad ? - just not necessary.

Please note aardvark is from Great Britain, so spices could be a bit diff.

Only mentioned Madhunky - made in the US of A :-)
I even used your damn silly fahrenheits for temperature :-)

I will admit to a left handed mortar and pestle though

[zombini]

Thank you ALL for the incredible suggestions folks!!!!

My FIRST AWESOME PORK BUTT !!!!!!!

Two things that I did differently this time:

1. I did bump up the temp to the 240 ish range from 225 (I think this simply cut the time down and help bring internal temp up quicker).

2. This, I believe is the KEY point, is that I allowed the internal temperature to get to 203 degrees.

The cook took about 9 hours and I have to say it was simply the BEST pulled pork I have ever made to date....bar none!

I did some "poke" tests with the thermopen and found one area that may

Here are some pictures....







Sorry for the cruddy pictures my phone is horrid and I was also really anxious to dig into the feast!!!

Mike :)

Those photos are good enough to make me want to dig in too.

[TasunkaWitko]

Two schools on oil based mops and marinades.
Mine: never ever use one :-)
And most other peoples lol

basically oil seals the surface of the meat and prevents flavour uptake for the deeper parts. The oil also absorbs the flavours of whatever spices and herbs there are. And while the surface tastes okay, none of thet flavour penetrates. Also your adding empty calories to your food.
Fruit juice based marinades/mops are better. They're slightly acidic so will help tenderise the meat, they'll also penetrate better and carry flavour deeper into the meat. And the sweetnees just works really well with pork.
That said I never mop pulled pork anyway - no need if it's in a tray with liquid to start with. It'll self moistouirese.

And yep I'm also against oil based salad dressings. Again why add unhealthy calories to salad ? - just not necessary.


Only mentioned Madhunky - made in the US of A :-)
I even used your damn silly fahrenheits for temperature :-)

I will admit to a left handed mortar and pestle though

Alex makes some great points here - it's one of those things you need to try both ways and see which works best for you, but with or without oil, a mop will certainly help provide a great barbecue.

The main reason I use a little oil in my mops (about 1/4 cup of olive or other oil per 2 cups of mop) is to provide a basting effect that protects the meat and also somehow enhances the flavour. I am unable to explain the science behind it, but I ahve noticed a difference in the bark and in the "savoriness" of the finished product. Think of a chicken or hunk of meat on a rotisserie, rotating around as its juices run out all over itself, enhancing flavour and becoming moist and tender. This is the same idea, but without the rotisserie.

The amount of oil is small enough so as to be negligible where the big picture is concerned (a pork shoulder will render a couple of cups of fat on its own), but the benefits are such that in my opinion it is worth it, at least in the early stages.

Note - by the time the meat starts rendering its own fat, you can simply brush it with its own fat, if you prefer.

[Rgold01]

Looks great fantastic job

[Conumdrum]

Two schools on oil based mops and marinades.
Mine: never ever use one :-)
And most other peoples lol

basically oil seals the surface of the meat and prevents flavour uptake for the deeper parts. The oil also absorbs the flavours of whatever spices and herbs there are. And while the surface tastes okay, none of thet flavour penetrates. Also your adding empty calories to your food.
Fruit juice based marinades/mops are better. They're slightly acidic so will help tenderise the meat, they'll also penetrate better and carry flavour deeper into the meat. And the sweetnees just works really well with pork.
That said I never mop pulled pork anyway - no need if it's in a tray with liquid to start with. It'll self moistouirese.

And yep I'm also against oil based salad dressings. Again why add unhealthy calories to salad ? - just not necessary.


Only mentioned Madhunky - made in the US of A :-)
I even used your damn silly fahrenheits for temperature :-)

I will admit to a left handed mortar and pestle though

Hehe, I agree the metric system is better.

[Adam80]

Never over salt any meat, I use a dry rub on mine. I like to hit 300 on the smoker about 5-6 hours in and hold it there for 1 or 2 hours. Then back at 225 to finish it off.

[tenacious bee]

I'm a little late to this party but . I blame your results directly on the dry brine. I've done them at 225 and I've done them at 275. I've wrapped at 165 amd not wrapped. I've done them on kettles, uds and an mes. Never once have I had a dry shoulder. Try using a good dry rub like Mad Hunky GP and skip the dry brine. Just rub it and cook it. See how that goes.

[gooose53]

Seems like when I smoke a bone-less butt they are dryer than the bonein ones.