Pork Butt Juice

[a207769s]

Ok all I didn't have a chance to smoke anything the weekend I posted this. Been busy. But I am doing a pork butt this weekend for our cook out. Last one I got was 10 lb from the local butcher. That was fine other than it took wayyyy longer than expected so I called the temp to 290 to finish. Don't want to do that again so starting much earlier this time around. If it'll fit I plan on placing in foil pan around 145 F too collect juice.

But..... Since I've been reading here I have a question. Last time it took 6 hours to hit 140 F at 225 F. Didn't think much of it until I started reading about not probing for a few hours and getting up to temp within 4 hours. I didn't die but I still have concerns since I've read what others have said about this. With such a large cut would you start with a higher temp than 225? I was thinking start at 250 until it hits the be 135 - 140 then back down a little. And I wouldn't probe it until the 4 hour mark.

Sounds like a decent plan?

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[jwbtulsa]

I never cook much below 250. You will be fine. Put that chunk on a rack in a foil pan from the start and you won't have to worry about moving it or losing heat from opening the cooker another time. The rack will keep the underside from just sitting in the rendering. Sometimes I throw in sliced veggies toward the end just for fun. Onion, garlic, celery. etc...Save them and blend them up. Add those back to your rendered juice for a very lovely stock that can be put back in your pulled meat or frozen and used later for stuff. mmmm good!

[a207769s]

Didn't think of the track in a pan. Good idea. I'll be trying it.

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[DDave]

Since I've been reading here I have a question. Last time it took 6 hours to hit 140 F at 225 F. Didn't think much of it until I started reading about not probing for a few hours and getting up to temp within 4 hours. I didn't die but I still have concerns since I've read what others have said about this. With such a large cut would you start with a higher temp than 225? I was thinking start at 250 until it hits the be 135 - 140 then back down a little. And I wouldn't probe it until the 4 hour mark.

As long as you don't puncture the intact muscle by injecting or inserting a temp probe, then only the outer 1/4" needs to pass 140° (or 135° actually) in 4 hours. If it is injected, or in the case of ground meat, then it is no longer intact muscle and the center must reach 135° in 4 hours.

The 4 hour rule is cumulative. It takes into account all of the time that the meat was in the danger zone.

If the meat was sitting on the counter for 30 minutes while you are waiting for the smoker to warm up then it must reach 135° in 3 hours and 30 minutes. The 4 hour counter doesn't necessarily start when the meat goes into the smoker.

Having said that, I , like jwbtulsa, don't cook much of anything below 250°. I usually shoot for 240°. And there really isn't any useful information that a temp probe will give you IMHO until you are ready to foil. So I really don't see any point in temp probing at all until 5 or, depending on the size of the pork butts, even 6 hours in.

YMMV

[a207769s]

10 lbs of pork butt rubbed down with Mad Hunky (with a little BS added). Currently wrapped up and waiting to be tossed on the smoker this evening.

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[crusty ol salt]

As long as you don't puncture the intact muscle by injecting or inserting a temp probe, then only the outer 1/4" needs to pass 140° (or 135° actually) in 4 hours. If it is injected, or in the case of ground meat, then it is no longer intact muscle and the center must reach 135° in 4 hours.

The 4 hour rule is cumulative. It takes into account all of the time that the meat was in the danger zone.

If the meat was sitting on the counter for 30 minutes while you are waiting for the smoker to warm up then it must reach 135° in 3 hours and 30 minutes. The 4 hour counter doesn't necessarily start when the meat goes into the smoker.

Having said that, I , like jwbtulsa, don't cook much of anything below 250°. I usually shoot for 240°. And there really isn't any useful information that a temp probe will give you IMHO until you are ready to foil. So I really don't see any point in temp probing at all until 5 or, depending on the size of the pork butts, even 6 hours in.

YMMV

Ditto to what these guys said.

I don't run a very tight ship when I comes to temps. I shoot for 275°F and normally float between 250°F and 300°F. I get very concerned if my temps start edging towards 225°F.

But i would be very concerned about food safety if I did not go from fridge temps to 140°F in 4 hours or less.

The one caveat to that rule cured meats.

Good luck and post pictures

[crusty ol salt]

10 lbs of pork butt rubbed down with Mad Hunky (with a little BS added). Currently wrapped up and waiting to be tossed on the smoker this evening.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

That's a good start

[Richtee]

I’ll refund your purchase price on the rub AND the meat if yer not pleased. Well..unless ya fall asleep and turn it into a cinder

Nice heavy coat...good call. That’s ALOT of meat!

[jwbtulsa]

Funny you mentioned you added a little BS to your rub. Most folks on this forum add BS every time we post, myself included!

happy weekend!

[Richtee]

Funny you mentioned you added a little BS to your rub. Most folks on this forum add BS every time we post, myself included!

happy weekend!

Yeah... one of the main reasons I came out with the “Sweet Heat” trial batch.

Dunno if I’m gonna continue it tho. Only sells at about .20 the pace of the GP.

[jwbtulsa]

Yeah... one of the main reasons I came out with the “Sweet Heat” trial batch.

Dunno if I’m gonna continue it tho. Only sells at about .20 the pace of the GP.

I was not referring to brown sugar when I mentioned "BS", just sayin'

[Richtee]

I was not referring to brown sugar when I mentioned "BS", just sayin'

Oh. Hehehe.. WOOSH!

[a207769s]

thermopro sent me a while new thermometer because my meat probe went bad. Figured I'd use the new meat probe with the old unit. Well the smoker temp kept dropping and acting strange. Plugged the BBQ probe from the new unit in and you can see the difference. Seems like the new probe is correct and reading higher. Old probe must be dead. I loved this thermometer while it worked. Guess I'll be investing in a better product.

Plan on keeping the temp 250 or so on the new probe I don't go to low if by some off chance the old probe is correct. Not likely though. Smoker seems warmer to the touch than normal so I think it running warmer than 230. 15-20 degrees probably isn't a huge difference but I don't like not knowing for sure.



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[jwbtulsa]

Hee hee hee, he said meat probe, twice!...

[crusty ol salt]

Here is an easy test to see if your thermometer is close.

A glass of ice water should be 32°F

A boiling pan of water should be 212°F