May 12th - Pork Butt smoke

[DocMorgan]

I figured I would try a different type of post today. Here are my "logs" from my May 12th Pork Butt smoke.

I took two 8 lb. Boston Butts, put them through 24 hours of wet marinade (including Injection), 4 hours of "dry" marinade (no such thing after a 24 hour marinade), and a 10 hour smoke...

Fuels: Apple wood (1 ft lengths at various diameters) and Lump Charcoal

Weather: clear skies, 46 deg, 71% humidity, winds calm, baro @ 30.18

Smoker Target = 225
Butt Target = 195

Log format: Time - smoker temp (F) / Smaller Butt temp(B) - Notes

05:00 - High heat initially - 300 or so shut damper
05:25 - 240L / 101B - Damper still shut, leveled smoker.
06:00 - 210 / 114B - damper open, 3 small sticks of apple
06:15 - fire. Temp spike. (mental note, clean out smoker and burn out after every use)
06:40 - 210 / 158B
07:20 - 225 / 147B - 2 sticks of apple, 1/2 chimney lump
07:40 - 235 / 164B - damper closed
08:10 - 210 / 166B - damper closed, added 1 log
08:30 - 200 / 160B - added 1/2 chimney
09:00 - 225 / 173B - damper 1/4 open
10:00 - 220 / 176B - damper 1/2 open
11:00 - 225 / 176B - damper 1/2 open
12:00 - 205 / 176B - damper open, added LARGE piece of apple
Weather: clear skies, 75 deg, 25% humidity, winds 10, baro @ 30.18
12:45 - 230 / 182B - damper closed
13:00 - 214 / 186B - damper closed
13:30 - 210 / 188B - damper closed, added 1/2 chimney lump to "kickstart" log
14:00 - 225 / 189B - damper closed
14:30 - 225 / 189B - damper closed
15:00 - 225 / 189B - damper closed
15:30 - 225 / 189B - damper closed
15:45 - 215 / 190B - damper open, added 3 small sticks of apple
16:00 - 235 / 192B - damper 1/2 open, raising temp to 275 to finish since the plateau broke
16:30 - 275 / 195B - damper closed
Weather: clear skies, 79 deg, 28% humidity, Wind 12, Baro 30.19
16:37 - 275 / 197B - pulled off grill.

Double wrapped butts in foil and set them in a cooler to rest for 45 minutes.

Whipped up some sweet mustard:
1 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon Tabasco (for zest and mild heat)

17:40 - pull the butts
17:50 - serve with coleslaw and sweet mustard on a toasted bun, alongside cornbread and Iced Tea!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere... (AM here)


Good Smoke!


The Reknowned Mr. Brown makes an appearance.


Pulls nicely!


Awesome smoke ring!

[Gizmo]

Beautiful post man!
Now that is the way to keep a pit log - a year from now you will know exactly how you did that butt and be able to modify/improve/learn from it.
Thanks for that!

[Smokeone]

Nice job DOC!
I need to learn to keep a loglike that.

[The Czar]

Holy Sanscrit......that's the way to log stuff....HELLO...you reading this post Frank!!!!!

[DocMorgan]

I'm workin on a 8 channel temp probe that I am hoping will record temps every 5 minutes via an arduino board... but not far enough along to say I have purchased anything to supplement the equipment I already have for it (DD-WRT based router houses the communications and web front end for it... which I already have) There is an unnamed forum where people have gone as far as to modify the router to also run a small blower motor to also regulate pit temperatures... kinda takes the fun out of knowing how your smoker breathes though... and in my case, I am certain that I'd end up ashing my food... which is absolutely unacceptable.

If I ever get anywhere with it in the little spare time I have, I will post about it, but don't get your hopes up. Been a long time since I hacked hardware.

[Gizmo]

I believe that you believe what you just said but I'm not sure if what I understand about it isn't actually what you meant so I'll consider this a lesson to me about paying attention when everything is going over my head - which most of the time is what you were going to say in the first place...SO THERE!

Clear as Mud?

[The Czar]

...... .......

[Smokeone]

What did he just say? WOW!

[DocMorgan]

Simple version:

I want to make one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00046YFH ... 778&sr=8-1

But with 8 separate temperature probes, that records the probe temperatures every 5 minutes or so and makes them available on a web page you can access on your computer.

In order to do this, you modify a wireless router, and use a programmable circuit board. Some people have taught their routers how to monitor pit temperatures and how and when to activate a small blower motor to feed the fire fresh air when the temperature gets low... Just like your house furnace, but usually around 225 degrees and for your smoker. They make them already, but why buy one when you can make one... And one that logs temps to your computer (over engineered, I know... But if you are into electronics... Fun).

Example: http://www.bbqsuccess.com/the-bbq-guru/

[Gizmo]

Quooole!
Make me one that texts the temp to my cell phone ....

[Frank_Cox]

Great job on the log and the pork butt!
as far as the dd-wrt goes, I use that on routers for some of my stuff for the refrigeration business and we also use dyn-dns for some other applications... dyn-dns could be used to monitor your controls from your cell phone from anywhere without the need for a static IP

[DocMorgan]

Quooole!
Make me one that texts the temp to my cell phone ....

That really wouldn't be that hard actually. The hard part is interfacing the "programmable circuit board" with the wireless router. The communications between the two can be tricky.

[Gizmo]

I share an office with 2 text-happy women - I know all about "tricky communications" lol

[DocMorgan]

... dyn-dns could be used to monitor your controls from your cell phone from anywhere without the need for a static IP

I wouldn't be accessing it from or make it available to the outside world at this point. Although I could do it securely... I don't want to open up a hole in my home firewall. (Information Systems / Network Security and Forensics is my day job)

[Gizmo]

"Hey guys - I gotta run by the house for a minute ... my propane tank just called and it's running a little hot ..."

love it!

[DocMorgan]

I once knew a guy who could control his grill, exactly like that, at home... from work. I have limited home automation set up now, HVAC, lights, some outlets... but smoker wouldn't be one that I would consider automating as I don't use gas... would have to add fuel, etc.

[maccas66]

Great post Doc!,

[DUAYNE B]

Wow, i thought there was only one automated smoker out there.... My wife has one, she wants some thing smoked, she sends me out to set the fire, tend the coals, and check on the progress, she got me at a yardsale wrong technology

[Frank_Cox]

Dern doc! That's one heck of a job!


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[maccas66]

Question!...........is a Boston Butt, really a neck of pork?

[The Czar]

Boston butt is a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone. In the US, smoked or barbecued Boston butt is a southern tradition.

[DocMorgan]

Pork Butt Defined (condensed from numerous sources, and supplemented with my experience)

Despite the name, pork butt does not come from the rear end of the hog.


The "butt" is actually the front shoulder.


A pork shoulder may average from 10-20 pounds and consists of two parts: the butt and the picnic. Both make excellent pulled pork. A whole pork butt is a rectangular roast weighing 6-12 pounds and may contain a portion of the shoulder blade bone (or not... hence "boneless butt"). Keep in mind that one thing that the bone does not do so well is transmit heat to the interior of the roast.

The picnic may average 6-9 pounds; and is a portion of the foreleg and is usually sold with some skin attached. This piece tends to have more "waste" as you will end up removing that skin, etc.


Other Names For Pork Butt:

Boston shoulder roast
Boston roast
Boston butt
Shoulder butt
Shoulder blade roast

Fun with Pun's (we all have thought of these)
You want to find a nice (piece of) butt.
Make sure to tell your butcher: “I want a butt. Make it a big butt, too, please.”
It could be a fat butt.
When driving home with the butt, you are hauling butt.
When on the smoker, it becomes a hot (piece of ) butt.
If your rub contains a large amount of sugar, it could be a sweet piece of butt.
If you use kitchen twine to tie the butt... (OK, I won't go there).

The fun goes on and on.

Both the Butt and the picnic portions contain a lot of fat and connective tissue. When you cook them low and slow, magic happens and the result is awesome Q.

Choosing A Pork Butt

All pork is inspected for wholesomeness by the USDA, but is not always "graded". I have read in places that the USDA claims this is because pork is "produced from young animals that have been bred and fed to produce more uniformly tender meat." Whatever. No two butts are alike.

When I look for Pork Butts, I look for untrimmed butts weighing 8-10 pounds each. Choose pork butt with a uniform, white fat cap and a good amount of fat marbling within the meat itself. The meat should be red-pink in color with a coarse grain. Cryovac units may look purple, but will "red up" when exposed to open air for a few minutes.

The way I prep a butt for smoking is to remove it from the packaging, pat it dry with paper towels. I then trim the fat cap off. Why? Smoke and rub won't penetrate the external fat and you waste precious "bark". The butt has enough fat internally to baste itself from within without the cap on. You'll want a large, sharp knife to trim a butt. Trim it off however you feel is best, just dont trim off too much lean meat. Next, trim any other large areas of external fat and veins, blod spots, lymph nodes, etc. that you find. Trim them down to the lean meat. If you find pockets of fat, trim out whatever seems reasonable. However there is such a thing as too much trimming, so don't trim it all, just the major stuff and anything that isn't something you wouldn't want to find on your plate.

[Smokeone]

Doc, you are on it! That is an excellent post.

I like a sweet butt.

[The Czar]

Okay the pork butt pic threw me for a loop..but dang it Doc that was a good post....I'm thinking this should be a sticky....

[DUAYNE B]

very good readin there, i figure that the "love" you give it before it hits the grill is what makes the diff between good and great, like this thread alot