15 lbs of Boston Butt on the MES!

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gocubbies09

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 20, 2013
22
10
Waterloo, Iowa
First off, I would like to say that this web forum is full of fantastic information for a rookie smoker like my self. Kudos to SMF for hosting such a great site! 

Yesterday, I went to Sam's Club and bought what I thought was a 15lb Boston Butt. It was the smallest one they had and beings it was the first time I had ever bought a piece of meat that large, I just thought that was how big they were. Once I got it home I soon realized it was two butts packaged together...whoops! Rather than freeze one I decided Ill just smoke both of them..go big or go home! 


Last night I covered them in a layer of mustard (one with just regular yellow mustard and one with 1/2 yellow and 1/2 spicy brown) and applied a generous amount of Famous Dave's Rib Rub. Wrapped them in plastic wrap and tossed in the fridge for 24 hours.


Tonight I fired up my 30" MES and filled my AMNPS with 1/2 cherry and 1/2 hickory pellets. I put a mixture of water and apple juice in the water pan. Unwrapped the Butts and added a little more Famous Dave's rub and put them in the smoker about 9:30pm. After reading others posts on here Ive decided not to mop and just let the smoke/rub do its thang. Also, I put the larger piece on top because it seems to be hotter at the top, I would think it would be the opposite but that's what my maverick tells me. 


So far everything is going good. The only issue I have had is the pellets started on fire because i had the door open to long while loading the meat in. I thought I had it blown out but after 20 minutes I noticed the temp was rising pretty steady. After opening the door I realized my entire first row of pellets was on fire. I managed to get the fire out and get the temp back down to 230-240 range. Unfortunately, that is going to cut down on the amount of smoke time I get out of the AMNPS. Lesson learned!

It's about 11:30pm and I'm gonna go get a few hours of sleep. Current temp in the smoker is 235 and the meat is 97.

This is my first Butt in my new smoker. Any tips or feedback would be greatly appreciated. I got the in-laws coming over tomorrow night for pulled pork sandwiches so I hope everything turns out okay!  
 
You are off to a good start...JJ
 
You will be hooked on pulled pork now....enjoy!...........
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First off, I would like to say that this web forum is full of fantastic information for a rookie smoker like my self. Kudos to SMF for hosting such a great site! 

Yesterday, I went to Sam's Club and bought what I thought was a 15lb Boston Butt. It was the smallest one they had and beings it was the first time I had ever bought a piece of meat that large, I just thought that was how big they were. Once I got it home I soon realized it was two butts packaged together...whoops! Rather than freeze one I decided Ill just smoke both of them..go big or go home! 


Last night I covered them in a layer of mustard (one with just regular yellow mustard and one with 1/2 yellow and 1/2 spicy brown) and applied a generous amount of Famous Dave's Rib Rub. Wrapped them in plastic wrap and tossed in the fridge for 24 hours.


Tonight I fired up my 30" MES and filled my AMNPS with 1/2 cherry and 1/2 hickory pellets. I put a mixture of water and apple juice in the water pan. Unwrapped the Butts and added a little more Famous Dave's rub and put them in the smoker about 9:30pm. After reading others posts on here Ive decided not to mop and just let the smoke/rub do its thang. Also, I put the larger piece on top because it seems to be hotter at the top, I would think it would be the opposite but that's what my maverick tells me. 


So far everything is going good. The only issue I have had is the pellets started on fire because i had the door open to long while loading the meat in. I thought I had it blown out but after 20 minutes I noticed the temp was rising pretty steady. After opening the door I realized my entire first row of pellets was on fire. I managed to get the fire out and get the temp back down to 230-240 range. Unfortunately, that is going to cut down on the amount of smoke time I get out of the AMNPS. Lesson learned!

It's about 11:30pm and I'm gonna go get a few hours of sleep. Current temp in the smoker is 235 and the meat is 97.

This is my first Butt in my new smoker. Any tips or feedback would be greatly appreciated. I got the in-laws coming over tomorrow night for pulled pork sandwiches so I hope everything turns out okay!  
I don't fill my AMSPS as full as your pic. It seems not to catch fire as easily half full of pellets. Also, if you put the lit end towards the back of the smoker that helps too....RTBBQ
 
You are hooked now!  I always smoke more meats than I need to each time.  With PP....do it and vac seal some for later on!  Pulled some out this morning for dinner tonight that I did a few weeks back.

Looks great so far!

Kat
 

After sitting at 160 for about 6 hours I pulled them out, double wrapped in foil and put them in the oven at 250. It took another 4 hours from there to get up to 200. I know everyone said to wait it out, but I was running out of time. Is it really possible to get up to 200 without wrapping it at some point???

Took them out at 200 and to the cooler they went wrapped in towels for about 2 hours. In the mean time I mixed up some of SoFlaQuer finishing sauce while the meat was resting. 


When I got them out the meat just literally fell apart when I touched it with a fork, it was sweet! The pork tasted fantastic! Everyone kept digging their fingers in the pan while I was pulling. One thing I noticed was the vinegar in SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce is a little over powering when you first add it into the meat, but after it sits for awhile it blends in nicely and tastes great! Also, by the time I got done pulling the meat was a little cold. Next time, I will throw some foil over the pan and warm it back up in the oven before serving. Other than that it was a successful first attempt at pork butt(s)...thanks for all the help SMF!     

 

After sitting at 160 for about 6 hours I pulled them out, double wrapped in foil and put them in the oven at 250. It took another 4 hours from there to get up to 200. I know everyone said to wait it out, but I was running out of time. Is it really possible to get up to 200 without wrapping it at some point???

Took them out at 200 and to the cooler they went wrapped in towels for about 2 hours. In the mean time I mixed up some of SoFlaQuer finishing sauce while the meat was resting. 


When I got them out the meat just literally fell apart when I touched it with a fork, it was sweet! The pork tasted fantastic! Everyone kept digging their fingers in the pan while I was pulling. One thing I noticed was the vinegar in SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce is a little over powering when you first add it into the meat, but after it sits for awhile it blends in nicely and tastes great! Also, by the time I got done pulling the meat was a little cold. Next time, I will throw some foil over the pan and warm it back up in the oven before serving. Other than that it was a successful first attempt at pork butt(s)...thanks for all the help SMF!     

looks great. Here is a variation of SoFlaQuer's which is not so vinegar intense. my favorite.
https://statich.smokingmeatforums.com/c/c8/c82ee4d3_Randyfinsihingsauce.msword
 
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Next time put the butts in a pan or right above a pan to catch the juice. (if you put it in the pan all you have to do to foil is cover the pan. also keep the smoker clean.)

then after its all done defat the juice and pour back over the pulled pork. Taste great that way !!
 
Great looking PP and you should love it! Even though it seems like a lot of meat (there's 2 of us) - it usually doesn't last long even after vac sealing and freezing. Makes for quick meals!
Next time put the butts in a pan or right above a pan to catch the juice. (if you put it in the pan all you have to do to foil is cover the pan. also keep the smoker clean.)

then after its all done defat the juice and pour back over the pulled pork. Taste great that way !!
This is what I do and it works great!
 
jrod, I was going to put them in a pan in the smoker but I thought that might reduce the amount of surface that is exposed to the smoke. Do you usually put them in fat side down or up? When I wrapped them in foil and threw in the oven the juices managed to seep out ( even know I thought I wrapped it extra good) and made a mess in my oven. I can see the pan being much easier in that aspect. I will definitely try that next time. Thanks!
 
jrod, I was going to put them in a pan in the smoker but I thought that might reduce the amount of surface that is exposed to the smoke. Do you usually put them in fat side down or up? When I wrapped them in foil and threw in the oven the juices managed to seep out ( even know I thought I wrapped it extra good) and made a mess in my oven. I can see the pan being much easier in that aspect. I will definitely try that next time. Thanks!
fat cap down. It will still take a lot of smoke on in a pan. I like the no mess in the smoker and easy to cover with foil when its in a pan. And the juice pour back over the pulled pork is so good.

going to put two butts on after I get done on here.   Let it smoke all night. should be done before noon on Sunday.
 
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