Second attempt at Butt (Qview)

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

legacyofbob

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 25, 2012
23
15
New Jersey
(I'll be updating this post with more pictures as things progress.)



Alright so my last attempt at a Butt turned out pretty well for a basic rub and finishing sauce, but took almost 19 hours!! Hopefully this time I scheduled things better (by not scheduling around the finish time!) I'm still using a basic rub and added some garlic powder and upped the amount of dark brown sugar it uses.  I didn't mop last time just to keep it simple but since I'm aiming for more flavor this time I'm going to try mopping with just some Dr. Pepper.  Maybe I'm crazy.



So I rubbed it and this time I let the rub sit for 4 hours on the butt wrapped in saran wrap in the fridge.  Fired up the smoker and got her to 265 on the dot.  Threw in the butt at a little after 11pm and hit the sack for the night.  Woke up 8 hours later to find this beauty greeting me.  The temp had come down to 245 due to the coolness of the night.  I'm noticing the Dr. Pepper just kind of rolls off the Butt as I'm mopping so this probably wasn't the best choice or it needs to be cut with something to thin it out or somehow make it stick better.  I'm interested in hearing any suggestions on Mops.


Right now we are 10 hours in and sitting at 171 degrees, so right on schedule I believe.  More updates and Qview to come!

Here is the 10 hour pic.  As suggested I placed the Dr. Pepper in a dish inside the smoker to allow it to heat up with the meat.


200 degrees at 13.5 hours so wrapping in foil to go in the cooler!!





Overall this came out with better bark then my last one and more smoke flavor.  I'm glad I switched up from chips to chunks as I think that made the smoke difference (along with a change up in my MB Vertical Smoker.)  As always, SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce put the icing on the  cake.  No leftovers were to be had.
 
Last edited:
If you are going to mop you should keep the Dr. Pepper in the smoker to keep it hot, if you mop with a cold liquid you will lengthen your overall cooking time. You also lengthen your cooking time whenever you open the door to mop. IMHO mopping butts is not necessary.
 
Sitting at 196 now.  No more peeking for me.  I'll post up more pics in the top post when I wrap it to let it rest.

13.5 hours for a 6.8lb shoulder though, pretty much exactly 2 hours per pound.  Last time I was way over two hours so I'm glad this went according to plan.
 
Added the final pics to the original post.  I ended up bailing on the Dr. Pepper idea as cliffcarter said it didn't look like it was doing anything anyway.  My rub has plenty of brown sugar in it so the bark was sweet, smokey, and spicy.

Thanks for the help and hope you enjoy the Qview.
 
Looks great!  Nice job...
bravo.png
 
Looks great! Would you recommend the Dr Pepper mop?
No I can't say that I would.  I think it needed something to help it "stick" to the meat.  Even with the Dr. Pepper in a bowl in the smoker it still would just run right off the meat.  
 
I don't think that mopping really adds to the flavor profile, especially when it is thin. Here are a couple things to try if you are feeling adventurous.

1. Marinate the butt in the DR Pepper overnight or

2. Inject the butt with the DR Pepper. (if you go this route make sure and adhere to the 140* in 4 rule.)

Somewhere I have a recipe for ribs where you marinate them in cherry coke overnight and then smoke them. Pretty good if you're into that kind of thing.

I really like mine pretty simple so I usually just do a simple rub and let the meat do the rest!
 
Newbie question. I thought that mopping was to keep the meat from drying out on the outside, but I hear people saying that mopping isn't necessary on a Butt. What are the pro's to mopping vs not mopping? is the meat any drier if you don't mop? I was going to mop with 50/50 of Apple juice and Apple vineger on my first Butt.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Hot Threads

Clicky