First pork butt- MES 30

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tumbleweed1

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jan 29, 2015
490
201
Chicago suburbs
Well today's the day. I've had this butt thawed out for a few days now. I originally wanted to try & do it a couple days ago, but it wasn't quite thatwed & work schedules around here didn't coincide with each other. No matter- Sunday funday, right? Bad enough I'm posting these on-the-fly photos, of my first pork butt in my Masterbilt for everyone to see (and critique), but now to day here in Chicagoland they are calling for "rain showers, large hail & damaging winds"! I'm hoping to at least get it to foil & bring it in to finish in the oven, if I have to. Thursday I made my "Zip Sauce" (the wife's favorite) & I also made a nice Lexington Dip (my favoite), so we're looking forward to it. Started setting up about 5 am & preheated the smoker about 5 :40.

Pork's been in the smoker about an hour & I'm using hickory today, as I really like it.

Trimmed, & rubbed butt fresh out of the refrigerator-


Smoker seems to be pretty accurate. I also took a pic where the smoker was registering 275 (it's max) & Maverick showed 286, but it didn't turn out. I'm just glad it wasn't way below 275. With a plan to go "hot & fast" (in hopes of minimizing the stall time), I realize now that it will be more like "as warm & how-ever-long-it-takes" as this little smoker will go, We'll see.


In she goes on rack #2 about 6 am. The tater will hold my probe until use it on the meat. I figure it will be a few hours before that. The drippings I catch on rack #3 I plan on using the fat from for cooking & the rest I may freeze in an ice cube tray for "flavor cubes" for other dishes.


Now folks, I'm just a beginner & probably couldn't have picked a worse day weather-wise to do this, but hey, any day's a good day for a nice butt, right? Please feel free to hand out any advice, criticisms and/or life lessons to this newbie. I will also cross my fingers.
 
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I hope the rain goes away , you're going to love this Butt . I'll be watching
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Have fun and . . .
 
I'm about 2 hours in now. Smoker says it's holding at 275, but since I moved the probe over to the left side of the rack to put the meat in it now says 240-245.The wind is picking up to about 20 mph, so I rigged up some cover & now have the damper half-closed. I also put a piece of wood near the rear drain hole to shield some of the breeze from going in through there. I know it looks hill-billy, as I was just given this pop-up the other day. Upon inspection of the legs (one half of one is missing), I can see why my wife's co-worker told her we could just have it lol. No rain yet, but now the weather service has just added a tornado watch for most of the day....

 
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Tumblewed , it's very easy . You've got it stated , so keep your temp. up (I keep mine around 225*F , but if it wanders up to 300*F on you , no prob.) . Butt is

forgiving , and if you will let it stay in there the whole time without even opening the door , it will cook a bit faster and give a delectable Bark.

The trick is patience.

If wind and Rain are a factor , put on your 'big boy' pants on and go on out there . Put your Smoker where the wind is off you . Cover them with an umbrella

and let her go .

Done ( the foil is waht I set her on after coming out of the Smoker)

She'll be 'mash' tender and the bone pulled out clean with just a tug.

 and after pulling , add a finishing sauce ,

you'll be fine.
 
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Great start Tumble!!
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Hang in there---My fingers are crossed for your weather!!

Stan will keep one eye on you---I gotta go.

Be Back.

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Bear
 
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Looks great so far. Butts do take some time at 225 a large butt can smoke for 16 to 18 hours before it reaches an IT of 200 for pulling.  You may be eating around midnight!

 You've got good folks watching and that MES doesn't care if its raining. It just keeps on cooking.  Leave the door closed. No peeking!

Brian


 
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OSB- My big boy pants are in the laundry, but I've got the big boy boxers on (my neighbors are lucky they're all still in bed) & am hoping I have enough coverage from the elements. No rain yet, but wind is steady. It's nice out & the hangover is starting to subside a little lol. Your pics are killing me! Very nice.

Good to see you again, Bear. Hope you stop back in later.

Yeah Brian, I've read about how long some of these cuts can take, that's why I was hoping for hotter & faster. Unfortunately my smoker isn't going to hold at 300, but I'm hoping keeping it maxed (275) may make it go a little quicker. The weather here is going to be a major factor today. I won't consider it a failure if I can make it to foil & have to finish indoors, either. It's almost as dark now at 9:30 am as it was at 5:30 this morning. Very ominous skies, indeed.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. The backyard smells SO nice now, as I just added more hickory. Temps seem to be holding for the most part, so now the wheels are turning. I'm thinking beans, maybe. I have a couple of 28 oz cans of Bush's Original here & almost everything to make Dutch'e Wicked Beans recipe (I know I don't have the pineapple or jalapenos, though). I'm thinking, if the weather holds, maybe putting them in sometime after I foil, which I'm hoping to at around 160 IT. My question is, the recipe says 2 1/2-3 hours in the smoker. Any ideas or recommendations on about when, as far as the IT of the meat goes, would be about right? I was also thinking of pouring some of my drippings into these beans for some extra flavor. Good idea or not?

Also- since I'm planning on foiling, what would you recommend to put in with the butt at that time? I DO have honey, molasses, apple juice & butter, to name a few things. Anything else I might want to think about?
 
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Good to see you again, Bear. Hope you stop back in later.

Also- since I'm planning on foiling, what would you recommend to put in with the butt at that time? I DO have honey, molasses, apple juice & butter, to name a few things. Anything else I might want to think about?
You can add any or all of those things. 

I like to keep it simple & I don't like it too sweet, so just add some Apple Juice.

Here's my Step by Step:

Pulled Boston Pork Butt         

Bear
 
Nice read. Lots of useful info- thanks.
I plan on probing the meat in about a half an hour. It will have been in there 5 hours by then. I haven't opened the door since I put it in yet.
 
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yeahthat.gif
   But the family likes a splash of pineapple juice over apple  .  Not too much though!   Brian
That sounds good too, but I don't have any pineapple on hand. I will be getting some before the next time, as I want to use some chunks of pineapple in the beans I think I'm making. 

The weather is still dry, but windy. I just inserted my meat probe into the butt. It has been in the smoker for 5 hours at 275. I expected (hoped) it to read somewhere between 140 & 150. It is at 164! Now, at first when I put it in, I went too far & hit the bone. I then immediately removed the probe & went at a more horizontal angle. I let it sit for 10 minutes, to see if it would STILL be at 164, which it is. I'm definitely NOT complaining, but I thought it would take much longer to get this far.
The bark, however is not exactly what I think I want yet, so I would like to let it go to at least 170. How long CAN I take it before foiling, before it's TOO late, or is there such a thing? I DO want to get some apple juice to it at some point.

 
 
That sounds good too, but I don't have any pineapple on hand. I will be getting some before the next time, as I want to use some chunks of pineapple in the beans I think I'm making. 

The weather is still dry, but windy. I just inserted my meat probe into the butt. It has been in the smoker for 5 hours at 275. I expected (hoped) it to read somewhere between 140 & 150. It is at 164! Now, at first when I put it in, I went too far & hit the bone. I then immediately removed the probe & went at a more horizontal angle. I let it sit for 10 minutes, to see if it would STILL be at 164, which it is. I'm definitely NOT complaining, but I thought it would take much longer to get this far.
The bark, however is not exactly what I think I want yet, so I would like to let it go to at least 170. How long CAN I take it before foiling, before it's TOO late, or is there such a thing? I DO want to get some apple juice to it at some point.

It's been my experience that about 165 or so the butt will stall. Don't freak if the temp doesn't move for an hour or so. I'd say at 175  if you wanted you could wrap and finish in the oven. No shame in that brother!  But if the temp continues to climb then keep it in the MES. You'll have a better product that way. IMHO 

It look good so far.  Very nice color. 

Brian 
 
Some people never foil. I do, must please SWMBO. No foil will result in thicker heavier bark. There's little "wrong" way to do a butt, just a different way. Find what you like.
 
 
It's been my experience that about 165 or so the butt will stall. Don't freak if the temp doesn't move for an hour or so. I'd say at 175  if you wanted you could wrap and finish in the oven. No shame in that brother!  But if the temp continues to climb then keep it in the MES. You'll have a better product that way. IMHO 

It look good so far.  Very nice color. 

Brian 
Maybe I'm starting to find the stall here at 170, Brian. It went from 164 to 170 in just a few minutes, but now has been stuck at 170 now for almost an hour. The sky is starting to actually clear up, so I'd really like to finish this thing outside if I can. I just wish the wind would die down now. Thank you.

I also just added my beans.

Some people never foil. I do, must please SWMBO. No foil will result in thicker heavier bark. There's little "wrong" way to do a butt, just a different way. Find what you like.
I definitely don't mind a nicer, heavy bark, I was just thinking of foiling to add some juice & maybe speed it up. I think I'm going to wait until it stalls longer before foiling now. I Am going to keep the wood going until I DO foil (if at all). I'm sure it will be good for the beans, which need a couple or 3 hours anyway. Thanks.
 
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It's been my experience that about 165 or so the butt will stall. Don't freak if the temp doesn't move for an hour or so. I'd say at 175  if you wanted you could wrap and finish in the oven. No shame in that brother!  But if the temp continues to climb then keep it in the MES. You'll have a better product that way. IMHO 

It look good so far.  Very nice color. 

Brian 
yeahthat.gif


Hoping the weather improves.

Mike
 
looks good and I'm ready to try a MES -  BUTT?  which model should the weekend smoker look for? 
 
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