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.
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.
Last edited: