Help / advice on a hot and fast pork butt cook?

[jennsf]

I just bought a Yoder YS640 and did my first cook a few days ago. I have guests showing up on Saturday and they are begging me to make them pulled pork.  I won't be home Friday to start an overnighter, so I have to smoke on Saturday and be ready to serve at 6pm. The soonest I can get the cook started is 9am - so I only have a 8 hour cooking time at most, if I'm going to rest the meat before pulling.

I'm nervous about doing a hot and fast on the Yoder.  I always cooked a butt 12 hours or so on my WSM, so I have no experience with hot and fast cooking.

So I'm trying to make quick and rather uninformed decisions about the obvious stuff - like how to get a good bark, what starting temp, when to wrap (some recipes say at 150... that seems low to me).

Any advice from the 'hot and fast' experts is most welcome!!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Yep...Don't do Hot and Fast on the Yoder! Above 200 degree no Pellet Grill will make enough smoke to give the flavor you are used to from the WSM, unless you have a separate smoke generator like an A-MAZE-N Tube. However, there is no reason you can't cut the Butt into quarters, about 2 pounds each. Put the chunks in the Yoder at the Smoker Temp, 180-200, and smoke to an IT of 150-160, about 3 hours. Next, pan the meat with some liquid, apple juice, cola, Margarita[emoji]128512[/emoji] and cover tightly with foil. Crank the Yoder to 325 and take the meat lT to 205. This will be another hour or 2. Rest 30 minutes on the counter or longer, if desired, in a cooler and serve. You will sacrifice some bark crunch but the added surface area will hold a whole lot more smoke and Rub goodness! You get to use the new toy, get lots of flavor and done in under 6 hours...JJ

 

[SmokinAl]

Why not just run the WSM at 300 degrees. 

Use the Yoder for another day!

Al

 

[jennsf]

 
Why not just run the WSM at 300 degrees. 

Use the Yoder for another day!

Al

Al,

Alas, my WSM vanished during my house move a few months back. We moved during a blizzard and there was a lot of confusion. It sounds like my WSM, which I had broken down for the move, was mistakenly loaded in a truck headed for the dump. I didn't figure that out till I got to Santa Fe and it wasn't in the moving truck. My Weber Performer grill made it out here, so at least I have that for my wings and burgers. Sometime along the track I'll likely buy another WSM - can't see myself without one!

 

[jennsf]

Yep...Don't do Hot and Fast on the Yoder! Above 200 degree no Pellet Grill will make enough smoke to give the flavor you are used to from the WSM, unless you have a separate smoke generator like an A-MAZE-N Tube. However, there is no reason you can't cut the Butt into quarters, about 2 pounds each. Put the chunks in the Yoder at the Smoker Temp, 180-200, and smoke to an IT of 150-160, about 3 hours. Next, pan the meat with some liquid, apple juice, cola, Margarita[emoji]128512[/emoji] and cover tightly with foil. Crank the Yoder to 325 and take the meat lT to 205. This will be another hour or 2. Rest 30 minutes on the counter or longer, if desired, in a cooler and serve. You will sacrifice some bark crunch but the added surface area will hold a whole lot more smoke and Rub goodness! You get to use the new toy, get lots of flavor and done in under 6 hours...JJ

Thanks so much JJ - great method.  I'm going to do it exactly the way you describe and will post results!

 

[mrad]

Yep...Don't do Hot and Fast on the Yoder! Above 200 degree no Pellet Grill will make enough smoke to give the flavor you are used to from the WSM, unless you have a separate smoke generator like an A-MAZE-N Tube. However, there is no reason you can't cut the Butt into quarters, about 2 pounds each. Put the chunks in the Yoder at the Smoker Temp, 180-200, and smoke to an IT of 150-160, about 3 hours. Next, pan the meat with some liquid, apple juice, cola, Margarita[emoji]128512[/emoji] and cover tightly with foil. Crank the Yoder to 325 and take the meat lT to 205. This will be another hour or 2. Rest 30 minutes on the counter or longer, if desired, in a cooler and serve. You will sacrifice some bark crunch but the added surface area will hold a whole lot more smoke and Rub goodness! You get to use the new toy, get lots of flavor and done in under 6 hours...JJ

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread but have one question for Jimmy.  How do you get bark smoking at 180-200?  I have Blazin Grill works Grid Iron and use the amazen tube because of the lack of smoke I get at the temps I cook my meat at which is usually 225-275.

I have often thought about leaving the meat at 160 for the first 60-90 minutes to see if I can enhance the smoke flavor even more before turn temp up higher to get bark. 

 

[jennsf]

 
I don't mean to hi-jack the thread but have one question for Jimmy.  How do you get bark smoking at 180-200?  I have Blazin Grill works Grid Iron and use the amazen tube because of the lack of smoke I get at the temps I cook my meat at which is usually 225-275.

I have often thought about leaving the meat at 160 for the first 60-90 minutes to see if I can enhance the smoke flavor even more before turn temp up higher to get bark. 

Also curious about that.

 

[jennsf]

As luck would have it, I got home early enough to get two pork butts into the Yoder just after 10pm tonight.  I'm going to try the "set and forget" method - I'll get up early on Saturday and hope they are not charred or otherwise destroyed!

It feels strange not to be baby-sitting all night.  I'm still going to try JJ's hot and fast some time in the near future - I'd like to see how that turns out.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread but have one question for Jimmy.  How do you get bark smoking at 180-200?  I have Blazin Grill works Grid Iron and use the amazen tube because of the lack of smoke I get at the temps I cook my meat at which is usually 225-275.
I have often thought about leaving the meat at 160 for the first 60-90 minutes to see if I can enhance the smoke flavor even more before turn temp up higher to get bark. 

Good question. A hijack would have been asking how to cook a chicken.[emoji]128512[/emoji]

Below ,225 getting a crisp bark is difficult without many hours in the smoker. Bark is a combination of the Browning of the amino acids and sugars in protein, the Maillard Reaction, and surface drying. This happens very slowly between 130 & 225. From many hours to days if there is a high moisture content and a low pH, like Jerky. At higher temps, 225 to 280, the reaction is slow, 4+ hours depending on temp. Above 280 an hour or less, like searing a steak in 5 minutes in a cast iron pan. So,, if you are looking for more smoke in your Pellet Poopers smoking at 180 then bumping the temp up will give good flavor and a crisp bark...JJ