# Smoked First Pork Butt, Maybe too much smoke



## vwaldoguy (Jul 11, 2015)

Is there any way to salvage meat that might have too much smoke?  I smoked my first pork butt today, a 7 lb bone-in butt, in my MES Gen 1 30" smoker.  Used the AMNPS with the Pittmaster pellets.  Had thin blue smoke when I started at 5 am, then left to go for a run for a couple of hours.  Came back to thick white billowing smoke and all 3 lines of the AMNPS had been torched.  It smoked too fast, too much air, and the tray smoked too much I think.  I foiled at 165, then finished it to 205 which took about 9 hours total.  It's wrapped in foil now and resting in the cooler wrapped in towels.  Worried that it might be too smoky after seeing that thick white billowing smoke.  I knew I shouldn't have left it, but went to meet some friends to get my run in.  If the meat is too smoky, is there any way to salvage it? The bonus, my wife invited her mom over to dinner. I'm nervous about serving meat to my mom in law on my first pork butt smoke.  She did the same thing a  few weeks ago when we smoked ribs.


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## millerbuilds (Jul 11, 2015)

You will be surprised, it is very tough to get too much smoke into a butt since they have a smaller surface area compared to brisket or ribs.  If you are concerned, pull the outside layers off to the side, pull the core and then add the bark and outside layers to your blend.  Once it is stirred in the smoke flavor will mellow with the rest of the meat.  Keep adding, stirring, and tasting until you get the flavor you want.  Make sure you add all of the juice from the foil wrap.

Good Luck!

Smoke ON!

-Jason


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## mdboatbum (Jul 11, 2015)

I agree with Millerbuilds. Nearly impossible to over smoke a butt. The whole "evil white smoke" thing is a bit blown out of proportion around here. Yes, you want to avoid it, but among the things to really worry about when smoking meat, it's a good ways down the list. Food safety, seasonings, nailing the correct internal temp, maintaining smoker temperature, these are all things that can really mess up a piece of meat. A little white smoke might not be ideal, but it'll still be edible. It's a lot harder to create creosote than you might think.


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## vwaldoguy (Jul 11, 2015)

Thanks Jason for the tips.  I'll know how it turned out in a couple of hours.  Never thought about mixing the meat with different layers.  That should help.


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## vwaldoguy (Jul 11, 2015)

MDboatbum, thanks for the reassurance.  I think everything else about the smoke was spot on.  Had smoker temps 225-250 the whole time.  Foiled at the right time at 165, and got it up to 205 internal temp, so in theory, everything else seems OK.


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## damon555 (Jul 11, 2015)

Don't worry about it. It will be great once you get it all mixed together when you pull it. When I smoke on my WSM the meat goes on shortly after the smoker is started. There is usually plenty of white, billowy smoke for the first 1/2 hour or so. It's never caused an issue.....


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## cats49er (Jul 11, 2015)

only thing I might do along with what " Millerbuilds " recomends is check the bark for taste,make sure it is not bitter or taste like lighter fluid. Then use as Millerbuilds states.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 11, 2015)

I agree with Jason & Cats as to what to do.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






If you smoked that whole AMNPS all at once, it is quite possible to get too much Heavy Smoke. That could have been 11 hours worth of nice smoke flaring up all at once in a heavy cloud.

It never happened to me, but I remember when my Son (6 years ago) emptied his 6" X 6" AMNS that was filled with Sawdust, in less than one Hour.  NOT GOOD !!!

Bear


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## millerbuilds (Jul 11, 2015)

To add, many people (myself for one) smoke a butt on a stick burner.  You may have TBS, but you have it for 12 hours, also sometimes when adding wood I will get a few minutes of white puffy smoke, never had an issue with overly smokey butts.

Hope it turns out great!
 

Smoke ON!

-Jason


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## vwaldoguy (Jul 11, 2015)

Thank you all for the feedback.  We thought the pork was perfect.  It had a gentle smokey flavor, just right.  Definitely not too much.  I was worried for nothing.  But it was good learning lesson. Now we have leftovers for a week.  We are going to vacuum freeze about 2/3 of it for another day.


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## millerbuilds (Jul 12, 2015)

vwaldoguy said:


> Thank you all for the feedback.  We thought the pork was perfect.  It had a gentle smokey flavor, just right.  Definitely not too much.  I was worried for nothing.  But it was good learning lesson. Now we have leftovers for a week.  We are going to vacuum freeze about 2/3 of it for another day.


Glad to hear it worked out for you! 

Smoke ON!

-Jason


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## mdboatbum (Jul 12, 2015)

Glad to hear it was a hit!! Moving forward, you should strive for thin blue smoke, but now you know there's no need to get hysterical if a little white smoke shows up. I've even used it to my advantage. One thanksgiving, the turkey was almost up to temperature but looked a little pale. I tossed 3 or 4 chunks in with the coals and let the white smoke roll. A short time later the bird hit its target temp and it was the most beautiful mahogany color. Flavor was perfect too!! Now I wouldn't want to smoke like that the whole time, but it definitely solved the pale skin problem. Also good for things like scallops that you don't want to give very much heat. A 20 minute blast of billowing smoke followed by a quick sear and you'll have beautiful smoked scallops.


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