# 20 hour pork butt smoke



## okie52 (May 1, 2015)

I tried an injected brine recipe from another board yesterday.  I only gave the brine about 8 hours before I started smoking a 9 lb butt so probably not long enough for it to work its magic.  

I started smoking it at 11pm at 160 degrees.  At 8:30am I turned the temp up to 225.  The IT was 138 at that time.  Here is a pic at 12:30pm the next day after 13.5 hours of smoking. The IT was 167 at that time.













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__ okie52
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5.5 hours later I wrapped the pork up in foil and put it in the cooler.  The IT was 201 at that time.

Here are pics after it got an hour of rest before I started pulling it.   













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All told I had 20 hours on this cook. 19 hours of smoking and 1 hour of "rest" in the cooler.  I didn't wrap the butt in foil during smoking.

The family loved it.


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## mdboatbum (May 1, 2015)

Please do yourself and more importantly your family a favor and do some reading on safe cooking practices. I applaud your efforts and the pork does look pretty, but nearly 10 hours in the bacterial danger zone is putting anyone who eats that at risk of an unpleasant episode.


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## b-one (May 1, 2015)

Mdboatbum said:


> Please do yourself and more importantly your family a favor and do some reading on safe cooking practices. I applaud your efforts and the pork does look pretty, but nearly 10 hours in the bacterial danger zone is putting anyone who eats that at risk of an unpleasant episode.



+1 especially when injecting. Hope all went well as it is tasty looking.:drool


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## fwismoker (May 1, 2015)

Yes the pull does look great....   Here's the but.  I agree with the safety issue and the injecting.   

Adding to that I'd add to that is nothing better happens with a long low smoke and most of the time you'll have better smoke going hotter (depending on how you run your fire)

10 lb. butts typically take me 45 minutes per lb with mahogany edible bark, plenty of smoke ring and juicy as can be.   Point being you can cook hotter and have a great product.













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__ fwismoker
__ Feb 4, 2014


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## stickyfingers (May 1, 2015)

_*20 hours*_ for a 9 lb butt...unbelievable 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






!! NICE bark though!


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## cliffcarter (May 1, 2015)

> Another vote for cooking hot and fast. There is no advantage to going low and slow for butts IMHO and the biggest disadvantage is too long in the danger zone.


     Why did you cook it for over 9 hours at 160°?


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## damon555 (May 1, 2015)

I'm just wondering who instructed you to smoke the butt at 160 degrees for any amount time?


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## okie52 (May 2, 2015)

Well I was trying to time the cook to end about 3:30-400 pm the next day.  I've heard the concerns about the low cook temp and I'll probably adjust it to 225 in the future to keep a safer "cook zone".  

However...fortunately the cook was without any damage and was fantastic in its results.


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## okie52 (May 2, 2015)

Damon555 said:


> I'm just wondering who instructed you to smoke the butt at 160 degrees for any amount time?



Oh I'll smoke food between 160-180 for 1-2 hours often before cranking it up to 225 and plan on continuing to do so in the future.


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## okie52 (May 2, 2015)

cliffcarter said:


> Why did you cook it for over 9 hours at 160°?



disagree.about low and slow and prefer it to faster cooks.


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## damon555 (May 2, 2015)

I'm sorry for being up front but we are just trying to help. We are only passing along what the USDA says in regard to safe cooking temperatures.....and keeping meat in the danger zone (40-140 degrees) for 9 1/2 hours is dangerous.

Please don't take our word for it....It's spelled out in very simple terms on various web sites.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

Damon555 said:


> I'm sorry for being up front but we are just trying to help. We are only passing along what the USDA says in regard to safe cooking temperatures.....and keeping meat in the danger zone (40-140 degrees) for 9 1/2 hours is dangerous.
> 
> Please don't take our word for it....It's spelled out in very simple terms on various web sites.



I think some are forgetting that the IT on this pork was taken to 200+ degrees.  Most contamination resides on the surface.

 I appreciate the concern but I'm not going to follow all of the USDA guidelines on smoking or grilling.  Here are just a few of them:



> *Safe Smoking*
> 
> Smoking is cooking food indirectly in the presence of
> a fire. It can be done in a covered grill if a pan of
> ...



So no smoking at 225 degrees...kind of the sweet spot for most smokers.



> *Does Grilling Pose a Cancer Risk?*
> 
> Some studies suggest there may be a cancer risk
> related to eating food cooked by high-heat cooking
> ...





> *Precooking*
> *Precooking food partially in the microwave, oven, or
> stove is a good way of reducing grilling time*. Just
> make sure that the food goes immediately on the
> preheated grill to complete cooking.





> *MEATS*
> *Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops,
> and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of
> 145°F as measured with a food thermometer before
> ...



http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/co...f7132098/Barbecue_Food_Safety.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

So searing/ charring are out on grilling.  You like char marks on your meat...too bad.  So are medium rare and rare steaks.  And microwaving your meats prior to throwing them on the grill?  

I can't believe I've made through the last 40 years of smoking and grilling.


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## fwismoker (May 4, 2015)

I just think you get a better smoke from a hotter fire vs a  low smoldering fire.

I do agree that if a solid muscle is not compromised it can go longer than the 140 in 4 but see no good reason pushing the envelope when the quality can be better going hotter.


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## timberjet (May 4, 2015)

BUT...you injected and when you did you pushed the surface bacteria into the meat. This is the reason for the concern. If you had not injected there would not be a problem. Well, not as much of one anyway. Just trying to educate you a bit. This is why I do not inject large muscle meats. Now, I will inject under 5 pounds at times because you can beat the 4 hour rule on a smaller hunk of meat. I don't think there is any real good reason for pushing the envelope on this. If you read the site rules you will see that posting unsafe practices is a no no here. The problem being some newby out there may get sick or dead family and friends by following your practices. I know I would feel really bad if someone got sick using my UNSAFE techniques.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

Well, on pellet smokers hotter fires often mean less smoke.  In fact, you won't see much smoke from a pellet grill above 300 degrees if they are using a PID as most of them have a bellows mode below 300 degrees. Generally the higher the temp the less smoke amount that is produced.  I would also say there isn't much "smoldering" on a pellet grill with a PID even at 160 degrees...they are very efficient temp controllers.  

I also prefer low and slow in most cases.  I know there are some that will do briskets as high as 350 degrees and some people swear by their results...I've always had good success with low and slow and plan on contnuing to use it on butts and briskets.


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## timberjet (May 4, 2015)

I always go low and slow. 225 is just right for my smokers. Remember, pulled pork keeps hotter than heck in a cooler wrapped up for hours and hours. Just be careful with injecting and happy smoking.


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## knifebld (May 4, 2015)

Looks good, but am curious as to the benefit of smoking at 160 to start? I can understand the safety issues...but if you set those aside....why would someone want to go lower than 225/235?


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## timberjet (May 4, 2015)

I see a lot of folks around here use an auxiliary pellet smoker in their pellet grills. Like an amazen pellet maze or tube. You might look into this. They are really cheap and effective and then you don't have to go so low to get good smoke.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

timberjet said:


> BUT...you injected and when you did you pushed the surface bacteria into the meat. This is the reason for the concern. If you had not injected there would not be a problem. Well, not as much of one anyway. Just trying to educate you a bit. This is why I do not inject large muscle meats. Now, I will inject under 5 pounds at times because you can beat the 4 hour rule on a smaller hunk of meat. I don't think there is any real good reason for pushing the envelope on this. If you read the site rules you will see that posting unsafe practices is a no no here. The problem being some newby out there may get sick or dead family and friends by following your practices. I know I would feel really bad if someone got sick using my UNSAFE techniques.


Well the injection part was a first for me on pork butt but still the IT was over 200 degrees.  And I've injected briskets for a long time.  Generally I'll smoke them at 180 overnight and then take it to 225 after about 6 hours of smoking ( another unsafe temp by USDA standards) for the rest of the cook.  

If you think that I'm posting unsafe cooking then report me.  By USDA standards most grillers charring their food, serving rare or medium rare steaks, or smoking below 250 is unsafe.


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## timberjet (May 4, 2015)

Well, I'm done with this thread. You have been educated. take it or leave it.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

timberjet said:


> I see a lot of folks around here use an auxiliary pellet smoker in their pellet grills. Like an amazen pellet maze or tube. You might look into this. They are really cheap and effective and then you don't have to go so low to get good smoke.


I  have an 18" Amazn tube as well as a smoke daddy big Kahuna and think they are both excellent products.  The smoke daddy will pack a punch but it does need tending every 1/2 hour to hour so overnight is not a good option.  The Amazn tube works well but I've found I still like the smoke flavor generated by the pellet smoker better.  I generally like to use the Amazn tube at higher temps when less smoke is being generated by the smoker.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

knifebld said:


> Looks good, but am curious as to the benefit of smoking at 160 to start? I can understand the safety issues...but if you set those aside....why would someone want to go lower than 225/235?


Timing.  

I was trying to get the pork to be finished smoking about 3-4pm the next day so it could go into the cooler and be rested by 5-6pm.  I started at 11pm the night before.  I knew at 225 it would be ready at about 11-12 the next day and that was too long for me to leave it wrapped in a cooler.


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## okie52 (May 4, 2015)

I can't take credit for the injecting step I used as I was only following someone else's recipe but this step included:

The pork was at 34 degrees when removed from the refrigerator as that was the temp of the fridge and it had been in there for 3 days.

The injection consisted of soy, vinegar and rub which were heated to a slight boil and then was strained and cooled with ice packs rapidly to get under 40 degrees prior to injecting.  I assume neither the meat nor the injection were above 40 degrees at the time of injecting. 

I had never heard of chilling an injection...certainly not on briskets that I do often with room temp beef broth and the like.  But I was just following the recipe on the butt as close as I could with regard to the injection sauce.     

The injected pork was then put back in the refrigerator for about 8 hours prior to being placed on the smoker.


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