# pork butt sticks to cooking grate when taking it off the smoker??



## jerseydrew (Apr 17, 2013)

taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates. 

i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?


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## demosthenes9 (Apr 17, 2013)

jerseydrew said:


> taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates.
> 
> i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?


Foil tins work, so do Q-Matz.  That said, I'm convinced that the foil pans interfere with the smoke getting to the meat, but I can easily be wrong about that.   :)


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## jerseydrew (Apr 17, 2013)

that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.


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## truckerbob (Apr 17, 2013)

oops, wrong thread!


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## demosthenes9 (Apr 17, 2013)

jerseydrew said:


> that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.


My bad  :)  Guess it would help if I read the post all the way to the end  :)

Now I'm feeling really dumb as the thought of doing it mid way never crossed my mind, even though I stop hitting my butts with smoke after about 6 hours.  :D


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## demosthenes9 (Apr 17, 2013)




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## truckerbob (Apr 17, 2013)

Demosthenes9 said:


> Man that looks tasty Bob.


Sorry, I meant to put that in my thread... multitasking never was my strong suit!


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## driedstick (Apr 18, 2013)

Maybe hit your racks with a quick spray of Pam,, just a thought that's what I do with my racks seem to help a little.


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## thsmormonsmokes (Apr 18, 2013)

When I have the sticky butt problem, I have a very large spatula I use.  It's big enough to scrape the entire butt off, even when it wants to stick a little.

-Man, that sounds seriously wrong.

Another option is to lift it and have a helper standing by with a spatula to scrape off any parts that stick.  You could also cook to a slightly lower IT to avoid it completely falling apart on you just from trying to pick it up.  Unless that's the texture you're going for.  Personally I prefer a tad more chew in it than that when it completely melts.  I want it to shred nice, but still chew like meat.  But that's just my personal preference.

One other thing I've thought of is not rubbing the bottom.  If there's skin on it, the rub is going to waste anyway.  And when there's no skin, I usually scrape off the fat layer on the bottom.  My experience has been that it's the sugar in my rub that makes it sticky.


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## chef willie (Apr 18, 2013)

When mines done I usually pull the whole rack out and either run that into the house as is or put on a near-by handy cutting board and trot that into the house. Some guys here use those slick heat proof gloves to grab it but it still may fall apart that way


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## michief (Apr 18, 2013)

Yep, when I use gloves it leaves chunks behind so I started taking the grates inside


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## rdknb (Apr 18, 2013)

I am in the spray with pam and I  also take grate in.  I put it all on a big cookie sheet and take inside.


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## austinl (Apr 18, 2013)

jerseydrew said:


> taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates.
> 
> i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?


How hot are you cooking these things at?  I've never had anything stick to the grates of my smoker.  As for the foil pans; if you do not cover them its been my experience that smoke will still get down there over a long cook.  The only down side to doing most of your cooking sitting in a pan would be the need to drain some of the fat drippings off, which could present a whole new set of problems if you are having problems with it falling apart while moving it.  If you only use a pan the last couple hours of cooking most of the dripping collected will not be too greasy too toss back in the meat, and it is a lot easier to pull the meat in the same pan you plan on serving/storing it in.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 18, 2013)

jerseydrew said:


> that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.


Smoke will actually absorb the entire smoke, but the rate slows down a bit around 150°.

The foil pans do work, but the bark on the bottom gets soft and greasy, so I don't use em. I would try spraying the racks with Pam, and get a big BBQ spatuala for helping to lift them.


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## damon555 (Apr 18, 2013)

That's one of the numerous reasons why I smoke fat side down.....


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 18, 2013)

Pam works well and the QMATZ are a Godsend. But spray the Grates outside as Pam on a Vinyl or Tile Kitchen Floor is slicker than Teflon. Has put many a Kitchen Rookie on their Butt in the Culinary School I taught in. I have no issue with using a Pan halfway through the Smoke. There is still plenty of smoke flavor and great Bark on the rest of the Butt. A couple of Paper Towels will make quick work of soaking up any grease in the bottom of the pan, too risky to try and pour it off...JJ


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## s2k9k (Apr 18, 2013)

*Q-Matz!!!!!* I don't smoke anything without them anymore....has made life much easier!!!


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## pc farmer (Apr 18, 2013)

S2K9K said:


> *Q-Matz!!!!!* I don't smoke anything without them anymore....has made life much easier!!!



X2.  Use them all the time.


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## smoke slinger (Apr 19, 2013)

I agree with AustinL as I have never had a problem of anything sticking to the grates.


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## austinl (Apr 19, 2013)

Maybe the sticking problem has to do with the types of grates in some peoples' smokers.


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## seenred (Apr 19, 2013)

I don't have the Q-matz yet, but gotta get some.  I do use cooking spray (Pam, etc.) on the grates, helps a lot with the meat sticking.

Red


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## demosthenes9 (Apr 19, 2013)

AustinL said:


> Maybe the sticking problem has to do with the types of grates in some peoples' smokers.



That and maybe the ingredients and amount of rub.


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## austinl (Apr 19, 2013)

Does anyone have any pics they can post of these sticking problems?  I'm curious now because I've never had anything even kinda seemed like it stuck to the grates, never...


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## chef jimmyj (Apr 20, 2013)

On the MES I get a little Bark sticking but never leaves big chunks on the grates...JJ


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## rtbbq2 (Apr 20, 2013)

Pam is the fast solution. Once your grate is WELL seasoned it is less likely to happen. Qmats rock too. Now available from Amaze N Products.


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## kennyp1114 (Jan 7, 2015)

smoke slinger said:


> I agree with AustinL as I have never had a problem of anything sticking to the grates.






AustinL said:


> How hot are you cooking these things at?  I've never had anything stick to the grates of my smoker.  As for the foil pans; if you do not cover them its been my experience that smoke will still get down there over a long cook.  The only down side to doing most of your cooking sitting in a pan would be the need to drain some of the fat drippings off, which could present a whole new set of problems if you are having problems with it falling apart while moving it.  If you only use a pan the last couple hours of cooking most of the dripping collected will not be too greasy too toss back in the meat, and it is a lot easier to pull the meat in the same pan you plan on serving/storing it in.


I smoked mine at 225 and let internal reach 205 and it stuck bad. Had fat side up.


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