About to smoke my first pork butt

[Zteknon]

Like the title says I'm about to smoke my first pork butt. Ive got the MES 30 and the cold smoking attachment. Currently the pork is brining. Are there any tips or suggestions to make this come out well? Im hoping the cold smoker attachment gives me a much better smoke than with just the MES 30.

 

[Braz]

The cold smoker attachment will work fine. The chips sometimes have a tendency to get stuck in the chip tower and not fall down to the heating element. Keep a dowel rod or a long screwdriver handy so you can gently push the chips down if necessary.

 

[SmokinAl]

I found if you load the chips from the top, which is harder than turning it over & filling it from the bottom. They tend to slide down the tower better. If you pour some chips on a paper plate & curl the plate up, it will act like a funnel & they will slide off the plate & go in the top much easier!
Al

 

[holyfeld]

Like the title says I'm about to smoke my first pork butt. Ive got the MES 30 and the cold smoking attachment. Currently the pork is brining. Are there any tips or suggestions to make this come out well? Im hoping the cold smoker attachment gives me a much better smoke than with just the MES 30.

Do you have an external thermometer such as a Maverick? Some MESs have noticeable temperature offsets from the set point. Cycling around the setpoint (-10/+10) is normal as the MES uses an off/on action.

Beyond that low and slow. 225F. Expect the stall around 160-165.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Lmao @ holyfeld's pic.. :D

Hope it turns out good Zteknon.

 

[Zteknon]

Yep yep. I have two different external thermometers. One which was the iGrill mini. Cannot overstate on how much NOT to get that thing. Works terribly in the meat. Works decently at ambient temp monitoring. In meat it proved to be almost 30 degrees off at times versus a normal thermometer. I'm going to be trying my new ThermoPRO with dual probes thing this time around.

Yeah worried about the time to smoke on this one. Im guestimating around 14 hours or so. Hoping for around 12 though.

A guy at work advised pouring a few cups worth of apple juice in the moisture pan in the MES. Ill be trying that. Dont think I'm going to try the weird vinegar spray thing I see some people do on youtube.

Thanks for the cold smoker advice. First time using it and kinda nervous. Really hoping it can go at least 4 hours or so without a refill. I like to do this sleep thing at least somewhat. Should I just leave the cold smoker attachment on at all times? Ive seen a few reviews talking about turning on/off at different times.

 

[Zteknon]

Update. Now on hour 12 of smoking. Stuck at that 170-degree internal temp I see people talking about. Just keep smoking longer I guess?

Cold smoker seems to last about 4-5 hours per chip load. Getting that glorious thin blue smoke I see people talking about.

 

[blackbeard1]

Ztek, how'd the pork turn out?

I'm doing my first smoke in the next few days. 6.6lb bone-in Boston. Just got done rubbing it actually. What kind of ball park time should I expect?

 

[Zteknon]

Turned out pretty good actually. Forgot to post results. So It took about 16 1/2 hours of smoking for me. The end result was I should have let it smoke another 2 ish hours to make it really tender. It wasn't quite as fall apart as I would have liked. Also will probably try applewood next time. Hickory was much stronger flavor than I was expecting. Also Im going to try throwing some more sugar in the brine as well. Definitely needs no salt whatsoever in the rub. Lessons learned and all.

 

[slapaho_injun]

I just did an 8# pork butt (bone in) in my Masterbuilt 30 smoker. I rubbed the meat with olive oil, then liberally (only thing I do liberally) applied an applewood rub to the butt. Put it on the middle rack in the smoker with the meat temp probe inserted. Smoked at 225 til IT was 165 degrees. Just had water in the water pan. Added Apple wood chips and a small amount of mesquite chips every 45 minutes until the stall. The stall seemed to last just over an hour but I waited til it hit 165. That was about the 7 hr mark. At 165 I pulled the pork out and wrapped it in a double layer of foil, reinserted the temp prob and put it back in the smoker. Kicked the temp up to 240 and let it finish to 200 degrees IT. About 4 hrs more to get to 200. 11 hr total time in the smoker. Pulled it off the smoker and let it rest for 30 minutes. Put on a pair of rubber gloves and pulled it all apart by hand. Best I've ever tasted.

 

[fracchia23]

:)