Bull Pork Butt on Extreme Smoke

[Michael53]

Have a Bull RT-700. Has anyone ever smoked a pork shoulder for 12 hours plus on extreme smoke/Lo And then turned up heat to 225 to finish and bring up to 190 internal temp?

Forgot to mention- it’s a 10.5 lb butt.

 

[gossml]

I recently did two 7.5LB butts Smoke on low 8 HRS foil wrapped and set 225 until meat hit 200 total cook was 12 HRS. Made meat candy pulled apart with fork and tongs the crowd went wild.

 

[nikolausp]

I recently did two 7.5LB butts Smoke on low 8 HRS foil wrapped and set 225 until meat hit 200 total cook was 12 HRS. Made meat candy pulled apart with fork and tongs the crowd went wild.

No rest?

just curious

 

[opus]

Have a Bull RT-700. Has anyone ever smoked a pork shoulder for 12 hours plus on extreme smoke/Lo And then turned up heat to 225 to finish and bring up to 190 internal temp?

I have done it that way. I think my total cook time was like 16 hours. For me the internal temp usually has to get closer to 210 before the pork is real tender. I think I had mine set to 275 for the last few hours to get the internal temp up.

I don't rest them really. Of course I never rest my brisket either.

 

[Michael53]

Great,thanks. I’ll let you know how mine turns out.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I wouldn't recommend doing this due to the strong likelihood that you will be in the danger zone for more than four hours. In fact, Remember: 40-140-4 (roughly) which means that you don't want to have your meat in the 40deg to 140deg window for more than four hours. These #'s aren't exact, mind you, but it makes it easier to remember. For something like a Boston Butt I would NOT run at the low setting for that long as you're almost guaranteed to spend a high amount of time in that temp range where dangerous bacteria can grow. You will likely not taste a perceptible difference either so it's really not worth the risk.

Reading stuff like this is exactly the type of thing that makes me nervous to 'que at people's parties that I don't know anything about. Lots of people don't realize this can be dangerous if done incorrectly and just assume that the lower and slower you go the better the results.

 

[timelinex]

I wouldn't recommend doing this due to the strong likelihood that you will be in the danger zone for more than four hours. In fact, Remember: 40-140-4 (roughly) which means that you don't want to have your meat in the 40deg to 140deg window for more than four hours. These #'s aren't exact, mind you, but it makes it easier to remember. For something like a Boston Butt I would NOT run at the low setting for that long as you're almost guaranteed to spend a high amount of time in that temp range where dangerous bacteria can grow. You will likely not taste a perceptible difference either so it's really not worth the risk.

Reading stuff like this is exactly the type of thing that makes me nervous to 'que at people's parties that I don't know anything about. Lots of people don't realize this can be dangerous if done incorrectly and just assume that the lower and slower you go the better the results.

When you bring the meat up to 200+ degrees, doesn't that basically guarantee that you have killed all the bacteria? Seems like the rule of thumb would be for normal cooks where generally you cook meat to the minimum "safe" temperature and increasing bacteria load increase the amount still leftover at that low temperature.

I'm not a food safety expert, so would love to hear the reasoning why that's not right.

 

[cookingjnj]

If you are looking for more smoke flavor as the reason to keep on the extreme smoke setting for 12 hours, you might not be utilizing your cooking time very well. Typically a protein like pork butt will only take on smoke for a max of about 5 hours (from my past research) and after that does not take on much. Spraying with liquid every hour might help a bit. If you are on that low setting just to get the lowest cooking temp, different story. With my butts, I usually cook at 225 with the extreme smoke setting (I have a 680) the first 4-5 hours (unless I forget it is on that setting), then I turn off the extreme smoke and let it ride at the 225. Near the end if I need to speed up the cook prior to wrapping I will bump the temp up to 250-275.

 

[philipb828]

The interesting thing about the youtube experts telling you to 'be patient and always go by temp and not time'. However, my other local pellet smoking buddies ALL tell me that when they have starving guests who want to eat by 7pm - they all crank up the smoker temps near the end to try to make that happen... and for the most part, it works fine. The other benefit for some unwrapped meats is that you can improve the look of the bark at the end by raising the temp. I especially do this on poultry. My final thought is if you continue to keep the lower temps without seeing it get to a desired temp - you might just end up with very dry meat.

 

[Thomast63]

Have a Bull RT-700. Has anyone ever smoked a pork shoulder for 12 hours plus on extreme smoke/Lo And then turned up heat to 225 to finish and bring up to 190 internal temp?

Forgot to mention- it’s a 10.5 lb butt.

I put mine on at 9-10 pm and let it go all night and about 10 am or so I take it up to 225 -250 has needed to finish on time.

 

[mooncusser2k]

When you bring the meat up to 200+ degrees, doesn't that basically guarantee that you have killed all the bacteria? Seems like the rule of thumb would be for normal cooks where generally you cook meat to the minimum "safe" temperature and increasing bacteria load increase the amount still leftover at that low temperature.

I'm not a food safety expert, so would love to hear the reasoning why that's not right.

Yes, bringing the entire cut to a higher temp kills everything. Pulled pork doesn't get cooked to 125F like a prime rib. The situation also depends on whether the piece of meat is intact. If it's been cut into (eg, deboned) or injected, those could introduce surface bacteria to the interior of the meat. In which case you might be sensitive about getting up to temp.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

If the OP wants more smoke in his pulled pork, cook it any way you want til tender (including roasting in a covered tray in the oven), pull it, tray it and put it on the smoker for a bit, stir/turn it over a couple times. The smoke flavor will be thru and thru. You can add moisture and flavor with broth made from pork broth (or even chicken broth) with your rub added in.

I started doing this when using my stickburner and still do it with the pellet grill. Crank the pellet grill to 350-400 and add a smoke tube. Let it brown up.

 

[chadinsc]

i noticed when i reheat pulled pork on the smoker that it gets a great strong smoke flavor like roaniecowpony said

 

[Michael53]

Thanks to all for the input. I’m a long-term offset stick burner, and this was my first serious smoke on my new Bull. I have been vacillating for 2 years about a pellet grill, primarily because of several neighbors who all bought pit boss smokers and which produced very disappointing smoke flavor. Being originally from Texas, I was raised on smoky bbq, cooked with hickory or pecan. Living in Wisconsin, real bbq is almost impossible to find so I am known for the best bbq- meaning smoked meat in my neighborhood. I did a lot of research and after a friend in Illinois bought a recteq I decided to make the plunge. Glad I did.

Now for the report on how it turned out: I cooked my pork shoulder on extreme smoke 180 degrees all night, putting it on at 6:00 pm, then raising to 225 the next morning at 8:00 am. So 14 hours on extreme smoke. I later raised temp to 250 and took the shoulder off at 12:30, wrapped it in foil and towels for 2 hours. It turned out amazing with heavy bark and a strong smoke flavor- I believe as good as any I have cooked on my offset. High moisture in the meat- easy to do with a shoulder/butt.

Next I will cook two briskets- a significantly more challenging smoke based on my experience so I can’t do use the same approach since in my experience briskets require a lot more attention. But this smoke is amazing for its quality build and set-it and forget-it ability.

Thank you all for the helpful input!

 

[zueth]

I wouldn't recommend doing this due to the strong likelihood that you will be in the danger zone for more than four hours. In fact, Remember: 40-140-4 (roughly) which means that you don't want to have your meat in the 40deg to 140deg window for more than four hours. These #'s aren't exact, mind you, but it makes it easier to remember. For something like a Boston Butt I would NOT run at the low setting for that long as you're almost guaranteed to spend a high amount of time in that temp range where dangerous bacteria can grow. You will likely not taste a perceptible difference either so it's really not worth the risk.

Reading stuff like this is exactly the type of thing that makes me nervous to 'que at people's parties that I don't know anything about. Lots of people don't realize this can be dangerous if done incorrectly and just assume that the lower and slower you go the better the results.

No, doesn't apply. I have cooked 4 butts that took close to 24 hours. You are cooking these to 205 IT or higher!

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

No, doesn't apply. I have cooked 4 butts that took close to 24 hours. You are cooking these to 205 IT or higher!

The problem isn’t always the live bacteria. Sure, nobody wants an infection from live organisms, but a lot of times, it’s what the bacteria leave behind when they die that could kill you. The capsules that E. coli (and other gram negative bacteria) leave behind contain endotoxin (Lipid A) that is not destroyed with heat. More time in the danger zone allows any small amounts of bacteria to multiply, and the more E. coli, the more dangerous it is. There are ways to pasteurize things using low heat for an extended period of time, but this wouldn’t fit those criteria.