I had posted my results of wrapping pork butt in foil vs. butcher paper back in December in order to refine my method. I just wasn't happy with the results prior to that, and while that cook was by far the best pulled pork I had done, there was still room for improvement especially in the bark dept.. So I changed up my pit temp variables, today, and tried it again. The results were awesome, my wife loves the pork, and I'm glad to finally have found a method that appears to be fool-proof (cuz I can be a fool, at times).   

Here's what I did:

• Dry brined two 9 lb pork butts 48 hours prior to cook
• Applied dry rub (mine was an altered Memphis Dust) 24 hours prior to cook
• The morning of the cook I applied a thin coat of maple syrup with another light coat of rub
• The meat went on the smoker at 6:00 am at 225; when they hit an IT of 160 I wrapped one butt in foil and the other in butcher paper, raised pit to 275; this was at 2:00 pm
• The meat came off the smoker when they probed tender at ~203 IT, rested in an unheated oven for an hour, then pulled

This is the foil butt - lots of juice, tastes wonderful
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This is the bp butt - lots of juice and flavor, more bark
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Both side by side, foil on the left. You can see the bp pork is darker due to more bark.
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So, it's butcher paper for me and I'm sold on this method. Even though I had used maple syrup for the rub glue I couldn't taste it in the final product so I probably won't do that again. Others with a more sensitive palate might be able to taste it, but not me; I can't tell any difference between different pellet flavors, either. I pulled the butts using tongs - they were soooo tender. After pulling both butts I poured the juices into a fat separator and poured the meat juice back over the meat, though it wasn't necessary from a moisture standpoint it did add quite a bit of flavor.

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Looks and sounds fantastic. I may have to get me some butcher paper.

Very nice experiment. I love when folks do stuff like this and then share results.  Thanks.  And your pork looks great

Yum

Great looking PP.  Thanks for sharing.  Butcher paper it is for my next PP cook. 

 Excellent post Michael. Good description, start to finish.

I will need to use that butchers paper that I bought next time.  Any particular reason why you let the fat separate from your juices and didn't include it in the mix?

Great comparison.

I will need to use that butchers paper that I bought next time.  Any particular reason why you let the fat separate from your juices and didn't include it in the mix?

None other than I thought there was already plenty of fat and flavor in the pork. Really. When I pulled it with the tongs it almost sounded mushy. After I had added the juice back in to both pulled butts I could see the liquid in the bottom of the pans; that had never happened with my pulled pork cooks before this. My wife raved about the taste - end of discussion!

What was surprising was how well the butcher paper held in the liquid; it was trickier to pour off due to the less stiff nature of the paper, but there was no less liquid in the bp than the foil.

 Shouldn't a great post like this be in the recipe section under pork?   It would make it easier to locate later, especially for someone not too familiar with the site.

If Kristen or Bentley want to move it they can. I meant it as the end to an experiment regarding foil vs butcher paper and trying to find the balance between temp-time-bark, so it's not so much a how-to as it is a look-what-happened.    But you're right - I suppose it would make a decent place for someone to start if they are new to pellet cooking or are trying to nail down their method like I was.

It would be good to have in the recipe section now that it has spent a few days in general, so I will move to make sure it is always easy to find.

Nicely done!

I "foil" mine in a foil lasagna pan with apple juice, but I might try that way soon now that I have butcher paper.

I agree with you on the binder.  I have never used any "binder" on anything I put dry rub on.  Never found a need.  Put the rub on a few hours before cook and then into fridge to keep cold, the natural juices from the meat will do the binding for you.

Thanks for sharing!

Very nice color.

What was surprising was how well the butcher paper held in the liquid; it was trickier to pour off due to the less stiff nature of the paper, but there was no less liquid in the bp than the foil.

That is why I put the foiled butt in a pan after I pull it off the grill.  I just remove the foil and the juices fall in the pan.  I then pull right in the pan with the juices and mix everything together after throwing a little more rub in with the pulled meat before mixing.  I am too lazy to wait to separate fat and reincorporate.