Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Michael_NW]

I took time this past Saturday to cook two pork butts, and when the time came to wrap I wrapped one in foil and the other in butcher paper. I did this because up until now I had never wrapped pork butt and had never been completely happy with the results. Though the meat had great flavor and bark it was also dryer than I thought it should be. Since I had just recently cooked brisket and wrapped in bp with great results, I wanted to see how wrapping in foil vs. bp would compare. I also felt I now had a dependable cooker to get consistent results. Here's how it went:

I started with two nearly identical pork butts I purchased from my local Winco Foods. Only .98/lb!
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Friday night I dry brined them both with Morton's Kosher Salt. I was going to brine them starting Friday morning but I was late for work, and so they only had the salt on for 12 hours and I wish it had been longer. The finished product needed salt, I thought.

Saturday morning, 6:00 am, out of the fridge, rubbed with altered Memphis Dust and into the MAK they went at 275 degrees, fat side up.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

At 1:00 pm, both butts had reached 160 IT, and though I wasn't happy with the amount of bark formation, I thought they would be stalling soon, so I wrapped them and back into the smoker they went, continuing at 275 degrees pit temp.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

[Michael_NW]

I checked them again at 4:00 pm and both butts were lock-step at 193 IT. I should have hung around watched them closely, but I was installing a new kitchen faucet and had to run to ACE for a couple of parts. When I got back at 4:30, both butts were at 204 and I yanked them out, laid them side-by-side on a pastry sheet, and placed them in the oven (no heat) to rest for an hour. This is how they looked after I opened them up:
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

I pulled the foil butt first. LOTS of moisture!! I just used the tongs to pull the muscles apart. I was not happy with the small amount of bark on this butt.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Very, very moist and flavorful.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Here is the pulled bp butt. Again, so much moisture! Just used the tongs. Better bark preservation, though I wished they had both had better bark. Lots of flavor.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

If anything, they were both overdone a smidgen. The meat was almost soggy and somewhat soft at first, but firmed up as it cooled.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

[Michael_NW]

So, my take-aways:

     I need to work on developing better bark. Maybe start at a lower pit temp for a longer time, then up the pit temp after I wrap.
     I need to start my dry brine earlier to get the desired salt penetration.
     I should watch the meat temps more closely after I wrap and remove from the pit sooner to allow for carryover so as to not over cook the pork.
     I was unsure if a higher pit temp would render the fat properly, but it did. I'm trying to break out of the "225 degree pit for everything" mindset and experiment.
     I definitely prefer wrapping, and wrapping with butcher paper over foil. Both allowed for faster cook times and steamed the meat well, but the bp preserved more bark.

All in all, a good cook for me. And one in which I took some risks (for me) and it paid off. I need to find the balance between pit temp, bark, and moisture, and this was a big step in that direction.

Questions? Comments?

[Bar-B-Lew]

Keep doing what you did.  I think the bark is overrated.  The outside still probably had great flavor from the rub.  Sometime I will sprinkle more rub on the meat after pulling and then mix it in.  I prefer a moist pork shoulder like you delivered on that cook over one with bark.

[mowin]

I've done em both ways too.  Agree with you that the BP preserves a little more bark over foil. 

As far as the 225* mindset, go with what works for you. For PP, I don't care about the bark as much as on a brisket.
It all gets mixed together anyway. 

[Kristin Meredith]

Very interesting read and experiment.  Based on the experience you got, do you think you would do this same cook again (with both options) and try and control your variables and see if results changed much?

[ZCZ]

For better bark you might try molasses as a glue for your rub. Here is a close up of my last butt cook.

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Looks like you did a great job. I would vote for paper over foil. I have tried it with ribs but it is harder to work with for sealing.

Z

[triplebq]

All I know is it all looks 

[reubenray]

Thanks for doing this and I have some BP ordered.  I will not get it in time for the pork butt I am doing on Thursday, but I will have it to use on the brisket flat I will smoke for Christmas.

[Trooper]

Michael,
I wrap with foil.
I don't have much opinion about bark.
But I also have never brined with salt. Perhaps I need some instructions here on the significance of this proceedure.

[dk117]

For better bark you might try molasses as a glue for your rub.
Z

+ 1.  Molasses Glue for better bark (panned with foil)

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

DK

[bregent]

For better bark you might try molasses as a glue for your rub.
Z

+ 1.  Molasses Glue for better bark (panned with foil)

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

DK

 
OK, molasses for me on my next butt.  That one there, just a bit past dark red is a beauty. Nothing like pulling of a piece of bark that has some juicy meat and gooey fat attached. Now I'm hungry.

[Bentley]

They look identical...Great data, thank for your great contributions...

[Timbo1010]

I wrap brisket in BP with satisfying results, but for pork butt I don't wrap anymore, I inject about 12oz apple juice/ rub mixture then apply Oakridge comp rub and into the smoker at 230 till internal temp reaches 197 then FTC for atl least 2hr. Without wrapping I get some serious bark but when i FTC the temp rises to around 203 and softens the bark just a little. I like the results I get.

[Michael_NW]

Very interesting read and experiment.  Based on the experience you got, do you think you would do this same cook again (with both options) and try and control your variables and see if results changed much?

I think so. I've read to be careful of changing too many variables all at once, so depending on the results it may take a few more cooks to solidify the method that works for me. But I must say, I've been missing the boat by not wrapping - it just seems to fit me and I'm pretty sure it will get me the final product I'm looking for.