Nonnymus wrote:
> Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
> spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
> have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
> remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
> quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
> yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
> used it yet.
>
> Old Dad went with him to HEB and the butcher there found us a really
> nice butt in the cooler with a beautiful fat cap that would have done me
> proud here at the house. My son was out of the dry rub I make up and
> distribute to the family, so we improvised with CYM, S&P, with a little
> onion and garlic powder, wrapped tight and kept in the refrigerator for
> a whole day to marinate.
>
> In the morning, about 8:00a, we got out the new digital controller,
> unwrapped the butt and got everything set up to smoke. Unfortunately,
> we did not have a cord to connect the controller to the heating element,
> so we began the cooking using the Bradley controls, which featured the
> sliding heat control. Things got busy, and we didn't get to Fry's and
> get a cord until early afternoon, and by then the hood temperature was
> still only about 180f. When we got things properly set up with the
> cord and digital controller, I bumped the hood temperature to 210f and
> set the meat target temp at 180f., thinking I'd check on it at 180f and
> see how loose the bone was.
>
> Well, it never made it. Just about anybody here in the newsgroup,
> including your's truly, knows darn well that 1) the meat is done when
> it's done and that means the bone is loose. 2) you don't "check" the
> meat to hurry things up and 3) the meat is done when it's done and that
> means the bone is loose.
>
> About 6:00p, the rest of the supper was ready but (see rules #1 and #3)
> the meat wasn't. The kids were fussing, Mrs. Nonny was hungry and
> getting mean and my own son and DIL were wondering out loud where poor
> old Grandpa had failed. That's where I panicked and violated #1 and #3.
> The internal temp was just about 170f and the bone was tight as a
> drum. I tried slicing just the outside and all I got for my efforts was
> a greasy mess of sliced butt. It was terrible. ( set the digital
> controller for 190f, the hood temperature for 220f and just put
> everything back in, except for enough to feed the kids right then and
> there. The final product, the next day, had no flavor and was tough.
>
> From here on, I'm gonna follow the rules I learned about 50 years back
> and not try rushing anything. Lesson learned.

I have another rule now also. That is I allow AT LEAST 14 hours for A butt.

Chris