On Feb 4, 4:09 pm, "Brick" > wrote:


> Finally, there is no need to cook butts at a temperature that takes
> longer then 7 or 8 hours to finish. Several folks here, myself included
> cook at 275° to 325° and get excellent BBQ in a lot less time. (Ribs
> in my cooker take about 4 hours usually. I cook them around 250°.)

OK.... you opened this door! I am prepared for all the screaming,
gnashing of teeth, etc., though. Even for the guy that tells me my
barbecue tastes like crap from many miles away!

I never cooked a pork butt until a few years ago. About 7 or 8. They
were hard to find here, and generally looked at in Texas as some kind
of evil conspiracy. It was kinda like this:

"That's an odd lookin' brisket over there in Joe Bob's grill. Whured
he get that thing... is that more elk from his trip?"

"Nope. He said it was pig."

"Pig? Like a ham?"

"Nope. Like a butt."

"A butt? He bought pig ass? What kind of crap is that? If he needed
money for a brisket I could have pitched in on that instead of the
beer. I can't believe he bought some pig's ass to barbecue. You know
this was supposed to be a nice get together and all, I can't believe
he cheesed on the meat. I mean really, if you are going to spend all
this time and effort on a party, why chintz on the meat?"

"Well... he's gettin' touchy about it. He's gettin' a lot of crap
over it. I wouldn't say anything else to him. Evidently his Brother
In Law (followed by eye rolling) made some for him when they visited
him in Tennnessee over the holidays."

"Well crap. I thought we were having sausage and brisket. Not ham.
It isn't Christmas or Easter. Ham. I just wish he had said something
if he needed the money for meat."

************

Well, that may not have happened EXACTLY like that, but it was close.

The good news is that the butt (hey... who knew?... there is another
piece of the pig that isn't ham, bacon or ribs!)
was excellent, and it was served on a grill toasted hoagie roll with
an amber sauce that was thin, sweet, and sour that burned all the way
down.

It was great. At that time, more than 20 years of serious barbecuing
and thought that pork shoulder and butts were only for people that
couldn't afford beef. Thank Gawd I never shared that with another
serious pit guy from the Carolina, Tenn., Kansas City... OK, I'm
just glad I didn't say it to anyone that wasn't from Texas.

I cornered the redeemed pit master off to the side and asked him about
the meat.

Bought it at Sam's he said. Cooked it just like a brisket, the only
thing was that it shrank a helluva lot more, and let off enough grease
to lube the truck for a year.

Inspecting his pit, there was about 1/2" of grease in the bottom of
his smoker, all from a pretty large butt. I decided to risk it. I
went to Sam's and requested a butt, and they actually had two. They
usually had one or two on hand the butcher said, as they restaurants
liked them when making traditional tamales (in which you steam/braise
the meat till it comes apart. We didn't know about "pulled" - we
thought that someone that pulled their pork... well.... you know...).
I went home, and the next day cooked it like a brisket.

Like I cook a brisket that is. Usually temps are somewhere around 300
or so, and my briskets will literally squirt juice. I found that not
only is a butt quite tasty, but a LOT more forgiving than brisket.

Over the years Sam's and even some of the local supermarkets started
to make sure they have a few on hand. They are everywhere now. So
over the years I have experimented a lot with butts and shoulders,
thermometers, time schedules, cuts of pork meat, etc. in addition to
what I know about brisket.

I honestly (nor can my friends) tell a difference in a brisket or
shoulder cooked at 225, 275, or 300. (I am ready for the screaming
now). In fact, when we had a nasty storm blowing in, I cooked a
little 14# brisket on my offset at about 350, and it was great. IIRC,
it was done in something like 8 hours.

I also noticed at the last barbecue cookoff I went to that many of the
teams were unconcerned about all the little details some sweat over.
Some were cooking at 300 - 325 degrees, telling me that the meat
actually did better on the outside of the piece having less time in
the pit to dry out if it hung on the plateau. BTW, they all thought
the "plateau" was much too dainty. They pronounce the meat "stuck" or
"hung" at such and such degrees.

So put the point by the firebox and let 'er rip. If you are focusing
on the end product, I think proper cooking is more of an exercise in
care and patience than temps. I don't sweat each piece of meat when I
am experimenting. One piece may be different from another, but I am at
the pit often enough to learn from my mistakes. I probably burn about
300 - 350 lbs of hardwood charcoal and lump at my house along with
another 150 pounds of wood a year. When the grilling bug gets me, I
burn a lot more.

I go to one of my buddie's houses about three times a week to barbecue
or grill for them. They supply everything including the beer and I
barbecue. Sweet, eh?

Back on the temp commentary, I have a buddy of mine that turns out a
good brisket (some are good, some not so good because of reading his
temp gauge through beer goggles) cooking at 350, 375 degrees.

But the safety and surety factor is there is you stay at the 225 -
250 range. When I do an overnight smoke on the WSM, I don't feel like
I am taking chance at all by leaving the temps in that range. If you
have the time, it's great. You KNOW you will have a kill shot on pig/
beef if you cook it low and slow.

But with a lot of family coming over, I don't want to put a King Kong
18# brisket on Saturday early Saturday morning so I can get it off on
Sunday at noon, burn 30 lbs of charcoal in the offset (the WSM will
not hold a 18 pound butt or brisket) and spend all that time tending.
It is simply too long as I wind up with too many other things to do.

I think you should be bold, buy smaller cuts of meat to play with, and
try different temps and times. This isn't an exact science. Besides,
if the meat dries out, make chili the next day, and with the smoked
flavor you will be a hero!

YMMV.

Robert