Behold My Butt! (2003–2006)

[lancastermike]

Butt is on. My is skinless as well. In fact, it is also boneless as I got it at Costco and that's the way they sell them. 2 in cyro pack, total weight at 14 pounds. I doing one only so I guess it is 7 lbs. It went on naked and cold. First reading from the probe was 35F. Long time till this baby is done. The Sunday paper just arrived and I'm off to go back to bed with it and coffee for Maggie. Oh and Susan, I already smell smoky.

pics and updates later

[Marlene]

We had temperature troubles all day. It rained, sometimes with rather torential downpours.. My butt went on at 8:00 a.m. and by 8:30 p.m. it was still sitting in the stall at 171. We pulled it off the smoker at that point anyway and foiled it for half an hour. Otherwise we would have been eating at midnight.

My naked butt. This was sold as boneless, but it was actually bone in, a rare thing to find around here.

Butt after 4 hours

While we waited for the butt, we started with carpaccio and champagne:

For some reason, I have no pictures of the meat itself after pulling it off the bone, but here's the carcass:

Served with =Marks sauce and some terrific buns, pluz JAZ's Spicy Asian Coleslaw:

Dessert was strawberries marinated in Grand marnier and a cheese course:

I have another butt just like this one in the freezer and I'm really tempted next time to take the skin off just to see what happens.

[lancastermike]

Nice butt, Marlene. And a lovely meal as always.

At 9:15AM my temperture reading has reached 128F internal. From 35F to 128F in just a little more than two hours. Anyone care to guess how long from 128 to 195? I can't imagine much less than another 7 or 8 hours. Stall land approaches. I have grass to cut, an open house to attend and a visit to my mom before I plan to have this baby finished.

I may try Arne's spray. Anything with borboun in has to be good

[lancastermike]

a couple of early morning butt smoke photos

a partial chimney of Kingsford burning

charcoal ring ready for my traditional Minion start, some cherry and some hickory in there today

The butt in question. Naked and cold. Boneless and skinless with a nice amount of fat

First reading, along way to go to 195

[Marlene]

We used Arne's spray on our butt yesterday. It certainly adds a nice shine. I think becuase your butt is skinless, the flavour will penetrate more than it did with mine. The more I think about this, the more I think skinless is the way to go. Oh and the wood we used yesterday was applewood which is rapidly becoming my favourite wood to smoke with.

[snowangel]

Marlene, I'll be curious for a report next time when you do it skinless. I've never done it that way. Ron, have you ever done a sinkless butt?

edited to add: Absolutely beautiful meal, Marlene!

[lancastermike]

6 hours in and I am stalled at 175. I am leaving for a while and Maggie may post before I return.

Here it is after 6 hours.

looks good, smells good, I think we will have good butt sandwiches for a late dinner tonight

[lancastermike]

Marlene, I'll be curious for a report next time when you do it skinless.  I've never done it that way.  Ron, have you ever done a sinkless butt?

edited to add:  Absolutely beautiful meal, Marlene!

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To get a butt with skin I have to order it. Picnic shoulder can be found with skin. Why is this different here? Unknown. I guess I will have to try one with the skin sometime for a comparision

[lancastermike]

I am currently in the longest stall I have ever had. If we want to eat tonight I believe I am ready to foil and move to the oven. This thing has been stuck in the 170's for 4 hours now, I had to re-fuel the cooker. Every one is different.

[Marlene]

I am currently in the longest stall I have ever had.  If we want to eat tonight I believe I am ready to foil and move to the oven.  This thing has been stuck in the 170's for 4 hours now, I had to re-fuel the cooker.  Every one is different.

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That's what happened to us last night. It was stalled for the longest time at 170.

[snowangel]

Mike, I'm hoping your butt was as good as it looked like it would be. As good as any any of has produced.

I'm more and more convinced that we don't have a clue when or how long the stall will be unless we could MRI the damned fickle beasts and see just how much collegen and fat the contain.

Paul and I talked about stalling butts tonight, and it seems to be some of our most succulent have had the longest stall. But, who knows. I'm just a novice at this.

[lancastermike]

Mike, I'm hoping your butt was as good as it looked like it would be.  As good as any any of has produced.

I'm more and more convinced that we don't have a clue when or how long the stall will be unless we could MRI the damned fickle beasts and see just how much collegen and fat the contain.

Paul and I talked about stalling butts tonight, and it seems to be some of our most succulent have had the longest stall.  But, who knows.  I'm just a novice at this.

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And the science behind all this escapes me as well, Susan. As we were having guests I did foil it and finish it in the oven. It was good, not the best we have had. I have said this before that one of the great things about smoking is this. Everytime you fire the thing up, the potential exists for real disaster. This was not a disaster, but certainly another learing experience

Edited June 5, 2006 by lancastermike (log)

[Musable]

Finally got to smoking a couple of butts on Saturday.

Two butts, a total of just over 15 pounds, brined, rubbed, and rested.

Seven hours in, ready for a turn (and of course, this being Florida, the rains had come about three hours in, which made the temperature maintenance an adventure).

A little over ten hours later, and rested for about 30 minutes.

Naturally, we had to pull a few chunks for visual and taste testing. Quality control, you know.

And then, there was the pulling.

Served up with some corn on the cob and homemade baked beans. There's nothing like it. I told my mom I'll have to find a mate who thinks that the smoky smell of someone who has been working a grill/smoker all day is sexy indeed.

Edited June 7, 2006 by Musable (log)

[lancastermike]

That's lovely butt, Annette. The additional photos on your blog are great as well. Very nice work and welcome to the wonderful world of butt and all the requsite jokes about your butt.

[MobyP]

Okay, I've scanned a few pages, but I don't have time tonight to read all eleven of them. My apologies. Your pig looks extremely good. Could someone give me a rundown on the temperatures required for slow roasting in an oven? I understand there's a temperature stall at around 170 or so. What final temp should I look for to get that lovely, pull apart, greasy porky goodness?

[Marlene]

Moby, in the oven, I'd do it at 250. I still think you're looking at 190 regardless of whether you smoke it or roast it to get the pull apart factor. Not that I'm an expert or anything.

[bigred93]

Finally got to smoking a couple of butts on Saturday.

Two butts, a total of just over 15 pounds, brined, rubbed, and rested.

Served up with some corn on the cob and homemade baked beans. There's nothing like it. I told my mom I'll have to find a mate who thinks that the smoky smell of someone who has been working a grill/smoker all day is sexy indeed. 

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Annette,

Looks great. May I ask - why the twine?

[snowangel]

Looks great.  May I ask - why the twine?

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Unless I miss my guess, it is because this is a boneless butt and if you don't twine it, you'll get a big ass butt crack like Chris did. The twine keeps it neat and tidy and cooking evenly.

[MobyP]

Moby, in the oven, I'd do it at 250.  I still think you're looking at 190 regardless of whether you smoke it or roast it to get the pull apart factor.  Not that I'm an expert or anything.

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Thanks Marlene, yer a star.

[Musable]

Thanks, Mike. Believe me, I've been hearing all about my butt from friends and family alike. Their snickers are offset by the sounds they make when they eat, so it balances out nicely.

Marlene is absolutely correct: these were boneless, as most are these days, and in order to retain their uniformity and make them easier to deal with, I tied them. I trimmed off some of the fat (not a lot, as they were nicely trimmed) and opened them up to remove any little nasty bits that might have remained after the butchers got finished with them. There weren't too many of those to remove, either. Very nice butts.

I've another round of ribs coming up by request (and then again to cater a party for July 4), so the next butt round will be who knows when.

[hhlodesign]

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Seattle. Perfect for a Pork Butt Smoke Fest. My friend Dion hit the roofdeck early and put to use a recently aired episode of Good Eats were Mr. Brown talks about how to make your own ceramic smoker out of two terra cotta pots.

Note the two thermometers. One for the internal temperature of the Pork, one for the temp of the "smoker"

Dion sat by the smoker all day, tending to the coals to keep the tempereature at 220.

Here it is after 7 hours of smoking.

Then we pulled it apart.

Tossed it with some BBQ sauce,

and ate it with some slaw I made.

on a sandwich with freshly baked potato rolls.

We finished with some Top Pot Donuts, refered to by Jan and Michael Stern as the "Best Donuts in the Country"

[snowangel]

Beautiful, Henry. How did you like the smoking set up? To what internal temp did you take the butt? What BBQ sauce did you use? I'm sort of surprised that you chose to mix the meat with the sauce instead of serving it on the side. I llike serving it on the side because it certainly makes leftovers more versatile!

[hhlodesign]

Beautiful, Henry.  How did you like the smoking set up?  To what internal temp did you take the butt?  What BBQ sauce did you use?  I'm sort of surprised that you chose to mix the meat with the sauce instead of serving it on the side.  I llike serving it on the side because it certainly makes leftovers more versatile!

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The smoking setup worked great. Alton Brown says to use a a electric heating element with a stack of wood chips on a pie plate on top of it. This did not get the "oven" hot enough. I shoud mention that this was the 3rd time we tried this. The last time, we tried to seal the two pots together. So much pressure built up inside, that the top pot shot off the bottom pot about two feet. Only to drop down exactly on the rim as before. Scared the crap out of us! This time we used charcoal, with wood chips on a punctured pie plate on top of that. I should clarify that I was just an observer. My friend Dion did all the heavy lifting (literally ).

I honestly do not remember what the final temp was. We used a Costco jug of BBQ sauce because we couldn't be bothered to make our own We also used a Tom Douglas Pork Rub on the butt prior to smoking. I like your idea of sauce on the side. Next time.

[Susan in FL]

Gorgeous, Henry. It looks so tasty, and so does everything else. Your butt may be the one that I have beheld more than any other. And on a rooftop... who woulda thought?!

[Ling]

Mmm...nice pics! I am coming down to Seattle when I get off work...are there any leftovers?