I Have Much Pork

[Bombdog]

Chad, that thing is looking WONDERFUL! My son and I are planning on doing this exact thing next weekend.

One question, along with fifi's, if you are not slashing the fat side, are you planning on leaving the fat side down for very long? I wondering about all that fat just running straight off instead of over the butt. Curious.

edited to fix punctuation and spelling

Edited May 22, 2004 by Bombdog (log)

[Chad]

That is looking excellent. Does the Minion method seem to work out ok with this set-up?

It certainly seems to. It's been three hours, and there's plenty of life left in those coals. I think they'll go at least another three. There are still plenty of completely black briquettes in the mix.

I agree that wind can wreak havoc with temperature control. I remember that from doing the same thing on the kettle. You also have a larger surface area to volume ratio that works against you. On my WSM, there are 3 vents along the bottom. If the wind is coming from a particular direction I can deal with it by closing off the vent on the windward side. That doesn't always work if it is gusty and making eddies around the building. The good news is that pork butt is very forgiving of temperature fluctuation.

That's good to hear. My temp is back up to 300 and there's not much I can do about it. The kettle has three leaf-shaped vents in the bottom with corresponding sliders inside the grill. The sliders serve to cover the vents and scoop ash out into the catch pan below. You can't selectively open or close specific vents. I've got them completely closed at this point.

Don't forget to photo the slashing. (That sounds pretty gruesome now that I read it. ) Are you going to slash the fat side or the "bottom" side?

Will do. Dunno whether to slash the fat side or the bottom. I'm thinking bottom just because I'll remove a lot of that fat cap before chopping. Seems like a waste to sauce that side, I also think the sauce will penetrate the bottom side a little better.

Chad

[Chad]

Chad, that thing is looking WONDERFUL! My son and I are planning on doing this exact thing next weekend.

One question, along with fifi's, if you are not slashing the fat side, are you planning on leaving the fat side down for very long? I wondering about all that fat just running straight off instead of over the butt. Curious.

edited to fix punctuation and spelling

Thanks!

Good point about the fat side. I hadn't thought about that. Hmmm.

When I get ready to slash & sauce I'll take a good look. If it looks like I'm losing too much fat I'll slash the fat side and put it on top again. If it still looks pretty healthy, I'll keep the fat side down and slash the underside. The underside had plenty of fat, too.

Chad

[Mayhaw Man]

Two things butthead,

1)Go buy a pair of wekding gloves at the industrial supply place. You will be a happy, manly, fireproof barbequing fool when you put those things on.

2) Roll up that hose. Someone could trip and run into your butt.

[Chad]

Two things butthead,

1)Go buy a pair of wekding gloves at the industrial supply place. You will be a happy, manly, fireproof barbequing fool when you put those things on.

2) Roll up that hose. Someone could trip and run into your butt.

I do have some welding gloves, but they were up in the kitchen. Doh! I generally use them for handling my cast iron pan. I'll bring 'em down for the next part of the adventure.

C'mon, the hose was an integral part of the composition of the photos. Didn't you notice the lovely contrast between the bright yellow hose and the hulking black grill?

Love,

ButtHead

[Chad]

At four and a half hours.

Just opened her up to add some more wood chips and this was the sight that greeted me. My God I have a lovely butt!

That thing is just freaking gorgeous. Hard to believe I have anything to do with it.

Chad

[fifi]

Chad, that thing is looking WONDERFUL!  My son and I are planning on doing this exact thing next weekend.

One question, along with fifi's, if you are not slashing the fat side, are you planning on leaving the fat side down for very long?  I wondering about all that fat just running straight off instead of over the butt.  Curious.

edited to fix punctuation and spelling

Thanks!

Good point about the fat side. I hadn't thought about that. Hmmm.

When I get ready to slash & sauce I'll take a good look. If it looks like I'm losing too much fat I'll slash the fat side and put it on top again. If it still looks pretty healthy, I'll keep the fat side down and slash the underside. The underside had plenty of fat, too.

Chad

Whoo boy... Who knew that the topic of slashing a butt could get so complicated. Now I am conflicted.

Edit to add:

Transfer pork to a plate, make deep gashes in the meat with a sharp knife, and baste liberally with the sauce. Replenish coals and chips as needed, replace the pork skin side down on the grill and cook 3 hours longer, basting with the sauce from time to time.

Well, that does clear up what Villas does.

[Bombdog]

Well, that does clear up what Villas does.

Indeed it does. But there is just something about wasting that fat cap, drippng directly down instead of over the meat that I am not sure I agree with.

Then again, who am I to argue.

[fifi]

Well, I am not above arguing with Villas.

I happen to agree with you.

[snowangel]

Before I got the hinged grate, I used to just stuff wood chips down through that opening by the handle side and used my dandelion thingee to shove them around.

Klink's class discusses best way to control temp with the Kettle.

Your butt is beautiful. I've never slashed them. It would be interesting to do two butts at the same time and compare with one slashed and one unslashed.

I've never used a mop other than just oil.

[Chad]

I have slashed my butt!

Man that's weird to type.

I don't think I'll do it this way again -- not unless the barbecue is absolutely astounding. Man, what a pain in the butt. Hmm, there's got to be a better way to put that.

Pork shoulder at six hours of smoking. Looking pretty dang good.

On the cutting board, ready to slash.

Slashed butt. Looks pretty good inside.

Following Villas's instructions, I slashed deeply -- about halfway into the butt -- and slopped large amounts of my sauce into the cuts with a pastry brush. I was not prepared for the huge amounts of pork juice, pork fat and other, less identifiable, liquids that came gushing out. Given the amount of runoff, there's no telling if there is actually any sauce in or on the meat at this point. Getting it back onto the grill entailed spilling the combined juices all over the concrete and my ankles. Not fun. I ended up hosing off the stairs, my legs, my shoes and the patio.

Chad

[Chad]

Before I got the hinged grate, I used to just stuff wood chips down through that opening by the handle side and used my dandelion thingee to shove them around.

Yep, my garden trowel has come in very handy. I use it to push coals around, shove wood chips down the grate and, in a pinch, to lift the grate. It's cropped out of the right side of the shot showing the pre-slashed butt on the cutting board.

Chad

[dls]

Chad - Butt looks pretty good. I'm not sure I buy the slashing routine but, I'm sure you'll let us know. You have not made mention of internal temps. Are you monitoring them? If so, how have they been running?

[Chad]

Yeah, I'm not real sure about the slashing, either. As I mentioned, there was so much juice runoff that I doubt there's any vinegar sauce left.

The ambient temp has finally settled down to a perfect 250, helped considerably by the sun passing to the other side of the house. The wind has died down a little, too. I've been dealing with a steady 20-25mph breeze all day. Welcome to Kansas . Only here does that qualify as a "breeze."

Internal temp has plateaued at 162. It should hold pretty steady until the collagen and connective tissue starts to break down. I'm guessing about another two hours will put me at 190+. Then I'll double wrap in foil, wrap that in an old towel and plop it into a cooler for about an hour. I haven't done that before, but it really makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the great suggestion.

Chad

[Chad]

Your butt is beautiful.

Now I'm all aflutter.

Chad

[fifi]

Hmmm... The amount of juice "leakage" is troubling. I am not at all sure that the internal temperature when you do that would make any difference, either.

We will anxiously await your verdict.

[Mayhaw Man]

We've been working in the yard today and I was headed for a break (and to check peach poundcake in the oven). My wife came in a bit later and saw me at the kitchen computer. She asked just what in the hell I was doing inside instead of working outside? I explained that I was taking a break and looking at a man's butt. She hit me before I could finish explaining.

Really. That just happened. I'm going back out in the yard where I'm safe from abuse.

That thing looks great.

[Bombdog]

Following Villas's instructions, I slashed deeply -- about halfway into the butt -- and slopped large amounts of my sauce into the cuts with a pastry brush. I was not prepared for the huge amounts of pork juice, pork fat and other, less identifiable, liquids that came gushing out.

Now that's a bit troubling. I too will be anxiously awaiting your verdict.

[Chad]

Okay, here we are at nine hours.

Looks good, but internal temp is just 171, which is extremely annoying. I've just popped it into a 240 degree oven to finish up, mainly because my wife is tired of me hanging around outside . And she's getting hungry.

Still looks pretty damn juicy, though. So perhaps the juice runoff from the slashing won't do too much damage. We'll see.

Fifi, the coals are still going strong. Looks like they'd be good for at least another two hours. I know when I removed the lid they really heated up, flaming the remaining wood chips. Looks like the Minion method works for a kettle, too.

I figured nine hours would be enough to hit pulling temp. Any thoughts?

Chad

[fifi]

I would grab a hunk of that bad boy and see if it pulls.

Glad to hear that the leakage doesn't seem to be detrimental. Will wait to hear if you think the slashing and saucing was worth it.

And, thanks for the update on the Minion method. I will report back to my WSM-less friend.

[ScooterQ]

Chad,

Didn't that hog svengali tell you to rub that butt with some spices?

The big boys don't slash and they don't brine either. They take a bigass needle, fill it with some secret spices and sauce and plug that butt full of it. At last year's Memphis in May BBQ contest I had the good fortune to hang out with Big Bob Gibson's BBQ team. Big Bob's has won Grand Champion at MIM three times, all in shoulder. In fact, they've won so much some people boo when they go up to accept their prize. They rub and inject and let me tell you, their pork shoulder is . . . . a revelation

[Chad]

Chad,

Didn't that hog svengali tell you to rub that butt with some spices?

The big boys don't slash and they don't brine either. They take a bigass needle, fill it with some secret spices and sauce and plug that butt full of it. At last year's Memphis in May BBQ contest I had the good fortune to hang out with Big Bob Gibson's BBQ team. Big Bob's has won Grand Champion at MIM three times, all in shoulder. In fact, they've won so much some people boo when they go up to accept their prize. They rub and inject and let me tell you, their pork shoulder is . . . . a revelation

Nah, no rub on this one. I'm a big fan of Memphis style rubs, but for Western North Carolina style, a rub would be out of place.

The shoulder is still stubbornly hanging out at 171. Dammit, I'm hungry! Bumped the oven up to 300 to finish it off before my family finishes me off.

Chad

[dls]

The shoulder is still stubbornly hanging out at 171. Dammit, I'm hungry! Bumped the oven up to 300 to finish it off before my family finishes me off.

Chad

Funny - Kind of going through the same thing. Smoking a brisket today (6.5 lb flat) in an electric smoker set at 225F. Shooting for the same 190F. At 172F internal had to run out on a couple of errands. Returned an hour later and internal was 167F - WTF. Cranked it up to 250F (max. temp.) and turned oven on to 300F for back up. Family and guests now staring at me with the "When are we going to eat?" look. I'm giving it 30 more minutes in the smoker then off to the oven if need be. Ahh - the joy (and perils) of smoking.

[ScooterQ]

Typically, butts plateau at around 170 for a long time while water in meat is driven off. Then, they'll start to rise fairly quickly. One key lesson I've learned is that not all parts of the butt are created equal. The non bone half is the most succulent and delicious.

Good luck with your cook.

[snowangel]

Does Mrs. Chad have any idea just how many people have seen your butt today?

It looks wonderful, and I look forward to reports of how wonderful it tastes.

And, your guests must understand that perfection takes time.