Smoking Pork Butt Help!!

Hey all,

I am curently smoking a pork butt 4.5 lbs. Its been on for 3 hours but I am having a terrible time keeping the smoker going (its an El Cheapo Brinkmann). The temp I was shooting for was 225 but the smolder kept going out (i need to put vent on the bottem).

Anyways I will have to finish this in the oven. I wrapped it in 3 layers of foil and the internal temp is 125. How long and what temp should I cook this at? I hope to take it out in about 5 hours. It is in the oven right now at 250.

Thank you for your help. On a positive note it looks like there is a good bark on the meat.

 

~220-225F is a good temp for most smoking - and finishing in the oven.

You cook it until you reach your desired internal temp. I would suggest 195-205F for pullable pork; 185-190F for chopped pork.

A roast that size could be done within 9 hours of starting, so just calculate backwards from there. I think 5 more hours will be sufficient. If it gets done early, simply wrap it up in a towel and put in a cooler to keep hot until pulling time.

 

^Spot On!^ It's done when it's done -- when it hits your desired final internal temp.

Next time you can cover your ECB (El Cheapo Brinkman) in an old sleeping bag or quilt to insulate from temp fluctuations. You should also make sure it is protected from the wind.

 

Eating the pork right now, turned out mostly great. If Ihave a complaint it was a little dry but that is be being picky ( it also wasn't basted).

My issue with my brinkmann is that I need intake dampers on the bottom. Most of the fuel used is the wood/charcoal and so it burns through and suffocates itself.

Thanks for your help. Ive done chickens on this no problem pork was a little too much for this guy without more mods

 

3 hours is the limit for my butts in the smoker, then finish them off wrapped in foil (with 2 cups apple juice) in the oven, taking the foil off for the final hour

only 3 hours in the smoker for all my meats. plenty of time to get some good smoke flavor & a nice smoke ring

 

Not sure how you make that work. I'll go 8 hours minimum, sometimes up to 12 or 16, for a pork butt (although I always do 2 or 4, never 1). If I can't pull the bone out by hand, it goes back in the smoker.

 

not 3 hours total cooking time; just not the entire time in the smoker.

in the smoker for 3 hours, then the rest of the time in the oven. 5-9 additional hours for a butt or brisket, 3 more hours for ribs.

 

woops. sorry for the mistake.

 

If using charcoal in your smoker, try using the Minion Method. For your Brinkman, make a ring of unlit charcoal and then light a separate batch of about a dozen coals. Once these are lit, place them in the center of the ring of unlit charcoal. Lay your wood chips on top. With the Minion method, and controlled airflow, you can keep a bed of coals going for several hours. They will burn from the inside out.

 

Its my experience that after the meat has reached 120 degrees it wont take on much more smoke flavor so I wrap it up in tin foil and finish in the oven as others have described above.

 

I agree with that, but in FL it's nice to keep all the cooking outdoors if possible.

 

I usually will inject the pork butt with an apple juice concoction before getting a good rub. I smoke at 225 until about 150 internal temp. The pork will then get wrapped in foil with some left over injection and placed in the oven at 250 until it hits about 195. I open up the foil to let the meat steam off for about 15 minutes, then I re-wrap the foil, and place in an empty ice chest to rest for about an hour. The meat will practically shred it self!!