[Bob in St. Louis]

Nothing fancy, just a couple butts on the smoker. About 13 pounds, combined. I started at 6:00am, and would like these to be ready for dinner. Typically, I go for 225 for 10-12 hours, but this time I've got the spurs out and we're blazing along at 275.

Injected with a mixture of;
- 3/4 cup Apple Juice
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/8 cup Kosher salt
- 2 TBSP Worchester sauce

I've got an aluminum pan to catch the "liquid pork gold". I also chopped up an onion, used 3/4 cup of apple juice and about a cup of chicken stock in the pan.


I figure about halfway through, I'll flip the butts over to 'burn' the other side so it's not soggy and mushy. About an hour or two before they're done, I'll take them out of the pan altogether and try to bark them up.

For leftovers, I'm figuring I should end up with about six or seven quart ziplock baggies with about a pound of meat in each one. I'll give each bag their fair share of the leftover juice and put them in the freezer. I like to flatten the bag out as perfect as possible so they stack nice and neat in the freezer. It also helps when reheating a block of meat that's less than 1" thick, as opposed to a softball sized wad of meat.

On the left is "Butchers BBQ" rub
On the right is "Slap yo' Daddy" brand rub
Notice the huge difference in color. That is 100% due to the seasonings in the dry rub.

This is 90 minutes in......

[Bob in St. Louis]

4 hours in...........
(the bamboo skewer is to mark which butt has which rub, so I can mark the ziplock baggies)




5 hours in....





After five hours, things were looking good on top and the bones were beginning to stick out and loosen up.
Seemed like time to flip them over.
Although, I don't think I'll go much longer before I remove the pan and let them "bark up" on both sides.

Here's the bottoms;

[TrungT]

Yummmmmmy.
 

[EdRo]

That jus looks like a Weber "Smokey Joe". You can do that on one of those? How do you keep charcoal going for hours? JEEESH that looks GOOD!!!

[mcgsxr]

Nice looking work!

I actually cooked my first pork butt last night.  Hold your nose, it was in my slow cooker.  I don't own a smoker, and was dying for a fix, so I broke down and tossed a 6 pound butt in some root beer and spices, and it has worked out well after 12 hours on low.

Miss the smoke though!

[Bob in St. Louis]

- Trung....Wow dude, you've got a heckuva great nose to have carried you here this fast. It was only a couple minutes after my first post. 

- Ed... This is a 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain. Not a "Smokey Joe". Yea, those are too small for a couple butts. A 16 pound bag of Kingsford will keep me going for ten, to twelve hours, plus some depending on how I've got the vents set.

- Mark. Hey man, I understand. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to get his "butt fix". 
I like the idea of the root beer though. I've not tried that, but I understand the concept of what you're doing. The BBQ forum guys sometimes use Coke, and even use Dr. pepper. To date, I've not tried soda.

========================

Ok, here's 7 hours in....maybe it's been eight. I don't know....I've been drinking.
(Notice what was the soggy looking bottom has now "barked up" quite a bit.)
Noted....the wife and I were "nibbling" so the presentation isn't as pretty as it would have been. It was for purely scientific reasons to taste the different brands of rub, or course.

I flipped the butts in the pan, just to help baste them in the juices.
Then, I removed them from the pan and got them some full frontal grate time to "bark them up" some more. Note, the top butt is starting to come apart. They were very hard to roll over and transport from the pan to the smoker. They're so soft at this point, that they're really finished, but I wanted them to harden up from the heat and get some of that "soggy' out of them from sitting in the juices.


The pan full of liquid pork and onions is coming inside with me to use later.

[thunderbrick]

  DAMN YOU, BISL!

I gotta go eat carnival food tonight!

[Bob2]

Your, and as much as I hate to say this, Butts are looking good.

You say you are drinking...... I'm proud of you!

By the. Way what are you imbibing? Just trying to gather some data......
How about some more info,,,rub, ect...
Looks like you will be having a very nice meal!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks Bob (#1). Hope you enjoy those funnel cakes. 

Bob (#2)
The "Butchers BBQ" rub and "Slap yo Daddy" rubs are both created by professional, competition BBQ guys.
Both of these guys can be seen on the "Discover America" channel on "Pitmasters" show. The "Butchers BBQ" guy is on the BBQ forum I belong to, called >>BBQ Brethren<<.

The rubs (and a bunch of other stuff) I use can be bought from >>BigPoppaSmokers<< site. These guys are also on the BBQ competition tour.
Regarding the injection I made, this is the recipe:
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup Kosher salt
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce


======================================
10 hours in, and we're finished.
I foiled and coolered the butts, just because they got finished sooner than I predicted.
"Butchers BBQ" on the left, and "Slap Yo Daddy" on the right.
(again, there are holes eaten out of the center of the butts, because people around here tend to nibble). 



Pulled:



Eight, one pound bags of soon to be frozen future yummies:



Off to the freezer..........

[Vapor Audio]

I looked, and looked again ... my invite must have got lost in the mail 

[pjchappy]

Suddenly, I'm hungry.  I can't quite figure out why? 


Paul

[marvda1]

i'm putting on four slabs of st. louis cut ribs now.  want to miss the heat tomorrow.

[Rob Babcock]

Nice!   Depending on the weather and the what the rest of the family has in mind I'm planning on cranking up the Traeger for the 4th.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks guys. 

Ryan, I'm sure the smell made the short trip up the street to your place, I figured that was enough of an invite.
I was picturing Bugs Bunny floating through the air on the trail of the wafting scent.......   

Bob

[Sarmck]

Hey Bob that all looks very tasty.  Can I talk you into shipping a couple of those bags my way for "backup" supplies after everything else is gone.

Have a safe 4th of July my friend,
Ron

[EdRo]

Eat some fer me, Ryan!  I need a good pulled pork recipe, and both of those look amazing! HAPPY 4th, EVERYBODY!!!

[PeteG]

Bob, that’s the BOMB  . Now you got me thinking about picking up a Costco pork butt this weekend.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks fellas! 

Pete - Don't think about it, just do it.