I'm getting hungry already

[Bwana]

6513

This is 80 pounds of pork butts that I will start smoking tomorrow morning. At that time they will have been soaking up the seasonings for 60 hours.

Though I doing this in preparation for my son's graduation this spring, I'm pretty sure not all of it will find its way into the freezer.

[Buckrub]

EIGHTY POUNDS???????

I've met you! You might make Half of me! Geez man!

[Thumper]

If I were there, I'm not sure what anybody else would have to eat. ;)

[Chicken Dinner]

I like pork butts and I cannot lie..

[BarryBobPosthole]

The top post looks like your pup is guarding those butts.
BKB

[Thumper]

The top post looks like your pup is guarding those butts.
BKB

Ha ha ha! That's persactly what I thought the first time I clicked on the post!

[LJ3]

Teenage boys eat like freaking animals. He didn't cook enough!

[DeputyDog]

That was my thought. I've seen pics of his boys.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Does Jethro Bodine ring a bell?

BKB

[Bwana]

Believe me, the dog was VERY interested in what was going on but I don't think she was guarding so much as biding her time.

[Bwana]

Here is a portion of the finished product.


6547

I realize this may not be the "proper" way a smoked but should look but I hate the taste of charcoal. If I wanted to eat that I would buy a bag of briquettes and commence to gnawing.

What I do is smoke the butts for 5-6 hours and then put them in a roaster with chicken broth to finish them off. To date no one has ever complained about them being inedible.

[BarryBobPosthole]

What wood are you smoking them with, Bwana? Neither my wife nor I are big on heavily smoked meats so we found that using oak and pecan gives a much milder smoke flavor than the traditional hickory or mesquite. Also, and I don't know if your smoker setup allows you to do this or not, I started putting a pizza stone under the meats I want to really have a milder smoke flavor, like briskey for example.

Anywho, I do ribs a lot like you do your butts. I'll smoke them for acoupke hours and then wrap them in foil and slow cook them in the oven.

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

I don't mind Hickory or Mesquite, but the family finds it too strong as well. I use the BGE hardwood charcoal which is oak I think and then add wood chunks for added smoke flavor. For beef, I use pecan and for pork I use apple. I'd really suggest you try the apple the next time you smoke some pig meat.

[Cards01]

Apple is very good with pork

[Bwana]

This time I used apple and cherry wood.

[Chicken Dinner]

I'm with you on the "bark" thing, Bwana. A lot of the pictures I see on some of the smoking websites look burnt to a crisp on the outside to get the right internal temp. After 5-6 hours, I think the meat has taken on all the smoke flavor it's going to. At that point, I typically wrap it in foil to keep it from getting any more browned up. I'll frequently do a "cheater" butt and finish it off in the crockpot with some bbq sauce or the juice from my drip pan that has had the fat skimmed off. Good stuff.

You seem to be making it way in advance. Do you vacuum pack it? How do you reheat it?

[Arty]

Looks good!

You gonna sprinkle the shot out of those pheasant shells on top of them butts or what? :)

[Bwana]

CD, yes we vacuum pack the meat for playback at a later date.

Arty, the shell box was for a size reference. As for the seasoning, I prefer the powder over the shot as it is much easier on the dental work. ;)