Smokin-It User Forum!
Smokin-It Smokers => Model 3 & 3D - The Big Brother => Topic started by: Juice08 on May 06, 2017, 04:41:54 PM
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Good afternoon everyone, I'm about to smoke a boston butt (bone in). I have a quick question. Would you smoke fat side up or down?? I usually smoke with the fat side down, but thats when I used my weber grill. Also, this is the first time I brined the meat prior to smoking it. It sitting in my fridge all ready to go,wrapped in plastic, full of rub and mustard. I going to cook it for 12-14 hours (7.9 lbs). Any advice would be greatly appreciated
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Fat side up for butts.
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Fat side up.
Cook until its done. Personally I'd leave some more time in that cook. Esp to rest in a cooler. Those smaller ones take more time.
Just a warning
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I'm new to smoking and have done two butts so far. The first one was fat side down and the second was fat side up. Fat side up is the way to go. I would plan on more time also. Especially if you smoking at 225.
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If smoking at 225 I would definitely plan on more time. I did my first 9 lb bone in Boston Butt (not brined) at 225 a few weekends ago. It went direct from the fridge to the smoker fat side up with 6 oz of hickory and a mini loaf pan of water touching the smoke box.
At 13 hours the internal temp was 165
At 24 hours it was 187
At 30 hours it was 194
At that point I pulled it and probed it all over with my thermal pen. The temp was +/- 2 degrees. It was tender except for a small area near the bone where it dried out a little. I suspect that the smoke kind of mellowed with the long cook and wasn't quite as full/intense as I like.
For my next one I am going to add a program step where I cook at 225 until the internal temp is 140 and then step up the cook temp to 235. I think that will maximize the smoke, minimize the time, and hopefully have no down side.
Post and let us know how it went. Working together we can get these new toys dialed in faster.
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Thank you all for the useful information. Unfortunately, I started with the fat side down. It's been in the smoker for about 8.5 hours.
Temp is at 235
Internal temp is 163
I use 6oz of hickory with a small pan of apple juice at the bottom.
I assuming it's at the stall right now for another 3 hours until the temperature rises again. I wonder if its too late to turn it over with the fat side up?? Any thoughts??
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I doubt that flipping it to fat side up at this point would have any benefit. But it won't hurt to do so UNLESS the butt starts to fall a part in the effort to flip it. Just keep an eye on the internal temp.
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I hope your smoke made for a fine meal.
I always want butts loaded fat side up, but sometimes slip up. The main issue I have had smoking butts accidentally fat side down is they can melt into the rack and be difficult or impossible to pick up without breaking them.
Scoring the fat cap in squares like a ham and smoking ft side up allows the meat to self baste and render out.