Brined Pork Butt for Pulled Pork

[NDKoze]

Nice pics! That should answer a lot of people's questions about the two cuts.

[Nimrod]

+1 on the pics Kari

I'm going to save that post for future use because it seems to be a frequent topic of mistaken identity.

[Yooper Que]

Followed the steps of the brine and did two pork butts that were 4.5 lb's yesterday and I must say they turned out great! Will definetly do it again and all the guys were very impressed! Needless to say we ate good during the Michigan beatdown of Rutgers! This forum rocks and thanks to all who contribute!

[BedouinBob]

Nice job Dustin! It looks like they turned out tasty!

[Yooper Que]

Thanks Bob, the guys at work weren't complaining today that's for sure! Here's a pic of the finished product as well.

[DivotMaker]

Glad you liked it, Dustin!  The butt looks great!!

[MacSmokin]

Hey Tony,

Have you ever tried this brine on chicken. My plan is brine two 6lb spatchcocked chickens overnight in your brine recipe and the coat it in a reduced salt version of Shooter Ricks snake bite rub if you've heard of it. 250 over hickory I think.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated
Justin

[CarlosJ]

I made this last weekend, and I'll have to say it was absolutely superb!!!  The only thing I changed was that I added some ancho chile powder and chipotle chile powder to the brine, which gave it a little more spice and smoke.  I brined the butt for 30 hours, then rubbed it down with mustard and Salt Lick rub, then let that sit for another 27 or so hours.  After that, it was into the smoker with 6oz of hickory.  It took 10hrs and 45 minutes to get up 190.  I double wrapped it in heavy foil and let it sit for 20 minutes.  I thought I was gonna die waiting for that 20 minutes to elapse, but it did...finally, and the finished product was just really, really good. 

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  Oh...I couldn't find the pink curing at the grocery store, so I'll use that next time.  I'll post some pictures later...they're on another computer.

[jpowell]

2 10 pounders ... brined 12hrs ... mustard and 1 with Bad Bryon's rub, 1 with Famous Dave's Rib Rub (1st time trying it).
Started at midnight at 230F shooting for a 4pm finish time for a dinner party at 6pm (2hr rest).
Maverick alarmed at 180IT at 8am so bumped the temp down to 225F.
11hrs in (11am) and 185IT, so looking like they're gonna finish way early.
I saw earlier in this thread about letting them hit ~190IT then crank the temp down to 140F until 4hrs from serving time at which you'd foil and cooler ... so 2pm in my case.
I'm also considering letting the IT get up to like 193 before bumping down to 140F to help stretch the time.
Another option might be pull and foil for 2hrs at 190IT ... then I could partly pull them apart and stick large chuncks in ziplocks and toss in the anova bath until guests arrive ... not sure what water temp to use so will go research.
Just curious thoughts if anyone happens to see this post in the next couple hours :-)

[edit 1pm] Mav and 3D probes hit 190IT. Finally took a peek and probed with my thermopop and my 2 meat probes were in hot spots as most of the meat temp is only 175-180. Relocated probes and letting it rock on.

[jpowell]

15hrs in and butt#1 pulled at 195IT and tossed in a cooler for a 3hr rest.
Butt#2 at 183ish and left to keep on cookin'

[jpowell]

Butt2 hit 190IT at 17hrs then double foiled and left in the 3D. Guests arrived between 6-6:30 and got to witness the reveal and shredding of each.
Got a sweet smoke ring which was very cool ... 1st time with the pink stuff lol.

Guest raved and 1 said it rivaled the best KC pulled pork he's ever had. So I think they liked it :-)
Byron's rub had a more salty flavor vs Famous Dave's when sampled back to back. I decided I couldn't pick a winner as they were both great in their own ways.

Look foward to brining my next butts!

[NDKoze]

It sounds like it was a great success!!! Congrats!

I am not sure it is just me, but I can only see the last picture. Looks really good though.

[swthorpe]

Not just you, I can only see the last pic as well.

[jpowell]

It sounds like it was a great success!!! Congrats!

I am not sure it is just me, but I can only see the last picture. Looks really good though.

Grr ... thanks for the pic heads up. I'll go figure out what's wrong.

[jpowell]

Pics fixed.  I'd still be interested to hear how folks would have handled it IF they'd finished very early.