I've done many pork butts in my 10-year old Smokin-It smoker, but this time I decided to try Tuffy Stone's recipe for competition pork butt. He always does it over fire, and I wanted to see if I could achieve the same or similar results with an electric smoker.
Take an
8-10 lb. pork butt, cover it with a rub of your choice (I used Tuffy's Cool Rub recipe), inject it with a mixture of 3/4 cup apple juice, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup of table salt, two tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce and one teaspoon of MSG. (If you can find Xanathan Gum, use a teaspoon of that as well. It will give the injection a bit more viscosity so it doesn't drip out of the meat. If it's not easily available in your store, either order it on-line or just skip it.) Put the pork butt, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours.
When you're ready to start cooking, put the pork butt in the Smokin-It Smoker and set the PID to 300?. Use two chunks of either apple or cherry in the firebox. After one hour, carefully open the door to the Smokin-It and spritz the butt with some apple juice or water, and then repeat it every 30 minutes over the next three hours.
After four hours of cooking, remove the pork butt from the smoker. It should be about 145-150?. Wrap the butt in heavy-duty aluminum foil and return it to the smoker until it registers 195? on a meat thermometer. Remove the pork butt still wrapped in foil, wrap it in a towel and put it in a cooler, like an Igloo or Yeti. Let it rest for about two or three hours. When it's time for dinner, remove the foil and enjoy your delicious pork butt!!
Mine came out very tender and packed with the flavor of the rub and injection. The blade bone slipped right out and the pork was as tender and flavorful as could be. The smoke flavor was not at all overpowering. I will definitely cook this recipe again!
