carriesanaxe Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 So this Sunday I'm trying my first official large-scale barbecue. Will be for about 15 to 20 people. I will be doing two pork butts and five racks of loin back ribs. (And sides) This will be my first attempt at pork butts. And since there will be a lot of beautiful ladies, I must impress. We will be eating at 2 PM on Sunday so I would need to start the butts the night before but I won't be able to check them during the night. What's your surefire method for success for me? (I should probably mention I have a cyber Q and will be using the lump kebroak charcoal.) Also plan on doing the ribs the day before, foiling them, putting them in the fridge and then finishing in the next day. Any tips on making that better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Personally, I would do the pork first, and have the ribs come off just before serving. I find that pork re-heated in the oven tastes a lot better than ribs done the same way. If you're serving ribs at 2, put them on at 9:45, 275 deg., pull at 1:45. Heat the pork for about 45 min. at 250-275 deg., you'll look like a genius!! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Ditto !, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobvoeh Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs A helpful tip I learned from Dennis for overnight cooks, is start with a fresh basket of coal. Don't leave any used pieces in there and just put new coal on top, you can run into an issue where the fire goes out on you. Used coal does not light as easily. Another thing I always do for overnights, is empty the ashes out so I have no air flow problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Once the pork butts are done you will likely not have to reheat them. Wrap in foil and wrap in towels and hold in a cooler. Pack all the empty space in the cooler with towels as well. They can hold in the cooler for many hours and come out piping hot at 2:00. They can take between 1 1/2 to 2 hours/lb. to cook but that's not a hard rule. If yours are small, they can cook pretty quick and not need an overnighter. If they are 4 lbs or less, I wouldn't go to sleep on them, start them early in the AM. If greater than 4 lbs, start them to be finished by 9:45 figuring 2 hours per pound. That way you can get them done and get the ribs going for a 4 hour cook. They are done when internal temp is 185 to 200ish. FILL the charcoal basket!!!! Don't open the Guru fan slider all the way, your temp can runaway on you while you are asleep. Open it about 25%. You probably know all this but all your bottom vents should be closed, the Guru fan IS your bottom vent. Barely crack the top vent off its seat. Set the fire temp to 225 to 250 while you are asleep. Start only a very small amount of charcoal or your fire will runaway on you. You can kick it up as high as 300 when you are awake and watching the internal meat temp in the morning. Do exactly what bobvoeh said. Sorry if I ran on there, but you want to stack the deck in your favor for your first pork butt cook/party. Just relax and keep adult beverages handy in case 2:00 rolls around and things aren't done. It's going to be a swell party for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Well? How did it go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normstar Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Yeah... We want some Butt!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriesanaxe Posted August 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Okay, so it went great! thank you guys! sorry it took so long to respond. I've done this three times now, two butts at a time. The flavors always amazing and it's always great when I take it to 198 and then hold it. Things I have noticed though are that you do not need a water pan under any circumstances for pork butt. At 225 for 14 hours I'm still struggling to get a good bark. The bark i have is very dark, like brisket dark. I eliminated sugar from the rub, used Forest Lumps and Oak for every cook but I can't seem to get that nice reddish color that I see posted. Also, fire control seems to be something I'm struggling with. I only light one coal and place on top of the full basket but inevitably at some point during the cook the entire basket is lit and the temperature rises higher than I want it to. On one cook I even divided the fire basket slightly with a piece of metal so that the fire would have to work its way around in the minion method, But that caused it to nearly die and I had to rescue it. There are absolutely no air leaks anywhere. What am I doing wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Fire control should be quite easy. For 225 you would just barely open the top hat, less than a quarter of a turn from closed. The bottom twist vent at about "2 quarters thick" opening. Very small. Anything more it will go higher When you say out of control temps, what do you mean? What high temps are you hitting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs You are not going to get a red color, forget that. Your butts will come out nearly black. It's no problem. If we didn't say before, make sure your lid is closed and latched in the second position! As said, the vents need to be barely cracked for low temps. 225 is not a magic number, 200 to 275 will suffice for a low and slow. Even 300 works, but pork butt is a little less tender at that cook temp, although acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriesanaxe Posted August 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Okay so the latch was closed correctly that wasn't the problem. I use BBQ guru and the slot was close to a quarter on the intake fan. No red color, understood. I think the problem may start when the lid is opened to put meat inside or check progress. The rush of air causes the wood chunks to ignite and then the temperature spike. It takes a little while to position two 10 pound butts on the riser rack as well as a few things underneath it and then decide on all the probes placement. When the lid is finally closed I spike all the way up to 400 before it drops down again to the desired range of 225 to 250. Should I cut down on wood? I usually use around two 5oz chunks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs I like to put the food on the grill before it gets up to temp to avoid this problem. It's also much easier to load the grill and set up the temp probes when you don't need gloves. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1 Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Okay so the latch was closed correctly that wasn't the problem. I use BBQ guru and the slot was close to a quarter on the intake fan. No red color, understood. I think the problem may start when the lid is opened to put meat inside or check progress. The rush of air causes the wood chunks to ignite and then the temperature spike. It takes a little while to position two 10 pound butts on the riser rack as well as a few things underneath it and then decide on all the probes placement. When the lid is finally closed I spike all the way up to 400 before it drops down again to the desired range of 225 to 250. Should I cut down on wood? I usually use around two 5oz chunks. Just to be clear.... The top hat was virtually closed? The front vent was closed? If using the guru, that is the setup. I would also set the guru to about 15 degrees lower then target and then step it up. It is remarkable how little airflow is needed. Your wood related spike should not effect your stable heat soaked temp much..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs Make sure both your lower doors are pushed closed, they can work open just enough to allow unwanted air in, wreaking havock on temp control. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Re: Sure fire pork butts and ribs The temp probe hole, although small, is a significant source of air if not blocked off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
