MadMedik Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Hello, My plan is to try my first pork butt this weekend. I have seen Chris Lilly's recipe and will try that. It mentions a 15 pound piece of meat and cooking for up to 16 hours. I don't plan to have a 15 pound pork butt. I know one should cooked to desired internal temp (190 or so), but as a general rule, is there a formula of hours per pound to cook.... ie: 1 hour per pound, 6 pound pork butt would then cook for 6 hours??? could it be so simple? This would a least give someone a general idea of when to start the cook so that you don't under shoot or in particular, over shoot you desired eat time. Thanks a lot, MadMedik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? 1-1/2 to 2 hours per pound will ball park it. Cook to a finish temp, the internal temp of the meat, of 185 to 200. Anywhere in that range will be super! Cook indirect with a fire temp anywhere between 220 to 280, it's not that critical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted April 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Wow thanks, that was quick. One other thing, I assume most cooks will be on the middle, main grill and that is where I will put the pork butt. Other than when I have too much meat for just the main grill, when do you choose to put the meat on the upper grill? Perhaps with small, thinner cuts of meat? Never? Do you consider cooking on the main for awhile, then move up to higher grill later in the cook? Can't wait to try the pork butt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? If the "middle" means the main grill that is just about lip height then yes, cook your butt there. No need to change levels mid-cook, you're overthinking this. Just slap your butt in there, put a thermometer in it and pull it off the fire at the suggested temp range. This is a super forgiving cook that is hard to screw up. My opinion? Pork butt low and slow is the highest use for a KK. And one of, if not the tastiest, most succulent cooks you will do. People LOVE this stuf!!! Makes you a super star at any party. Get it done before the party, so you are not rushing and/or tempted to take it off too soon or jack up the fire temp to get it done. Take it off the grill, wrap it in foil, then in towels, then place in a cooler to hold til party time. It will stay very hot and at a safe temp for a LONG time this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted April 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Got it , Thanks, and I can't wait !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saison Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? My 4.5 lber took exactly 12 hours to hit 195, at temps between 225 and 250. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Great advice from the Doc. My only additional input to the range he provided is testing for doneness; you can use the fork twist method or if you've got a bone in her twist the bone, if the meat is coming off cleanly, your done. As Doc mentioned I've had butts done in the high 180s to 205. Every one is different. Lastly, I'm going to assume you know about the plateau and won't stress when she parks for several hours between 150 - 170ish. Enjoy your cook, it's one of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted April 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Update to my pork butt cook: I am at plateau now it would seem. At 184/185 for an hour now. What the heck? I can smell it and I am starving! Parents coming over to try and they keep calling. So impatient we are! Almost 9 hours total cook time and 185 degrees...still going of course. I was hoping for a 9 hour cook time. Looks to go beyond that. Will update later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? You can take it off at 185 and it should be excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Here's an illustration of how forgiving this cook is. Yesterday I did a pork butt and somehow forgot to put in the heat deflector. I also did something I never do and that is I opened the bottom vent a little at the start of the fire. Normally I only use the Guru or the Stoker as a bottom vent. Several hours later I discovered my mistakes and found a 300 degree direct cook going. So I put in the deflector and got the fire back down to 225. Even after several hours of a hot direct fire this butt came out as perfect as you like. As an aside, I also used an injection of a Rosemary Garlic marinade. Those of you who inject know how little of the injection actually stays in the meat. Muscle is so dense and compact most of your injection just shoots back out of the needle hole. But enough stays in there to make a difference. All pork butts are good, but this one was super good! I'll be doing more injections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifly61ce Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? I have a question, yesterday I did my first Butt using the Guru. I filled the basket full of Kingsford competition briquets and lit a small 6 inch circle on the very top. I programed the guru to hold the pit at 225 and a food temp of 190. Loaded 2 4.5 lb pork butts, heat deflector drip pan down low and meat on the main grate. I had the KK bottom damper closed and the top hat open about 1/2 a turn, Guru slide damper was full open. The Guru started puffing away at 5 pm and the temp climbed to 225 then slowly crept to 280. I shut the top had and the temp started slowly to come back down to about 240. I then opened the top had not wanting to kill the fire. It seemed to hold a little high around 250 , remembering Docs comment that the temp was not that important I went to bed. I woke up at midnight after the pork was on for 7 hrs to a hi alarm 350 pit temp and the meat was at 205, pulled it off and it was fine. What did I do wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saison Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Sounds like you need to trim down the damper on the guru. I had the same issue with my homemade unit. At full bore, the 3/4" pipe allows too much air in and the KK can creep up to 275, so am making a damper to trim it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? For a 200ish fire when using the Guru you want the slide just barely open. Less than 1/4 of its slide travel. Top hat should be barely cracked enough that you just see some smoke coming out when the fan is off. Any more open than this, top and or bottom, and you will never keep the temp down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifly61ce Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Thanks, Doc! I should have asked before I did my cook or taken the time to read the information that came with the Guru. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMedik Posted April 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Okay, update to my first Pork Butt cook: Overall it went very well. Ultimately, I got to eat it! Yum. I cooked indirect with a drip pan, cooked at 250 degrees, with total cook time of 10 hour and 10 minutes. Weight was about 6.2 pounds We were all sitting around the temp gauge waiting for it to hit 195...because that was my goal, and when it hit we jumped up and ate it....well, we wrapped for about 15 minutes in foil, then could wait no longer. It was late and we really were starving. It was VERY tasty, not as moist as i was hoping, but perhaps more time in the foil and sealed chest will help moisten it up. I did add a trip tip and stuffed chicken breast about 3 hours in to the cook. those took about 2 hours or so to cook and i did "peak" at these additions a few times so I am sure i lost heat a few times and messed up the "cycle" by opening and closing the KK.... next time, nothing else will go in and it will stay shut. The additional food turned out good though. I used Chris Lilly's recipe Dry Rub and injection juice. Very good. I injected from the sides and top. After injecting from side and later seeing "juice" come out of the holes i had just poked in it, i have decided to only inject from the top of the meat, down in to the center, thereby making it more difficult for the juice to run out of freshly made holes. Maybe this will help...i shall see next time. I plan to try another this weekend. But will start it late in the evening and let it cook all night, and take it off in the morning. I figure in the future should i want this for a dinner party, i would have to get up very early to have it done by dinner time.... by trying the over night , off before noon scenario, i will be able to be done cooking for sure well before guests arrive, have it sit in foil/container for several hours, and amaze my guests....?? sounds good anyway. Thanks for checking this out. MadMedik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Yes you can cook it well ahead without having to be up at the crack of dawn. Put it on the night before. Hold it in the cooler wrapped in towels. It will be perfect at party time! Your time was 1.6 hours/ lb. Right in the 1-1/2 to 2 hr/ lb guideline. I use 2 hrs/ lb and count back from serving time to calculate my latest start time for the cook. Then I figure I can hold it for six hours in the cooler, and using those numbers decide when it is convenient for me to start the cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashbrown3 Posted May 25, 2011 Report Share Posted May 25, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? Yes you can cook it well ahead without having to be up at the crack of dawn. Put it on the night before. Hold it in the cooler wrapped in towels. It will be perfect at party time! Your time was 1.6 hours/ lb. Right in the 1-1/2 to 2 hr/ lb guideline. I use 2 hrs/ lb and count back from serving time to calculate my latest start time for the cook. Then I figure I can hold it for six hours in the cooler' date=' and using those numbers decide when it is convenient for me to start the cook.[/quote'] Hi Doc, Just read this post. Good info for planning purposes... I am taking useful tidbits of info about recipes, assessories & bbq tips and doing a cut-n-paste onto a word file. Seems simple but I have a feeling I will be overwhelmed with excitement a maybe a touch of stage-fright when my KK arrives. I figure if I freeze up, I can just whip out the trusty file and go to town... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted May 25, 2011 Report Share Posted May 25, 2011 Re: Pork Butt: cook time by hour per pound??? No stage fright, no freezing up. ALL the info you need is in these forums. Of course, there's thousands of posts! Just peruse them. Or ask anew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
