My wife and her friends decided we needed a 60's-themed despedida for a couple that are moving to Virginia. They raved on my smoked pork butt last time I did one, so I'm going back to it. I'm not sure I'm going to inject beforehand. Does it really help, or am I deluding myself? I combined Worcestershire and Soy sauces, Apple Cider Vinegar and Espiritu del Ecuador last time. If I inject, I may just go with Redd's Apple Ale and call it good.

Everyone is bringing a dish from their own country of origin. (Going to be a whole lot of South & Central America going on.)

Hi, Ken -

I've never injected pork butts - just briskets - but there's no reason not to. It gives a good punch of flavor, if you want to push your barbecue into any certain direction. Your previous injection, or the Redds, would each sound like a good choice.

Considering the South and Central American theme that seems to be developing, it might be a good time to try a Yucatan or Caribbean barbecue? For Yucatan, the sour orange marinade with red or green achiote (depending on preference) is a winner. The sour orange marinade can be found at any Latin market, as can the achiote paste. Or, if you want to go to Havana or San Juan, there's always pernil ~

That's interesting; briskets but not pork butts. I've been going he other way around.

For the 60's theme I'm being told we are supposed to dress-up like hippies. Sounds like that pork butt needs to be injected with marijuana.

I did a Jamaican jerk rub/marinade not too long ago on a pork butt. This group found it a little too spicy.

Tas, tell me about your brisket injection. I want to do a fancy brisket when my cousin comes from Tennessee in a few months. Does the injection go into the point and deckle? Meaning the flat is too tight to take it? What is your favorite recipe for the injection?

quote:

Sounds like that pork butt needs to be injected with marijuana.

Skip the injection and just smoke it before you eat. It will improve the taste.

That and then inject the pork butt with LSD and your'e right in line for a 60's celebration.

When I lived in Tampa in the late 80's and early 90's the locals used "Mojo" (sour orange) marinade and injection. Injection only needed for thick pieces like butt and shoulder. Low and slow over hardwood charcoal (8-12 hrs). Serve with salad, olives, tomatoes, capers, vinegar and oil. Candied plantains. Black bean soup w/sour cream. Plenty of diced onions. Cuban bread with sweet cream butter.

One thing about smoking meat that I can't get through my head is that the meat knows whether it's been smoked for four hours, or eight hours, or sixteen hours.

.....and what blows my mind is that I've found that large a variation in smoking times for the same temperature.....for the same cut of meat. It makes no sense to me. I can't find a correlation; time to temperature.

If I cook this pork butt at 250 degrees for 2 hours, wrap it in foil, and put it back on the smoker for another 2 1/2 hours it will be at a finished temperature of 195, the bone will lift out, and I can tear the meat up with a pair of tongs.

I consider Aaron Franklin the God of Smoked Meat, but if you watch his pork butt video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbzEa_juegs

he will smoke his pork butt for five hours at 275, wrap it, and place it back in the smoker for another three hours, and get the same result, in a total of eight hours, that I get at 4 1/2 hours at a LOWER temperature.

I can't get my head around that. Maybe I'll stretch-out my cook another hour, but I'm not standing over this puppy for eight hours when I know it will fall apart in five.

What's been your experience? I've struggled with the idea that my Texas Pit Crafter smoker thermostat is off. But if that is the case then my Cabela's temperature probe is off, magically, by the same amount.

I feel like if I kept my pork butt in the smoker for eight hours it would turn to mush if wrapped; or if unwrapped, it would be a really big charcoal briquette.

Aaron does alot of cooking at 275. I wonder if his cuts of meat are handled different at the butcher level? More fat, more water? Not sure myself but things seem at cook at the speed yours does.

I've got my pork butt in the smoker as of 12:30pm. It's a big one (10 lbs.) so it may take a little longer than normal.

I need a mustard slather yesterday, then added a sweet-ish rub. Normally used for ribs. The injection was Redd's Apple Ale. Then it went wrapped in plastic into the refrigerator overnight.

I'm spritzing the butt with half Redd's Apple Ale and half maple syrup. Don't ask me why. I had waffles this morning. It must have been that.

I'll probably wrap it after four hours, depending on the look, and then put it back in the smoke. Probably pull it around 7:00 or 7:30. My wife tells me we're eating at 8:00pm. I've got six chorizos I'm going to slip into the smoker around 6:30 or 7:00.

I've only had one beer, so I shouldn't have any operator error. Supposedly the crowd starts showing up around 6:30 to 7:00.

Love to hear the results on this one.I will be making chicken fried steak strips along with mash potatoes + cream gravy + fresh squash. My daughter in law asked my son,Why does your Dad have to do the cooking on father's day? His reply was don't worry,he likes to do it. True + it gets all the family together.

You are exactly right. I can sit out there and watch the smoker temp. and feel fine about it. It's therapeutic smoking meat. I try not to get in over my head, or get fancy. I don't have the skills.

I wrapped the pork butt at the four-hour mark. At the 6-hour mark the probe in the center said 185. At the 6 1/2 hour mark it was 194. I pulled the probe and used it on my chorizos. I should have put the chorizo on an hour earlier. They were only 174 at the time to take everything inside (seven-hour mark for the PB.) I lit the infrared and moved the chorizo onto that grill. In less than ten minutes they were done.

The chorizo disappeared quick. I should have some pulled pork left, but I can't find where my wife hid it.

It was a good evening with good friends. I didn't like the dressing up like a hippie part, but thank God we got rid of the wigs around midnight. The wives seem to enjoy the theme-nights. The guys just bitch and pout, and for the most part go with the flow. Personally, in the 60s no one I knew dressed like a hippie. I believe that was a California-thing.

I'll probably smoke a pork butt next. I smoked my first brisket for fathers day. I just have a small bullet smoker. I had to split it to fit it in. The flat was done in 11.5 hours and the point is 14 hours. The only complaint I got was there were not enough burnt edges. I guess I could have let the water pan boil down at the end.

Tom

I played with my last brisket similar to what you described.

I got my smoker up to 250, and put the whole brisket in. After three hours I removed the brisket and ran a knife through the deckle separating the point from the flat.

I then reverse stacked the point (cut-side down), followed by the flat (cut-side up)on top, back into the smoker.

After two hours I pulled the brisket, reversed the stack, point on top, flat on the bottom, on aluminum foil and wrapped the brisket.

An hour later I removed the point from the foil pouch and rewrapped the flat and put it back in the smoker.

I cut the brisket point in 1"+ cubes basically, placed them in a foil tray, drenched them in a combination of BBQ sauce and natural juices I saved, laid down a layer of bacon over the cubes and put the tray back in the smoker.

An hour and a half later I removed both the brisket flat, and the tray of (brisket point) burnt ends from the smoker. I covered the tray with foil and let both sections of brisket rest about thirty minutes before starting to serve.

I didn't hear any complaints.

The brisket was in the heat for 7 1/2 hours total. That is about as long as I want to stand over a stick burner.

My little WSM smoker held a pretty consistent temp at around 210. Cooler than I wanted but, it did let me go to sleep for five hours. I half expected to find a coon or stray dog had tipped the thing over and eaten the brisket. I'll trade a little lower temp for the ability to get half a nights sleep every time.

Our big meal of the day is typically around noon. So, starting a long cook before bed and leaving an hour or two to rest after cooking works out great.

I typically only smoke something 4-6 times a year so I am not looking at upgrading my pit. Maybe I will when my grandsons get a little older. I have two young ones that like to eat!

Tom

I haven't had breakfast yet and now I am really starved. Great thread.
A few years back I did a whole pig, about 65 pounds dressed,using the Three Guys from Miami pig cooker and recipe. Could not get sour oranges, but using regular oranges and plenty of lime, the injected mojo made that pig delicioso.

http://cuban-christmas.com/pigroast.html

Ooooooooooooh! That sounds interesting.

My problem is that after a lifetime of living I don't have enough friends to wipe-out a whole hog, even a little one.

My wife says its kind of a personality thing. I'm working on it though. A 65 pound hog sounds like the ultimate smoking challenge.

I'm pretty sure that the maximum I could get in my smoker would be about 20 pounds. That size usually gets too much sympathy from the ladies. I have trouble smoking meat if all the women are standing around weeping.

When I lived in FL I took several 'smogs' with my bow. These young hogs, SMall hOGS, would fit on a weber grill. They were really, really good. Indirect heat, and a basting sauce made of vinegar, lemon juice and your favorite hot sauce. Sitting under the live oak with hunting buddies waiting for the hog to finish cooking. Good times.

Tom

Ken, that Cuban roaster really works great, but it takes a lot of materials. I finally gave all my blocks and grates away to avoid having to pack them for a move. We had about 12 folks for the meal, and everyone went home with huge sandwiches and bags of leftovers. Funny, the gals were a little squeamish, but once they tasted crisp, flavorful roasted pig skin they were all elbows. I'd like to try this again with a smaller pig, maybe 35-40 pounds, and make an extra effort to find some real Florida/Cuba sour oranges for the mojo. That leaves more limes for the Margaritas, doncha see? It's all beautiful.

Most, if not all the whole roasted hog I've eaten, had really tough, crisp (hard) skin. What do you think might have caused that? The meat was good, but virtually none of the skin was eaten. I tried it, and it would have made a good chew-toy. The people eating with me were used to chicharron, but they turned their noses up also.

Kensco:

If you want to "hair" it, I'll supply you with any size hoglet you'd like to try. We've got them from softball size on up, but the grass is so high now, I would probably have a hard time seeing one under 25-30 pounds and maybe not then.

I can kill him, and gut him, and you can take it from there. If it was me, I'd just skin him and baste the hell out of it but hey, to me, hairing a hog is work and work is a four letter word. Let me know if you really want one and the preferred size range.

BTW if you want to come try to shoot one yourself, give me a holler. I am not totally certain where you live but I am about 2 1/2 hrs from Mckinney area via 82.

Let me study-up on that a bit Gato. In about 120 days I see a possible window of opportunity. If I butterfly him and place him on my own smoker, I'm thinking weight isn't the primary concern as much as space. The bed on my smoker is 16" X 32", and with the lid closed I've got an 11" cooking chamber height.

Other than the uniqueness of having smoked a whole pig, it probably makes more sense to smoke a 14 lb. brisket and a 10 lb. butt for the next get together, and just move on.

But, "making more sense" probably means none of us would have been hunters, so we can ignore that concern for now.

I've got a cooler big enough to bring the pig back home, but not the freezer to preserve him in; although I could refrigerate him a while.

I'm going to have to have the party planned in advance. Let me mull on this a while, and I'll get back to you.

I know, or at least suspect, that you don't want to do this, but there are numerous plans on the net for a fairly simple whole hog q pit made out of concrete blocks, which could be disassembled after getting tired of the relatively unique process. Most of these are related to a Cuban style of whole hog cooking but a hog is a hog.

I'm not going to go into details, and this is the dirt simple (read red neck) version, but if you think about it, all you need is a relatively long and thinner stack of blocks, with some rebars crossways to support hog, covering it with plywood or a bunch of boards.

AFA supplying hog goes, I'd do my best, but 4 months is still in the "hot" season, so I might have to bait them. Like we said, we'll see. I'd prefer you shot him yourself, that way, the "supplier" won't have to invoke his "no liability" contract (see Am. Hunting thread).

That link from Bill / Oregon covers construction of the cinder block "oven" with rebar /chainlink grate. I can see me doing this whole-hog thing once, so I'm not looking to build anything, if I can get away from it.