Smoking Meat Questions and Discussion

[cycloner29]

Doing a couple butts tomorrow for a Christmas shindig on Sunday. Do y’all wrap with butcher paper or foil after a few hours? Do you season the night before? Leave and score the fat cap or take it off? I’ve seen people go both ways with these. I’m using Des Moines Bacon Co Pork Rub.

I cut some off the fat cap and will score it. I also have a water pan to help with moisture.

Make sure you get an IT of 200 as it really helps to pull it apart and most of the fat is gone. It all depends if you want bark on the outside if you wrap or not. I just wrap when they are done at put them in a cooler to rest.

Got some jerky to do tomorrow.

 

[AgronAlum]

I cut some off the fat cap and will score it. I also have a water pan to help with moisture.

Make sure you get an IT of 200 as it really helps to pull it apart and most of the fat is gone. It all depends if you want bark on the outside if you wrap or not. I just wrap when they are done at put them in a cooler to rest.

Got some jerky to do tomorrow. View attachment 94094

They’re going to end up in a crock pot the next day which I suppose is a different question. Without adding BBQ sauce directly, should I just add water to keep it moist?

Maybe vacuum seal and heat in water in the bag the next day?

 

[cycloner29]

They’re going to end up in a crock pot the next day which I suppose is a different question. Without adding BBQ sauce directly, should I just add water to keep it moist?

I would add some apple juice or chicken broth to the crock pot along with some more rub.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

I would add some apple juice or chicken broth to the crock pot along with some more rub.

If Im reheating on a stove I use apple juice. I have also used Busch Light and it was fine.

 

[JP4CY]

Doing a couple butts tomorrow for a Christmas shindig on Sunday. Do y’all wrap with butcher paper or foil after a few hours? Do you season the night before? Leave and score the fat cap or take it off? I’ve seen people go both ways with these. I’m using Des Moines Bacon Co Pork Rub.

They'll hit a stall at 160ish that's when I wrap.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

They’re going to end up in a crock pot the next day which I suppose is a different question. Without adding BBQ sauce directly, should I just add water to keep it moist?

Maybe vacuum seal and heat in water in the bag the next day?

I wrap my butts in a foil pan when they hit about 160 and then mix the drippings into the crockpot when I heat the pork back up. It adds amazing flavor.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

They’re going to end up in a crock pot the next day which I suppose is a different question. Without adding BBQ sauce directly, should I just add water to keep it moist?

Maybe vacuum seal and heat in water in the bag the next day?

I have never wrapped a butt, I like to get a good bark on it.
When reheating I have found steaming works well.

 

[JM4CY]

I wrap my butts in a foil pan when they hit about 160 and then mix the drippings into the crockpot when I heat the pork back up. It adds amazing flavor.

I’ve done this too. That juice is good. Agree with others have said about bark or not. I would absolutely wrap it after awhile. I’ve found that injecting it with a little apple juice before I wrap it keeps it good and moist and doesn’t dry it out during the longer cook time. You definitely want it up at 200 before you let it rest for a couple hours. I think it’s almost better the next day warmed back up.

 

[cycloner29]

Jerky batch #1

 

[JM4CY]

Jerky batch #1

View attachment 94128

What do you follow to do those? I’m intrigued.

 

[MLawrence]

Doing a couple butts tomorrow for a Christmas shindig on Sunday. Do y’all wrap with butcher paper or foil after a few hours? Do you season the night before? Leave and score the fat cap or take it off? I’ve seen people go both ways with these. I’m using Des Moines Bacon Co Pork Rub.

I see you have gotten a few responses. So this is my two cents:
I wrap with butcher paper once I get the desired colored on the bark, which I think it takes about 5-6 hours.

I would like to season the night before just to let the salt penetrate the meat, but I have done it right before cooking.

I leave the fat cap alone. I personally cook fatside down on the smoker, but I have watched videos where people cook fatside up and once the fat splits, that is when they wrap the butte.

 

[AgronAlum]

I see you have gotten a few responses. So this is my two cents:
I wrap with butcher paper once I get the desired colored on the bark, which I think it takes about 5-6 hours.

I would like to season the night before just to let the salt penetrate the meat, but I have done it right before cooking.

I leave the fat cap alone. I personally cook fatside down on the smoker, but I have watched videos where people cook fatside up and once the fat splits, that is when they wrap the butte.

I’m going on about 6 hours right now. About to pull and cover in roaster pans to keep the juice for tomorrow. I ended up seasoning last night and vacuum packing until this morning.

The cut I got on these didn’t have much of the fat cap left. I just trimmed a little bit and scored. This was as of an hour ago or so. Pulling the beans when I wrap. They’re a honey bacon bourbon bean.

 

[cycloner29]

What do you follow to do those? I’m intrigued.

I will use bottom round. I put it in the freezer for a few hours. I will slice the roast horizontally then eyeball trying to get 1/4” slices. Depends if you want chewy jerky on whether you slice with or against the grain. I will put 1/4 teaspoon of cure in per pound of meat. I just get an off the shelf marinate add about 1/2 cup water and a teaspoon of pepper, vac seal for 24 hours. Put on the smoker at 170 for 3 hours.

 

[AgronAlum]

I will use bottom round. I put it in the freezer for a few hours. I will slice the roast horizontally then eyeball trying to get 1/4” slices. Depends if you want chewy jerky on whether you slice with or against the grain. I will put 1/4 teaspoon of cure in per pound of meat. I just get an off the shelf marinate add about 1/2 cup water and a teaspoon of pepper, vac seal for 24 hours. Put on the smoker at 170 for 3 hours.

Thisnis about what I did last time. Everyone keeps telling me to try it with ground beef so I had my FIL drop off his jerky cannon and he brought me a bag of cure and seasoning. Excited to try it.

 

[tm3308]

I see you have gotten a few responses. So this is my two cents:
I wrap with butcher paper once I get the desired colored on the bark, which I think it takes about 5-6 hours.

I would like to season the night before just to let the salt penetrate the meat, but I have done it right before cooking.

I leave the fat cap alone. I personally cook fatside down on the smoker, but I have watched videos where people cook fatside up and once the fat splits, that is when they wrap the butte.

Totally agreed. I swear by wrapping in butcher paper instead of foil. Soaks up enough of the juice that it preserves the bark instead of steaming/braising the meat like what happens with foil. I've never wrapped ribs before, but I'm eager to try wrapping them with paper when the weather gets warmer again. Foil is a last resort if I've got guests coming and I need to speed up the cook a little.

 

[tm3308]

Grocery store still had choice ribeye roasts on sale for $7.99/lb, so I jumped on the deal and grabbed a couple. I cut one of them up into steaks to throw in the freezer, but I smoked the other one up today. Tried a new recipe. Worcestershire sauce binder, then seasoned with a generous coat of coarse pepper, followed by Killer Hogs TX rub (kosher salt and more pepper), and Heath Riles beef rub. Smoked at about 250 degrees for about 4 hours, basting every hour with more Worcestershire sauce. So much better than my usual recipe. Outstanding flavor in the bark, and the Worcestershire gives it great color.

 

[AgronAlum]

Putting them in roaster pans and wrapping at the stall was absolutely the way to go. These are bomb.com. Plenty of juice to reheat in tomorrow. Thanks y’all.

 

[JM4CY]

Grocery store still had choice ribeye roasts on sale for $7.99/lb, so I jumped on the deal and grabbed a couple. I cut one of them up into steaks to throw in the freezer, but I smoked the other one up today. Tried a new recipe. Worcestershire sauce binder, then seasoned with a generous coat of coarse pepper, followed by Killer Hogs TX rub (kosher salt and more pepper), and Heath Riles beef rub. Smoked at about 250 degrees for about 4 hours, basting every hour with more Worcestershire sauce. So much better than my usual recipe. Outstanding flavor in the bark, and the Worcestershire gives it great color.
View attachment 94140 View attachment 94141 View attachment 94142

Teach me your ways!!

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Teach me your ways!!

Or direct us to grocery store with $7.99/# choice ribeye roasts!

 

[tm3308]

Or direct us to grocery store with $7.99/# choice ribeye roasts!

I shop at Metro Market, which is owned by Kroger. I honestly can't believe they sell them that cheaply, but they do it every year around the holidays at my store, I assume as a loss leader for other items people need for traditional holiday meals. I didn't expect they'd still be available at that price point yesterday, so I went in expecting to just get one roast and spend $100+ on it. But I was able to get two for about $90 total.