you think the 6 rack is overkill? will be smoking for at most 8-10 people...
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I run the 4 rack and it has been fine for me. I have not yet had a need for more racks. I smoke for the smae amount of people as you mentioned all the time.
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Same here. You can always buy extra trays and double up by flipping over the top tray. That's how I fit 6 4lb bacon slabs in my 4 rack Bradley.

Got a 9.75lb pork butt rubbed down and chilling in the fridge. Going to put on tomorrow afternoon to have for Sunday football. Tried something different this time by first putting a coat of yellow mustard on the pork before sprinkling the rub on. Should be interesting.
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I never liked the mustard wipe method.

Works for some people - I didn't care for it. I think it turns into an icky salty plaster bark on the outside of the meat and also serves as a barrier to the rub flavor penetrating the meat.

I much prefer to take all the ingredients found in my dry rubs, get them as their fresh counterparts and mix them with a little oil in a food processor to make a paste and smear that all over the meat (this is the only type of coating I use on my Denver ribs)

All that chunky fresh garlic, slow smoke roasted with sugar and peppers in the wet rub, oh.... delicious....
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I've seen in done on TV a few times so thought I'd give it a shot. I just pulled the pork butt out of the oven. Finished in there as I'm still very leary of running my smoker unattended in the garage over night. Here's the results after 23 hours to a IT of 195F.

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FTC'in for an hour or so before shredding.
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holy crap 23 hrs?
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Looks tasty Bob. How did it turn out w/ the mustard?
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Yikes! How big was it?
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The pork shoulders turned out great. This is (2) 7.5 lb Bone-In Shoulders. 16 hrs at 210*. Internal temp of 208* 60% apple, 20% Alder & 20% Hickory.
FTC for 1.5 hours. Killer bark and it just fell apart in my hands.
Sorry, not pics after pulling. I was in a rush to get this to our church function.


After the Rub of Love

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In the pot ya go!


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MMMMMMMMMM


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I baked up a batch of 3 dozen homemade Potatoe rolls to make Lil sandwiches.


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I honestly couldn't taste the mustard. Did make for a decent bark though all things considered.

It was 9.75lbs. Part of the reason it took so long was finishing in the oven. Seems my oven has a timer that shuts itself off after being on for x amount of time. I didn't notice that and the IT temp dropped from 174 to 168 at one point. I cranked the oven back up to 250ish to get it going again. If it hadn't have been so cold out, I would've done the whole time in the smoker.

What internal temp do you guys shoot for on pork butts? I've always read 195F+, but it seems that the meat comes out too done. Literally falling apart. Next time I might try 185-190 and see how I like it.
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For me 185-190 leaves the center still bound up and not easy to pull. I have found that around 205 to be the best.
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Hmm, interesting. I've never taken one past 195, thinking it was too done at that point. I see you did the pork shoulders at 210*. Do you do the same for pork butts, or do you run it hotter?
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About 190 give or take 5, but I also go a lot by feel if they weren't foiled at 165ish. Jam a fork or probe in there and twist or wiggle a bit; if it feels like a bowl of al dente spaghetti, it's done.

Might be worth noting though, that I usually don't cook cuts over 5-6 lbs and IIRC, my cooker runs at about 230F ish.
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Can I come to your house for dinner?

Looks great!
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Pork Shoulder / Pork butt, same.
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Duh! For some reason I was thinking of a different cut. With your temp at 210, you're able to get to a IT of 208?
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Ya. I have a foil wrapped brick and a full waterbasin in the bottom. I also run my vents a little more closed than others. I only leave them about 25% open.
I dont know what state you live in, but where I am, in my part of California it has only been getting down to the low 40s at night and mid to upper 60s during the day. My smoker area is very protected form the wind also.
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Im in Michigan. Saturday night it was going down at single digits. My smoker's in my detached garage, so it's out of the elements. I also have a range hood above it, vented to the outside.

I've been meaning to buy a brick or two to put in there for more thermal mass. Right now I have teh water bowl and some aluminum pucks. They don't offer much in the way of heat holding capability, but they'll do for now.
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Call me crazy, and some of you do, but I LIKE my pulled pork as degraded as possible, tender,
almost fork mushable. Overdone is what most would call it, I like it that way.
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I dont like to struggle while pulling my pork either. Dont get me wrong, I dont like it to be mush like baby food, but I do want it to fall apart while I am pulling it with my hands.
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