Ah yes – Spring has sprung. Well, kind of. By the time it actually springs, it’s summer and then winter is right around the corner. That’s the midwest for you. Anyway, Zach said he had some meats that needed out of the fridge, Doug was on dad-detail – so it was time to load the smoker up, take it to Doug’s house, and make dinner.
I don’t know if it’s because it gets some serious use, but these RecTeq legs are getting harder and harder to fold in. Still does the job, don’t get me wrong – but it’s always a project to make sure it works. Loaded up my toolbox, a jug of Char-Hickory pellets and this guy. I did always want to try a quick day Pork Butt smoke, since I’ve always done all-nighters. I also just came off an awesome Chicken drummie cook (coming soon!) with some sauce, so I wanted to put it into play today.
High-Temp, Half-Time Pork Butt
Whole Bird
Two recipes for this special. Pork butt and a chicken. Can we cook these side-by-side, finish at the same time? Let’s find out.
The Prep Table
No question, it was the smaller pork butt I’ve ever cooked. These were locally processed meats – we couldn’t wait to dig in. You can see in the bag, there wasn’t much of a fat cap at all. I scored it a little bit, but wasn’t a lot there. We’re going with my pork blend – Fine Swine – for this rub. Let’s see what she looks like.
Since I absolutely do not use mustard as a rub binder, I sprinkle it on and wait about 5 minutes for it to soak in and get a little soupy. Then i flip it and do the same. Give a heavy coat around all edges for the grates. When we showed up, I got the RecTeq plugged in and fired up to 275 degrees. I went into today thinking it’d be a 300 degree cook, but the size of the butt made me drop it down to 275. (it worked).
Started to do a little rub, then thought – more pictures! This was post spatchcock – Used those Oklahoma Joe’s shears and cut through and removed the backbone with little to no trouble.
Gave her a good dose of that new bird rub – name pending – and it on the grates after a couple of hours. (I know, a little bit out of order, but it’s all part of the prep). I didn’t bring any cutting boards to prep on, so I made some foil tents to grab everything. Worked just fine, especially since not a lot of trimming was necessary.
The Process
I went fat cap down for the butt. I’m pretty sure I always do it.. the main reason is that if I get any stick to the grates, it’ll peel the cap vs. pulling the meats. Leave a comment if you agree or disagree- everyone has their opinions! So yeah, probe in the middle and let it roll until 165. Normally, I let my butts go until 203+, but we’re doing the high-temp, high-speed butt today. We gotta get these done before the games are on. And try to time the chicken to finish at the same time.
After a little bit of time, the pork started to look a little dry – so I decided to splash it with some of my “finishing sauce” (There’s no way to avoid crude comments, so try to avoid the chuckle). All the sauce is basically some seasonings, apple cider vinegar, sugar.. just a little bit of extra pop for the post-pull presentation. Or in this case, for when it starts to look a little dry.
You can see some of the secret seasonings resting on the meat (crushed red pepper). But it’s looking damn good already. As soon as she hit 165F, we dropped it in a half-pan and wrapped it up tight with some foil. Throw a guess at where the meat is with the probe and put it back on until 203F+
Back on for the long haul. We were looking for about 170 degrees for the bird and 203+ for the pork. As soon as the bird was about 160 degrees, we were going to give it a coat of some Alabama White Sauce – let it get set on there, and then throw it on a grill for real quick high heat burn for the skin. Doug did the grill part while I was shredding the pork – because, yes.. they finished exactly the same time.
BBQ is a messy job sometimes. Most times. Today was no different. We’re approaching the finish line, let’s check out the end.
The Result
I think I pulled the pork off at 207. That bone was screaming to get out of there!
That White Sauce set nicely on the bird, gave it a nice rich color. This is where we pulled everything.
Slather the bird while it’s still hot, and time to take a knife to that.
I dunno, y’all. This was a perfectly timed, perfectly cooked – and perfectly tasting start to the 2022 Spring BBQ season. (I say spring season, because every season is BBQ season) The quick cook on the butt worked, but I still preferred the low and slow overnighter. You get that low’n’slow bark and nearly every piece was ridiculously juicy tender. Some of the pieces on the quick cook were a little bit tough, but that’s what being a perfectionist gets me.
The chicken was dynamite. Was happy to introduce the Alabama White Sauce to the Midwest crowd. Thanks for checking this one out, let’s see what the rest of the year has for us here at ForensicBBQ!
The Recipe – Pork Butt
High-Temp, Half-Time Pork Butt
Ingredients
- 1 Bone-in Pork Shoulder Pork Butt
- Favorite BBQ Seasoning Fine Swine Pork Rub
- 1 Cup Pork Finishing Juice ACV, Sugar, Seasonings
Instructions
- Pre-heat smoker for 275
- Score the fat cap and give a heavy rub to all sides. If you use a mustard binder, go ahead and ruin it (joke). If you don't use mustard – throw the rub, wait 5 minutes and flip/repeat.
- Probe the middle, place on grates until IT 165F
- Optional: If looking dry, throw a spray of some apple cider vinegar, apple juice, or mix up some finishing sauce like I do.
- Remove and place into half-pan, cover tightly with foil (throw a hail mary probe shot (or wrap around the probe) and return to the RecTeq until IT is 203F+
- Remove bone, shred pork, add some finishing juice if preferred.
Notes
The Recipe – Whole Bird
Whole Bird w/ AWS
Ingredients
Bird
- 1 Whole Chicken Spatchcocked
- Favorite Bird Seasoning Proprietary
- 1.5 Cups Barbecue Sauce Alabama White
Alabama White Sauce
- 1 Cup Mayonnaise
- 1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tsp Coarse Black Pepper
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Cayenne Powder
- 1 Tbsp Water to thin if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat smoker for 275 degrees
- Spatchcock: Take a heavy-duty set of cooking shears and cut each side of the bird backbone and remove it. Flip it, tuck the wings behind the top to lay flat. (I've also seen the legs turned in to stay flat as well – I did not for this one)
- Heavy seasoning all over the bird – Place on the grates until IT ~160ish
- Coat with Alabama White Sauce, back on grates until 170F Internal Temp (20-30ish min)
- Optional: Flash high temp grill to ensure skin is bite through.
- Remove from grates and into half-pan. Coat with sauce and cut it up!