First overnight smoke - advice and tips from veterans!

[CHokKA]

Hey everyone

In a few weeks I am going to attempt my first overnight smoke *gulp*! I want to cook a 5kg pork butt for my son's 1st birthday and want to make sure that the food is ready by about 13:00 on the Sunday. I have a plan, but I thought I'd post it up here so that others can offer advice or recommendations as to how best to go about achieving this. I learned alot from my last time smoking with my Excel but I'm still quite a newbie so attempting an overnight smoke is quite daunting!

So, anyway, here's what I'm thinking:

1.) Saturday morning I'll pick up the pork butt from the butcher. I'll be ordering it so it'll definitely be ready!
2.) When I get home I'll apply the rub. I'm also thinking I might inject it with apple juice. Is this a good idea? Will it improve / hinder cooking times?
3.) At about 8pm I'll take the pork out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.
4.) At about 9pm I'll light the smoker and let it come up to temperature. After my last smoke, I've learned that I need to fill the entire basket with charcoal so I'll be adding as much as I possibly can to the basket. I am hoping to use Heatbeads for the cook, and a few handfuls of applewood chips in a perforated foil pouch. And I'll be using water which is the only major drawback because it'll need topping up every 3 hours. Am I better off using sand or a clay saucer? What type of sand should I use if so?
5.) Hopefully the smoker will be ready to go at about 10pm. I'll put in the shoulder and let it run. I have a Maverick ET732 so I'll set that so I can monitor the temperature. I'll be waking up a few times throughout the night to check it and do what's necessary to maintain the temperature. Perhaps a check every 3 hours or so. Finger's crossed!
6.) Let the smoker run until about 12pm - 1pm and hopefully have some tender, juicy pulled pork for my guests to tuck into right off the smoker. It all sounds quite simple and straightforward when you write it down, but it never works out the way you plan!

Anything that anyone would add to or change? All tips and help is most appreciated

[Tiny]

AAzit fella,
Well I think your plan fundamentally sound but would offer the following.

Wouldn't rub too early if your rub has fair salt or sugar content as it will either start to cure the meat or draw juices out.

Presuming you will have it skinned by the butcher and make the skin into crackling in your oven......mmmmmm...porky...I digress...

Injecting, utterly pointless imho, what could you inject that would be tastier than oozing pigginess......

Like your fire set up, but would go foiled sand don't think the type of sand makes a difference it is just a big hunk of thing to get hot stay hot and keep the heat regular.

Personally would be shooting for having it foiled wrapped and in an picnic box no later than 10 am, in my experience on a long cook something is bound to happen, and if it doesn't pork shoulders will sit foiled and keep warm for hours...... Have a cheeky chicken on standby if its done early open the taps to get the temp up and sneak a chooky on for an couple of hours, if it doesn't oblidge then stick it on later and a tasty tea awaits.

For me its start early and leave margin for error and this will def help you enjoy not only the cook but the day you are supposed to be enjoying as well

Hope this helps
Cheers
Tiny

[RobinC]

Just a couple of random thoughts/comments

- no real need to rub ahead of time. I tend to rub pork butts ahead of time when I've got very early morning starts just so it's one less process for me to do at silly o clock in the morning. Can't say I've ever noticed any real difference in the end result. You are not going to cure a 5kg pork butt by applying a rub 8 hours before cooking, if would draw some moisture out but that's as nothing to the moisture that the cooking process will draw out.
- I'm neutral on injecting. Have done it a few times and never rule it out but not totally sold on whether it really achieves anything. I want to believe it is worthwhile but suspect it isn't
- I always cook with water in my WSM - generally find I don't need to top it up too often and I'm not to fussed if it starts evaporating to quite a low level towards the end of the cook. Many cook with sand and or clay saucer with good results. Personally if I was doing an overnight cook for the 1st time I would stick with a method that I was reasonably happy with. You could always do a dry run ahead of time to check that you are happy with the temp your cooker runs at with a clay saucer in it.
- a 5kg butt that has been kept in a fridge will not come up to room temp in an hour. Having said that there is no point trying to bring it up to room temp. You get more smoke penetration on cold meat. Personally I never bother trying to bring pork butts up to room temp. I just plonk them on the smoker straight from the fridge
- get wood chunks if you can they generally perform better than wood chips
- I don't wait for the smoker to get up to temp before putting the meat on. Don't see the point. I wait for the smoke to calm down once the lit coals have been added and the cooker assembled then I bung the meat on. I have in the past waited for the cooker to get up to temp and that just seems to make the overall cook take a little longer. So I don't bother any more. Can't say I've noticed a difference in the end product.
- would agree with Tinys comments on timings. I pretty much always try to build in a 2 hour rest time when cooking pork butts. Firstly I think the pork benefits from the rest, secondly it gives me a margin of error if the cook starts going awry. That being said I would probably aim start the cook a couple of hours earlier.

EDIT: good luck with the cook and enjoy the occasion

[tommo666]

I do inject and i notice a difference because sometimes i can't be bothered to inject

My porky fluid is knorr pork cube in around 250ml boiling water. Let cool, it goes all gunky because it has a high fat content, then about the same in apple juice then a few squirts of maggi (sort of liquid marmite) which adds the umami effect then a few dashes of dark soy. It's a savory mix as i don't like it too sweet.

You could go all alchemist and chuck all-sorts into the cauldron but i prefer to keep things simple and it doesn't overpower the pork...

[JEC]

Not much more to say than start earlier and don't use the water. Most of all tho good luck, not sure our baby will eat pulled pork on his first birthday

[CHokKA]

Thanks for the replies everyone, as always you've given me some really helpful tips

If I go with sand and foil over in the water pan, is something like sharp sand ok to use? I don't want to use garden soil, I'll pick up some sharp sand or something from B&Q or similar if that's the stuff to use?

I am used to water but it evaporated far too quickly for my liking the last time I used it. If I can get away with similar temperatures using sand then that's the way forward I think.

Not much more to say than start earlier and don't use the water. Most of all tho good luck, not sure our baby will eat pulled pork on his first birthday

Haha he actually quite enjoyed pulled pork when we gave him some a while back. I had some left over from my last cook that we froze, and he had a little for his lunch and seemed to enjoy it

I'll also do as Tiny and RobinC suggest and I'll bring the cook forward and let the meat rest for longer. What do I need to do with it if I put it in a cooler? I've read something about a towel and then into the cooler. Is that right? How long can I expect it to stay hot enough to pull for?

[BRUN]

I recently cooked a brisket for 6 hours (~250F), I decided to use water in the pan, I filled the pan up pretty high, probably about 2" from the top, and at the end of the cook their was loads of the water left, im certain it could have gone to 10+ hours easily, more than half of it was left

[RobinC]

I'll also do as Tiny and RobinC suggest and I'll bring the cook forward and let the meat rest for longer. What do I need to do with it if I put it in a cooler? I've read something about a towel and then into the cooler. Is that right? How long can I expect it to stay hot enough to pull for?

I wrap in foil then a towel and put it in a cooler. I've held a butt like that for 4 hours and it was still hot whilst pulling

[BRUN]

my brisket was double wrapped in heavy duty foil and 4 hours later it was still at 160F IIRC, I sat it in the oven and every hour just put the oven on for 5-10 mins on very low to keep it warm