Smoking/Cooking my 1st Pork Butt on my Auber PID modified Traeger PTG (BBQ020) running in the manual mode. Due to the size of the PTG (Grilling Area: 15″ x 12″) I chose a small 6 lb bone-in Pork Butt. I also opted to use a time tested turbo method rather than use the traditional Low-and-Slow method which usually entails an overnight cook. The PTG’s pellet hopper only holds 5 lbs of Pacific Pellet Gourmet BBQ Hickory Wood Pellets and requires opening the lid to refill. I therefore want to minimize opening the lid and a 5-6 hour turbo method helps. I was extremely pleased with the visual results of the smoke ring and the scrumptious flavor profiles achieved.
Started with a 6 lb Pork Shoulder Whole Bone-In Butt Roast and trimmed the fat cap leaving ¼” or less. I find that leaving too much fat cap minimizes the formation of a luscious bark. I do not subscribe to the theory that as the fat cap breaks down it bastes the Pork Butt. I therefore always place the fat cap face down. But as you can see it takes up most of the available space. Rubbed the Bone-In Pork Butt with Roasted Garlic EVOO and Jans Dry Rub. Tightly wrapped the seasoned Pork Butt with plastic and refrigerated overnight.
My Pork Butt Turbo method consists of the following procedure: Smoke the Butt for 2 hours with Hickory Gourmet BBQ Pellets at 225º-250ºF. Bump the pit temperature to 350º-375ºF until the internal temperature of the Pork Butt reaches 160ºF. Double wrap the Pork with Heavy Duty foil and back into the pit until the internal temperature reaches 200º-205ºF. FTC the smoked Pork Butt for 3-4 hours.
Used the iGrill in conjunction with my iPad to monitor the pit temperature (white graph) and Pork Butt IT (red graph). Note the beautiful bark formation. After a 3 hour FTC the Butt was still too hot to handle without proper hand protection or pulled pork utensils.
Note the distinct smoke ring and mix of bark in this mountain of pulled pork! It’s sure to please even your most finicky eater. My better half prefers to enjoy her pulled pork on a fresh roll topped with Sweet Baby Ray BBQ sauce. I on the other hand, enjoy my pulled pork with some home made Pinto Beans. Either way … Pulled Pork is hard to beat … Use a GoodSaver to vacuum seal 1 lb portions of your Pulled Pork to use for Tacos, Enchiladas, Tostadas, and/or any number of mouth watering recipes!!
Randy Caron
What is FTC? Thank you
smokerpete
FTC is Foil, Towel, Cooler. For example: Double wrap a smoked/cooked pork butt in Foil, wrap it up in a Towel and place it in a Cooler for 3-4 hours before pulling. FTC reconstitutes the juices into the meat. It will also keep your meat HOT for hours.
RB
Thank You for sharing , we pick up TPG next week for the RV , should be nice addition to grilling arsenal ….