One Butt, Two Butts

[Cajunate]

Alright, so last night I put two butts to brine overnight. This  morning I removed them from the brine and rinsed them well. After letting them sit I dried them as much as I could and smeared honey allover them then applied my homemade rub. I usually always use either honey, cane syrup or molasses as a base then apply the rub. It makes the seasonings stick better and helps to make for a better bark. Then they both went onto the Traeger at the smoke setting. They should be about done about twelve to thirteen hours from now.

[Cajunate]

Nine hours in and the butts are looking great and smelling even better!!!

[CDN Smoker]

Fantastic looking. I have never brined before, what did you use?

[Lines]

Fantastic looking. I have never brined before, what did you use?

I never have either, been reading a little about it.

[Cajunate]

Fantastic looking. I have never brined before, what did you use?

Thanks!
My usual simple brine is one cup of salt(not iodized salt! This will give it a iodine taste so use NON-iodized salt be it Kosher, sea or plain table salt.)and one cup of whiye granulated or light brown sugar to one gallon hot water(you can bring cold water to a boil to dissolve then let cool. Place in the fridge to chill then put your meat be it chicken or pork into the brine. You can brine pork butts overnight or for 10 - 12 hours but after brining remove meat and rinse really well. If you have time I suggest letting butts air dry in the fridge for a few hours before applying rub.


Butts update!!!  I let these butts go for just under 13 hours and they were at 198 degrees IT when I took them off the Traeger. Brought them inside and put them on the stove in a pan to cool down a bit before pulling. I went into the bedroom to watch a lil TV while they were cooling and when I came back out about an hour later the wife had started pulling/shredding one of the butts so I didn't take any pictures last night. I pulled the second one and it was super tender and moist. I'll get a couple of pictures today when served.

[Cajunate]

Had to do some computer updating yesterday and couldn't post so......






Can't show it in a picture but the bark on these butts was perfect! It was not black or burnt, had a great texture and tasted really nice.

[Bill2112]

Never have brined before, will have to try, I used a rub, yours looks great!

[Lines]

Awesome looking food!

[bamabob]

But, but, where's mine?  Great looking food. 

How does a butt on the Traeger compare to one on the keg?

[Cajunate]

They're pretty close but if I had to nit pik I'd say the Traeger cooks more evenly, The bark is where I probably notice a difference. The Keg tends to create more dry/harder edges. I do like using the Traeger because I can basically make sure there are enough pellets in the hopper and if I had to leave to run errands I have no problem with the fluctuation of temperature.  This of course is only done where the Traeger or any cooker for that matter is away from anything that can catch fire if there was a problem. The Keg on the other hand can have an occasional issue with rain or wind.