How to cook a boston butt?
This is definitely something I haven't tried at home, but I passed this cut of meat in the grocery store tonight...it was on sale & it looked great.
Now, what do I do with it? :O)
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17 Comments:
It's basically a pork shoulder roast. I rub it with kosher salt and dried chipotlepeppers, put it on a rack and roast it at 300 degrees for about 5 hours. Skin gets crisp, fat drips off, meat very tender and tasty. Also the cut you can use for pernil, the Cuban and pan-Latino roast pork with the citrus-garlic-oregano marinade. I love them and buy them on sale for great inexpensive family meals.
lemons at 10:04PM on 08/27/08
You must get Chiff's recipe. She makes some great pork.
JerzeeTomato at 10:07PM on 08/27/08
I agree with Jerzee - I think Chiff has once posted her roasted pork butt recipe and it looked amazing (I also recall seeing a picture once, if I'm not mistaken). If I remember which thread she posted it on, I'll link it here.
brooke29 at 10:15PM on 08/27/08
From my nom de message board, you might surmise that I have a bit of experience with this. ;-)
OK, here it goes: I usually do mine in my smoker, but I'm sure you can get away with a regular grill or the oven. The idea is to do it as they say, "low and slow". If on the grill it needs to be indirect, i.e. heat off to one side, butt on the other. (not over the heat) You'll need a rub of some sort...here's a simple one you could doctor up if you so desire:
* 2 tablespoons salt
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons ground cumin
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 cup paprika
The night before, rub the whole butt with yellow mustard, then generously pat on the rub all about. The mustard will help hold the rub on and provide some moisture retention, and interestingly not add much if anything in the way of mustard flavor. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chuck it in the fridge overnight.
And hour or so before starting to cook it, remove your butt from the fridge and let it come close to room temperature. Put it on the grill and pretty much forget about it for a couple of hours. The grill (or oven if using) should be at around 225-240F. If on the grill, make a foil packet with some soaked hickory chips and put it on the heat. The smoke is nice and more authentic but not necessary.
You ideally will want to monitor the temperature of the butt with a probe style digital thermometer, cause regularly opening the lid (or oven door) will cause temperature drops and extend cooking time. When the meat reaches 100F, spray every hour with a 3 to 1 mixture of apple juice and Captain Morgan's Rum (or bourbon depending on your mood)
When the meat reaches 165F, double wrap it in HD foil with a little of the spray mixture to help braise the meat. Continue to cook until the internal meat temps gets to 195-205F. Remove the foiled meat from the cooker and wrap it (still foiled) in a couple old bath towels and put it in an insulated cooler to rest for at least an hour before you pull it.
General rule of thumb is 1-1/2 hrs. cooking time per pound, but that tends to fluctuate. Go by temps and you can't go wrong. Sorry if this is a little wordy but I just did one this past Sunday and it rocked!
NorthernBBQer at 10:20PM on 08/27/08
Wow, NorthernBBQer. Thanks for the recipe. It sounds wonderful!
barbara_flay at 10:42PM on 08/27/08
Low and slow in a smoker, using hickory. Then add a gracious amount of mustard barbeque sauce. Now I need a boston butt.
beth1 at 11:54PM on 08/27/08
I totally agree that the grill is a perfect way to cook a pork butt. I do it in a similar way, with lots of fresh garlic, cumin, oregano and balsamic vinegar.
Another way is to braise it in the oven. Rub all over with olive oil, then sprinkle liberally with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Brown VERY WELL all over in a dutch oven (large enough to hold the roast snugly) with more olive oil. Add two bay leaves, a cup of red wine, a cup of hot water, a sploosh each of worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, cover and bake at 325 for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for a 5-6 lb roast. Then the fun: Uncover and add 5-6 crushed cloves of garlic, a sliced onion, and dried herbs of your liking. I like to add thyme, oregano and rosemary. Sprinkle the whole works with a dash each of salt, pepper and sugar, cover and cook for another 45 minutes or so. Remove the roast, defat the liquid, and save those luscious cloves of garlic to mash all over the meat! Serve the delicious juice with the roast.
The key here is to add your aromatics toward the end of the cooking time, rather than the beginning, so the flavors aren't rendered unrecognizable.
Pork rules. Have fun!
hungryinhouston at 12:25AM on 08/28/08
Makes great carnitas for you south-of-the-border dishes. Slow braising with fresh citrus to control the moisture transitioning to crisping in its own oils. Cracklin and succulent at the same time. Don't get much better...
czken at 6:33AM on 08/28/08
I use Boston Butt/Picnic Shoulder for pulled pork and it's amazing. Plentiful and moist, it benefits from long slow cooking - either by smoke or with moisture.
therealchiffonade at 8:33AM on 08/28/08
Pork butt is the favorite around here, there's alot of ways to do it but nothernbbq summed it up well on a smoker, low and slow but I don't foil the butt I let it go until the bone feels like you can pull it off and its ready, another thing that alot of the pros do is inject the butt, before you put it on the grill or smoker and after the next day rub I like to put the pork butt on the smoker cold you get a deeper smoke ring....and remeber if its pink its not raw its the smoke ring..
Markbb at 9:02AM on 08/28/08
I usually make mine on the smoker with some type of dry rub like the others. It's the only way to go for pulled pork BBQ. But when the weather gets lousy and we want some comfort food like a nice roast, I do it in the oven for a completely different flavor.
I generously rub the surface of the roast with garlic salt and crushed black pepper. I brown it on all sides in a pan on my cooktop with a little veg oil so it doesn't stick. Finally, put it in a small roasting pan fat side up, add about 2 cups of water to the pan, cover it and roast it at 350 for 3-5 hours depending on the size of the roast. I usually use half a butt. The longer you cook it, the more tender it gets. Just make sure to keep checking the braising liquid, adding more water as it evaporates. It comes out with a nice crust and falls right off the bone. I serve it with haluska (cabbage, onions and noodles sauted in butter). Great Fall dinner.
Josdean at 4:49PM on 08/28/08
like nothernbbq said.....low an slow an i agree with Markbb....no foil
onepercent99 at 6:38PM on 08/28/08
I don't foil either because I think the bark is the best part. And I agree with Markbb about putting the butt on the smoker cold for greater smoke penetration.
Cathy at 5:34PM on 08/29/08
I wonder how that works......better smoke penetration when the meats cold?.....just askin'
onepercent99 at 6:04PM on 08/29/08
I use a wet rub, with a tbsp of white vinegar. Cook it in a dutch oven, to which I've added a cup or two (depending on the size of the roast) because moisture is important. I then shred the meat, and use it in sandwiches, or on a tortilla with avocado, onions, and a squeeze of lime juice, and to help put together other quick meals on work nights. In a stir fry, or a soba noodle dish I like with radishes, green onions and sliced almonds.
My daughter loves taking her lunch in bento boxes, and something like this lends itself well to quick roll ups, leftovers from the soba noodle dish.
Mares at 11:21AM on 08/30/08
Trading away Manny Ramirez was a good start.
srhcb at 12:50PM on 08/30/08
you gotta love a boston butt... a good way to tenderize a butt or shoulder is if you put it in zing zang bloody mary mix over night. i would think that any bloody mary mix would work. then wrap it in foil twice and put on the grill (medium heat) for about 3 to 5 hours depending on its size.
dcthomas_27 at 3:18PM on 08/27/09