Boneless Butt Help?


 
K

Kevin Walsh

TVWBB Fan
I have been asked to barbecue some pork butts on my 18.5" WSM for an event this coming Thursday afternoon and evening. I have today learned that the butts will be boneless. My previous experience with pork butts is limited to the bone-in variety, so I thought I would ask you folks how I should expect this cook (or my approach to it) to differ.

My tentative plan is to rub four boneless butts tomorrow night, and start them in my cooker on Wednesday night over a full load of Rancher/Trader Joe's briquettes (Minion method) and a combination of crabapple and pear wood. I would like to take the butts from the cooker and foil them mid- to late- Thursday morning, and hold them in a cooler for pulling mid- to late- Thursday afternoon.

I am in Southern New England, and expect the temperature Wednesday night to be in the high 50s or low 60s.

Comments? Suggestions? Jeers?
 
Kevin,

I'm not too sure how the overnight cooks go. I usually do high heat, and would probably expect those to take 5 hours or so at 325-350 in my WSM. It's a lot less work and worry, and I don't think there's any difference in the quality. You might want to do a search on here for "high heat butts" or something along those lines.

In any event, I believe that bone-in take a little less time than boneless because the bone heats up and cooks the meat around it. The bone also provides a nice thermometer to tell when it's done.
 
Kevin, when they are done, they are done. You can calculate a 14-hour cook and some of the meat might be done in 10 hours and other pieces might take longer or less. All my pork butts have been on overnight cooks. I've mostly done boneless butts because those were available to me.

Some people just plop them on the grate, but that has always been too unwieldy for me if I'm really trying to pack in about 36 pounds in my 18" WSM.

I usually season them inside and out (be a little lighter on the internal seasoning - too much can cause unattractive pockets of discoloration). Then I haphazardly tie them so they are fairly compact. Netting would also work, but would destroy any bark upon removal. I wouldn't advise it. I've tried the by-the-book meat tying procedure, but it's not worth the hassle. There will always be some ends of the boneless meat that will absolutely refuse to be contained, depending upon the skill of whomever boned out the meat. By tying, I feel that I'm getting more evenly cooked roasts that will finish reasonably close to each other. If you're careful in sliding out the string, you can preserve most of the bark.

Rita
 
Just curious if you have done an over nighter before Kevin and if you use a remote thermometer. I did a boneless once and asked the butcher to tie it for me which he did, worked great. Maybe whoever is supplying the butts can do the same.
 
Eric, I have done several overnight cooks of bone-in butts, but never four at a time. I have a couple of Maverick remote thermometers, which I do use.
 
Kevin if it all goes to plan as you layed out, wrap the butts in heavy duty foil (double wrap it), wrap in a towel and put in a dry cooler. Even though it will be in the 50s/60s, the temps will hold for serveral hours no problem.

Since they are boneless (and tied right?), they will cook faster than a bone in butt. It's virtually impossible to have it tied in such a way that makes it like the bone wasn't removed. There will be gaps which will allow the heat to cook the inside of the meat while cooking the outside at the same time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rita Y:
Some people just plop them on the grate, but that has always been too unwieldy for me if I'm really trying to pack in about 36 pounds in my 18" WSM.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow! That's a full WSM.
 
Hey Kevin! Where are you getting the butts from - BJ's? and how many people are you cooking for? Since it's going to be raw, cold and rainy, I'd suggest buying some large foil pans from Joeyz, wrap the butts, but 2 in each pan and pop them in the oven (not on) to hold until you're ready for pulling. Plus you can pull them and serve from the pan. That's what I do when cooking for Hall's wrestling tournament.
 
Hey Kevin, try putting them in pans! low and slow or hot and fast they come out great! Just make sure the pan size will allow the butts to fit snugly inside them. All the above advise is solid: rubbing etc. Good luck and have fun!
 
Bill, I typically get my pork butts at BJ's (bone-in), but these boneless butts came from Statewide Meat & Poultry in New Haven. I am cooking for 35 to 40 people. In addition to the butts in the WSM, I will be doing Cornell Chicken on the kettle - four and a half dozen thighs.

I have some large foil pans, and plan to use them. Let's just hope the weather cooperates . . .
 
Kevin,

Last week I picked up a case of 10x butts @ 100 lbs from my butcher. Went to rub them Thursday night for a Friday cook and over half of them were boneless. They came from his supplier in the case like that, so not really his fault. Not sure how the supplier mixed them in there. At least you know in advance!

As Rita mentioned, go a little lighter on the inside with rub, as I had some discoloration and didn't get a "bark" in the areas that were rubbed but tucked in.

They cooked a little faster. Once I realized I had boneless I backed off my start time by an hour, and it came out on time. I'd still rather be ready early, so I would just tuck/tie them up and cook like they were bone in.

Not sure how you cook, but definetly put your larger butts on whichever grate cooks faster/hotter for you.
 
Thanks, all, for the sage advice. The butts will go on the WSM shortly; I am confident that, with your generous assistance, they will turn out wonderfully.
 
Good luck Kevin!! I'm pulling the trigger on the 22.5 tomorrow! woohoo!!
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And if your ever interested in going in on a pallet of Wicked Good, let me know.
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