Boston Butt Question


 
K

Kurt_C

TVWBB Member
Hi All,

I'm entering a friendly smoke-off competition, and have decided to do a boston butt and make pulled pork. I'm trying to think of some ways to kick things up a couple notches to better my chances of winning! Typically I put a rub on the night before, then smoke it for 16-18 hours(10lbs). Then I foil for 30-60 minutes, pull/shred, and add some sauce. I'm thinking of pulling/shredding the pork, adding a sauce, then putting it back on the smoker for a couple of hours to get more smoke infused into the meat. Do you think this would dry it out too much, even if I use lots of sauce? Also, what about adding bacon? I found a few recipes where you spread bacon on top of the butt, then cut it into chunks and mix in with the meat. How long would the bacon need to cook using this method? If there any other ideas out there I'd be happy to hear them!

Thanks in Advance,
Kurt

WSM 18.5
 
I'm not a big fan of saucy pp. When you pull it add some rub and make sure you break up the bark good so it is mixed throughout, then add just a bit of sauce to enhance the flavour. If you hand me a pp sammie that's oozing sauce my first thought is your pulled pork isn't very good and your trying to hide it with sauce.
 
Keep it simple and you may win the competition..nice rub and good wood to smoke and a bbq sauce on the side and think you will do fine...
 
The last Boston Butt I did was the Harry Soo recipe (and so will my next one). You might want to take a look at this:
http://www.slapyodaddybbq.com/2012/04/slap-yo-daddy-bone-in-pork-butt-2/2/

By the way, my Boston Butt weighed 8.7 lbs. and it took just about nine hours on the WSM at 225-250 degrees. It was about as good as it gets!! I used a dry, foiled water pan. Temperature control was a piece of cake. Temps were grate temperature with my Maverick.

Dale53
 
Kurt,
If no one has tried it yet in past smoke-offs, how some sliced money muscle ?
Can not give any help on this since I have yet to do it...
 
The only thing I would do different really is to inject it the night before with whatever recipe you like. It does make a difference in the finished product cause I have done them side by side with and without. I would not add bacon to it, rubbed and slow smoked pulled pork is a beautiful flavor.
I would use a finishing sauce made with the drippings from the cook. I put a aluminum pan under it from the start and catch them. Don't pull until just before your sit down as the pulled meat starts drying out as soon as you pull it. Even with a sauce covering it.
I make my finishing sauce with the juices from the meat, some apple cider vinegar and apple juice along with a dash of my rub spice. Works great and the flavor is to die for in my opinion. I put whatever sauce I am serving on the side for people to add as much or whatever they want. Everyone likes something different. I always have two different flavors on the table for them to try.
 
Last edited:
Bill Schultz said:
I make my finishing sauce with the juices from the meat, some apple cider vinegar and apple juice along with a dash of my rib spice. Works great and the flavor is to die for in my opinion. I put whatever sauce I am serving on the side for people to add as much or whatever they want. Everyone likes something different. I always have two different flavors on the table for them to try.
Click to expand...

I like the sound of that. I'm smoking my first butt this weekend. I'm going to try it. Can you recommend approximate amounts?
 
Darren it is all eyeball to me, I use most of the drippings. I put them in a fat separator if there is a large amount and pour in just the juices minus fat. If there is not a lot of drippings then I just use all of it. I use more ACV than AJ as that vinegar taste is great with pork. Equal parts drippings to juice. I add some of the rub I used on the meat and mix in well. After I pull the pork I ladle on the finishing sauce and get it mixed in well. It needs to be on the thin side as far as consistency. So adjust ratios accordingly.
Just a tip I picked up watching French cooking styles. Your sauces or in this case finishing sauce should always reinforce your cooking flavors. Can't think of a better way to do it than using the meats own juices enhanced with your injection juices and rub spices.
 
I like Bill's idea, have a couple styles of finishing sauce on hand to offer different tastes. Try a mustard sauce as well.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I will more or less stick with my normal cooking methods - no bacon, and I won't put it back on the smoker after pulling it. I like the injection idea, but I'm concerned about the cook times. the last 7-8 10lb port butts I've cooked have all been around the 16-18 hr mark. Will an injection speed up the cook times, much like what brining does?

I found a store-bought finishing sauce that I really like, but I usually have to water it down a fair bit to get the consistency I like - I think I'll try collecting the drippings from the butt and using that instead, and will add apple juice if necessary.

As a side note, I'm thinking of practicing a week before the smoke-off, then will put some left left over pulled pork in some bacon-wrapped ABT's, to entice the judges a little!!!
 
Kurt you do not have to cook for 16-18 hours unless you want to. My last cook for three pork butts 8-9 lbs each took seven hours. If they make pork more tender than that stuff I would be surprised, check out this link. I cooked at 280 for an hour or so until the WSM finally got to 300. Stubbs gave me problems getting to the higher temp I wanted but held it after the first hour.

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?43422-Double-Graduation-Party
 
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