Butt bone wiggle test never works for me

[James Stephen]

I can't for the life of me get a pork butt to "release" a bone to where it feels like it would slide out cleanly while I'm cooking.

I thought maybe I wasn't giving it enough time--the end of the butt furthest from the bone always gets butter soft way earlier than the bone end, so I figured maybe I just needed to keep pushing and the meat around the bone would follow suit. So today I cooked an 8 lb butt to 207-213 internal temps with thermapen (15 h at 275-300, no wrap), and that sucker was still rock solid in there. The meat had shrunk, exposing lots of the bone, but still solid. It got to the point that the muscles around the bone were clearly getting tougher to probe instead of softer. All meat pulled very easily but meat was very dry around the bone, and the "money muscle" end was clearly getting mushy.

Now, the bone always comes clean after I take the butt off, wrap, and rest. But in at least 20 cooks I can't get that bone to wiggle (and all are cooked to 200+). What is y'alls secret?

(long time lurker, BTW--been reading here for 10 years...)

 

[Rick P]

Welcome!

I've smoked lots of 'em and have never worried about that and neither should you. As long as it's probe tender, you're good.

That being said...I've found that the bone always to pull away easily, after the meat has rested, just like yours did. Instead of cooking to 200+, have you considered checking for tenderness before that? Say...195? The reason is that I used to take them up to 200+ but found that most of them are probe tender somewhere between 195-200. I haven't had to take one past that for at least as long as you've been lurking here

Something else to consider....I rarely do a butt that large, (insert joke here). For larger butts, I get the butcher to cut them in half. It cuts down the cook time, (somewhat), and yields twice as much delicious bark. The pic, below, is a butt that was a little over 8 lbs. I trussed one, to keep the size uniform. I forget the internal temp when I pulled them, but it was definitely South of 200 and they were very tender.

 

[James Stephen]

Thanks for the advice! I got sucked into the question because I always found that the muscles right around the bone always seemed to stay firmer even when other spots were clearly probe tender (often, like you said, by 195-200). Do you tend to take them out even if there is a bit of resistance in that area so long as some or most of the spots are more probe tender?

 

[Rick P]

Thanks for the advice! I got sucked into the question because I always found that the muscles right around the bone always seemed to stay firmer even when other spots were clearly probe tender (often, like you said, by 195-200). Do you tend to take them out even if there is a bit of resistance in that area so long as some or most of the spots are more probe tender?

NP!

There are sometimes a couple spots where there is a stubborn piece of meat that wants to cling, but that's usually near a crack, or crevice and it's still pretty tender.

If most of the spots are probe tender, I take it off the smoker, wrap and rest. I "discovered" 195, or thereabouts, years ago during a ridiculously long cook. I probed it at 195 and it went in like butter. I check after they hit 193 degrees and, the majority of the time, they're ready. It's very rare that they need to exceed 195. YMMV

 

[Richard S]

I completely agree with everything above. Probe tender is the key and yes, often times that is about 195. I think a long rest of 2+ hours is best. It definitely rises above 195 during that time. The bone release looks great on TV but it really doesn’t matter.
I like a moist money muscle as I usually cut it out, separate and slice it and use it for another meal. Sometimes I freeze it and take it backpacking or camping!