First Boston butt this Saturday


 
R

Ron A

TVWBB Fan
The local grocer had natural (no additives, enhancers, flavorings, tenderizers, etc...) Boston butts on a two-for-one sale at $2.49/lb. At the equivalent of $1.25/lb, I couldn't pass it up. I bought two 5-pounders for about $12.50. I froze and vacuum-sealed one of them for a later date and plan on smoking the other this Saturday. I'm a relative "noob" and this will be my first butt-smoke.

Rub:
Kosher Salt
Coarse ground black pepper
Dried & crushed chipotle
Granulated Garlic
Smoked Paprika
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning blend (Market Spice recipe)
Dried dark brown sugar

I get all my herbs and spices from Market Spice at the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

Smoke Wood: Mesquite

Water: No (foiled flower pot base)

Fuel: Kingsford Competition

My plan is to put a yellow mustard base on the butt and then the rub on Friday evening. I'll wrap it in plastic wrap, let it sit overnight in the fridge and pull it out at about 6:00am Saturday (I'm up every day at 4:30am anyway...). At 8:00am, I'll fire up (Minion) the WSM 18.5" to about 250 degrees, put the butt on the top rack and just let it go for about 7 hours and check for bark and doneness. But... at about the 5 hour mark, I'll open the lid and add a half dozen ABT's (stuffing = cream cheese, sun-dried tomato, garlic and basil).

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Guess what's for dinner Saturday night?

I'll post some before and after pictures Saturday evening on Sunday morning.
 
Ron, nice score on the butts! Love your plan. Only thing i would say is that mesquite is a strong wood that imho is better for quick smoke on grill (steaks). For a long butt smoke you may want to try a more traditional wood for butts (hickory, maple, or fruit woods like apple). Looking forward to your posts.

James
 
Good plan but I'm with James... Try to use apple wood or cherry. Mesquite maybe to much for this pork butt.
 
James and Tony: My "noob-ness" is showing. Mesquite is the only wood I have. I'll pick up some "lighter" wood chunks before Saturday. Thanks for the advice!

I LOVE this board!
 
Ron, this may just be my bias but on your rub you are using smoked paprika. I substituted smoked paprika instead of paprika for a chicken rub and it did not work. It overpowered everything else. You have some good flavors in that rub and I am just wondering if the smoked paprika would overpower the others. Just a thought and would be curious what others think.
 
I'm with james and tony, go with fruit wood or hickory. Those small butts will go fast so they should definately be ready for dinner.
 
Bob Ivey: Like the Mesquite wood, all I had in the house was a container of smoked paprika. I use it on most of my grilling rubs, usually just for some color and a little extra flavor. I agree it might be a little smoke over-kill when used on a smoker rub. Since I am already using a dried, ground chipotle in the rub mixture, maybe I'll just omit the paprika all together.

Like always... the input and advice on these boards is wonderful.
 
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