First Cook: First Boston Butt Have I already screwed up?


 
J

Jason B

TVWBB Fan
Hi folks,

Been lurking awhile and decided it was finally time to get a WSM and start cooking so...

I went to the local warehouse club and bought a cryovac 16llb two Boston Butts and a Eye of the Round roast plus some suasages.

I plan to cook the eye of the round roast style my first ever cook since I plan on running it hot and don't want a long cook my first time out. All is well on that front. Now the problem:

I read the article on preparing the Boston butt by removing the fat cap and trimming extraneous fat etc. Well, I may have gone a bit overboard trimming the fat. I kinda carved into the fat that li between the two major muscles of the roast and both are now semi seperated. Is that normal? Should I have left that fat and connective tissue intact and not messed with trimming it?

Hopefully not all is lost. Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated.

-Jason the greenhorn
 
I usually don't trim anything off a butt, unless I determine it to have a false fat cap (where there is a fat cap with a very thin layer of meat beneath it, and more fat under that). In your case, just trussing it up with some kitchen twine should solve the problem on the one you've accidentally de-constructed.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Doug.

Let me pose one more newbie question, does it matter which side of the butt you begin the cook on?

thanks
 
Actually, no. Melting fat doesn't penetrate cooking meat, but, having said that, I usually place it fat cap up. Pork butt-- well, one of your pork butts more than the other-- has enough intramuscualar fat to keep things moist throughout a long cook. I like to face the larger end with the bone towards the front of the cooker, and-- when it's cooked for a couple hours-- I find you get a better sense of where the larger muscle in the roast is. That's where I insert my meat thermometer.
 
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