Friends don't let friends buy boneless pork butts...


 
C

ChadVKealey

TVWBB Pro
A while back the local discount food chain (Aldi's) had "boneless pork blade roast" on sale for $1.99/lb. At the time, butt was still about $2.50/lb. at the warehouse stores, so I got a couple. I just trimmed and injected them for a smoke tomorrow night. Each lost about a pound after removing the fat cap and one of them literally went almost to pieces; just a bit of the intramuscular fat is holding things together. I'm gonna have to spend a half hour binding them up before I get them on the WSM. :mad:

So, now, as God is my witness, I'll never buy boneless butt again!
 
Thanks for the heads up. Never bought them before, but was tempted to because Costco sells them in a two pack for $1.89 a pound. But they sound likes they're aren't worth the hassle.
 
I've used boneless butts from Costco before and they weren't bad. They did flop around a little but a simple tying excercise and they were fine. They weren't falling apart by any means.
 
I use the boneless butts from Costco to cut the coppa (money muscle) and grind the rest for sausage. Saves a lot of knife work. I rarely BBQ whole butts anymore.
 
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Todd NC said:
I've used boneless butts from Costco before and they weren't bad. They did flop around a little but a simple tying excercise and they were fine. They weren't falling apart by any means.
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These were Hormel "Simply Tender", so I'm sure they were deboned mechanically rather than by hand. Deboned by a skilled butcher, I'm sure a boneless butt would normally not be falling apart. On the bright side, I can use the extra surface area to apply more rub before tying them up. Structurally speaking, there's one good solid side (where the fat cap was) and then the other side with all the semi-loose bits tied together. I'm wondering how I should orient them in the smoker. I'm worried if I put the loose side down, all the fat that renders out will just drip away and the meat will dry out, so I think I'm going to put the solid site down.
 
I'm not a fan of the boneless. The only pork butt I've messed up was one that was deboned. I've bought the ones they deboned and then wrapped with the butcher's twine mesh. The time I did that I didn't take that stuff off and just cooked them with it on. Its was a great time trying to get that out of my crust.

I think if you tie up it will probalby be ok. If it has the mesh I'd re-tie it.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I'm not a fan of the boneless. The only pork butt I've messed up was one that was deboned. I've bought the ones they deboned and then wrapped with the butcher's twine mesh. The time I did that I didn't take that stuff off and just cooked them with it on. Its was a great time trying to get that out of my crust.

I think if you tie up it will probalby be ok. If it has the mesh I'd re-tie it.
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No mesh on this, so I'll just need to use a bit of butcher twine. I've done boneless before and tied them, but they weren't as 'falling apart' as these two are. I can't imagine getting the mesh out of the bark...that's like losing the best part of the butt right there.
 
On occasions I'll bone out a butt, cut it in chunks and cook until pullable.
Lots of bark that way.

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The boneless butts from Costco are my normal - I situate them so they're mostly together, and tear off chunks for taste tests during the process :) Also, more surface area for the rub. They're just what I'm used to..... probably cooked more than 200# of it like that if I had to guess. I've heard the bone adds flavor, I'd cook those to see if I could find them.
 
Hmmm, I've had great success with boneless and buy it when it's on sale for less than bone in
 
Had a similar problem as Chad did with those $1.99/lb injected boneless butt from Aldi. I didn't lose as much weight from removing the fat cap, but there were two near tennis ball sized pieces of meat threatening to come loose. Couple weeks later Sav-A-Lot had bone in shoulders, non-injected for 99cents/lb, so I snagged two of them. I believe that sale is still on through the 17th if anyone is interested.
 
Boneless works fine but bone in is cheaper and you can use the bone for various things:

posole

pork n beans

cure it into a fake ham hock and smoke it then use it for split pea soup

pork stock

If you leave a bit of meat on the blade bone it works even better for the above purposes and it saves you some fussy work.
 
I dont nornally buy them, but did for tomorrow. Wsm will cook 2 costco boneless butts, and they come out as good as the bone in.
 
DennisM said:
I dont nornally buy them, but did for tomorrow. Wsm will cook 2 costco boneless butts, and they come out as good as the bone in.
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Mine are on now. The PartyQ is keeping it right between 230-240. I'd prefer to keep it between 220-230, but it didn't want to go that low without shutting the top vent, so I'm letting it slide. 1.5 hours in and already at 84 degrees; I'm beginning to think I should have put them on first thing in the morning since dinner isn't until about 6:00 tomorrow. Oh well, I can always transfer to a slow cooker to keep 'em warm if they finish too early.
 
I usually tie up my Costco boneless butts just so the end that had the bone stays closed, and I've never had a problem smoking it whole
 
I was about to put them on in an hour so, but am just gonna wait till early early morning. All tied up, rubbed, and ready to roll.
 
After about 8 hours, the butts hit 165 and have been stalled there for last hour and a half. The PartyQ, set at 230, has let the temp drop as low as about 215, but bounced back after a bit. This is the first time I'm running it on rechargeable batteries (the same Sanyo eneloops I use in my DSLR) and they seem to be holding up just fine so far, but I've got another set ready if they suddenly give up the ghost.
 
Ran to the store to get the rest of the fixins' for dinner and when I came home the temp had dropped to 205. Looks like the charcoal was almost completely burned down. I put in a half chimney each of lit & unlit at about 10:30. The rechargeable batteries are still holding up, but right now the fan's barely running.
 
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