Boston Butt, GA style-ish

jwbtulsa · Jan 8, 2013

Bored. Decided to try something different today. Perhaps a little Southern take on my Q. First an 8lbs. butt. I split it on the diagonal just to see if it would change anything. No it didn't except that I had two hunks to manage instead of one. My cook times were almost identical to my standard techniques. Only advantage was that I got more rub on more surface area I guess. Could have had some more bark but I tried something else down below.

Then I found this in the cabinet so I decided I would bring the suckers overnight.

This morning they got all rubbed down with some Head Country.

Into the smoke. Have never used a pan under my BB. Usually straight onto the grate. Let see what happens...

In the spirit of the South, I decided to smoke using mostly peach wood and some hickory.

Good thing a friend talked me into getting a Maverick. POS built in therm has never worked well.

A little thin blue smoke,

Thought I would skip the store bought stuff and whip up some foiling juice for later. Think of something in between Bone Suckin' Sauce and the foiling juice of Chef Jimmy J. (thanks again Chef) Tangy and slightly sweet.

John's Juice:

1/2C apple cider vinegar

2TBS pure maple syrup

1/2 cup Cooper's honey (Peculiar, MO).

2TBS Head Country Rub (because it was on the counter and I didn't have to mix anything up)

1/4 cup Ketchup-the real stuff, no fructose added

1/2 tsp or so of minced onion flakes

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Time for foil and some rest. IT 165F. Won't pan it again. No benefit. No bark on the bottom. not enough initial drippings to make me care. Additional liquid will come from the foiling juice. Would have preferred the fat drip into the bottom of the smoker or another pan to be discarded.

half juice into pan when foiled. Then when IT hit 200F, I re-foiled the meat, and then reduced the drippings with the other half of the juice. This was then added back to the pulled meat.

We stood in the kitchen and ate most of the bark straight from the pan. Too good to pass up.

Super moist without being too wet. No other sauce necessary. Definitely will try this again. It was a nice alternative to our tradional hickory flavors.

During the smoke I also whipped up a pot of gumbo using the last of the keilbasa and grilled peppers.

Also made a gallon of homemade Chicken and Noodle soup courtesy of Ree Drummond's recipe from her website.

All in all, a good day in the kichen. No plated pics. I was too busy stuffing my mouth. Enjoy.

dirtsailor2003 · Jan 8, 2013

That pork looks, MOUTH WATERING Fantastic!!! Great Job!!!

gadsden 1 · Jun 18, 2013

Are you kidding me?! That looks so dang good I can hardly keep the drool in my mouth....and I just ate a fantastic steak!

chef jimmyj · Jun 18, 2013

Damn! Don't know how I missed this the first time. It looks great and the sauce sounds really good...JJ

jwbtulsa · Jun 19, 2013

Thanks guys. It made for some very tasty sandwiches. For the juice, I also add 1/2 stick of butter when I use it on ribs. They come out with a sweet base and then I use a spicier sauce. Makes for a nice flavor profile.

diggingdogfarm · Jun 29, 2013

That looks excellent.
Just the way I like it, truly "pulled", not that shredded stringy stuff!!!!

Nice job!

~Martin

roser · Jun 30, 2013

I agree with Martin. So how do you get a pull like this rather than shred? Is it just the method of pulling, the final IT of the pork or ?? Would love to know.

sarnott · Jun 30, 2013

That looks awesome! I swear by my Maverick thermometer, it was a learning experience to pay attention to temperatures vs time. Your pork looks perfect, I saw you refoiled at 200, what temp did you pull it and how long did you rest it?

Scott

ybfm · Jun 30, 2013

Wow!!! That pig looks fantastic!!! I'm gonna try your sauce....it sounds awesome!!!

Rich

lrlangley89 · Jun 30, 2013

That looks awesome!! I need to try that juice out!

chef jimmyj · Jul 3, 2013

roser said:
I agree with Martin. So how do you get a pull like this rather than shred? Is it just the method of pulling, the final IT of the pork or ?? Would love to know.

Cook to no more than an IT of 200*F, the higher the finished IT the more mushy and stringy the meat gets, and let it rest wrapped at least 1 hour in a cooler then 30 minutes on the counter. At this point it should be pretty easy to handle and Hand Pull into bite sized chunks. This takes a little more hands on time. The Meat Rakes or Bear Claws are great if you are in a hurry or have 3+ Butts to pull...JJ

jwbtulsa · Jul 3, 2013

sarnott said:
That looks awesome! I swear by my Maverick thermometer, it was a learning experience to pay attention to temperatures vs time. Your pork looks perfect, I saw you refoiled at 200, what temp did you pull it and how long did you rest it?
Scott

Pretty much like Chef JJ. said above. Tightly wrap the meat, cooler with towels, an hour or so. Take it out, put on some heavy rubber gloves and go to town.

cmondo84 · Jul 3, 2013

Looks great! How much were the cooking times reduced by?

roser · Jul 3, 2013

Thank you Chef JJ and jwbtulsa! You guys ROCK! Will give it a try.

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Boston Butt, GA style-ish

jwbtulsa

Meat Mopper

dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

gadsden 1

Fire Starter

chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

jwbtulsa

Meat Mopper

diggingdogfarm

Master of the Pit

roser

Newbie

sarnott

Meat Mopper

ybfm

Smoke Blower

lrlangley89

Smoke Blower

chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

jwbtulsa

Meat Mopper

cmondo84

Newbie

roser

Newbie

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