Need some new ideas for the next pork butt

[schlotz]

For a number of years I've been smoking butts with the same recipe and rub mixture (in the sig below). While they always come out very good I finally hit a wall with the one we did last Saturday. It was fine but I'm tired with this recipe. Definitely need a change of pace including maybe a different flavor profile. So folks, I'm open to suggestions on what to try with the next butt smoke.

 

[mike243]

Change up the wood, try something you have never or have not in a long time. salt and pepper and smoke, sometimes the simpler stuff is a great change of pace.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I'm thinking something Mexican? I will think on it.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Try injecting instead of brining, here is a basic butt injection recipe that you can add to if you choose but this will make delicious pork shoulder.

1 C. Apple juice
1/2c water
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4c apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs kosher salt
1/4c brown sugar (can go up to 1/2c depending on your sweet tooth)
1/2 tsp gran or powdered garlic

Mix this up and inject all that you can in a 8-9# butt. Inject everywhere.

Feel free to add cayenne or woorsey sauce or whatever else you want but the base is solid.

As far as rubs go, lately I’ve been digging the Meat Church “Holy Gospel” and their “Holy Voodoo”
Smoke as normal and enjoy.

 

[gmc2003]

Try mixing in a different rub into the pulled meat, or separate it into a few different batches and try multiple different seasonings.

Chris

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I've made CSR burnt ends with butts...

 

[Smokin Okie]

Try this trim from Chef Tom. I've been doing this for a while now, and it exposes much more surface area to smoke and it creates more bark. I almost cut the butt into two pieces.

And I gotta recommend Kosmos Dirty Bird. Mrs Okie, takes my pulled pork to her quilting retreats, which she is on one now, and the ladies rave about my pulled pork. They love it.

 

[912smoker]

Or try injecting with Tony C creole butter or Jalapeño butter.
I've been using a Fiesta rub from Buc-ees and really like it.

Keith

 

[kelbro]

Lose the fennel, cumin and coriander. Add black pepper, powdered mustard and smoked salt. A little cayenne doesn't hurt but be careful not to overpower it. I also use a little crushed, dehydrated jalapeno. I cook a LOT of pork butts and have never brined one. The Swift and Smithfield butts that I buy are never dry.

 

[normanaj]

I'm a big fan of using fruit juice based brines/injections especially cranberry based.It's got to be 100% juice blends...none of that diet/lite stuff.

If you can find it OceanSpray's Cranberry/Blackberry is an insanely good base but unfortunately isn't made in a 100% juice blend anymore but there a bunch of other blends some of which I still haven't tried.

 

[Newglide]

try taking a step backwards use a simple SPOG. It makes a great bark. Add your seasoning when or after pulling to get the seasioning flavor profile. The butt is a big chunk of meat, I don't think seasioning alone before you cook does much to the flavor.

 

[chef k-dude]

You could do what I did...take a few years off! That's right, I thought I was the only person in the world who got tired of pulled pork. I also got to a point where everything didn't have to taste like smoke, so I stopped smoking everything that wasn't tied down. Now, the occasional smoke is special once again and smoked pulled butt is tasting good and I'm about ready to start smoking my own again.

Try this trim from Chef Tom. I've been doing this for a while now, and it exposes much more surface area to smoke and it creates more bark. I almost cut the butt into two pieces.

And I gotta recommend Kosmos Dirty Bird. Mrs Okie, takes my pulled pork to her quilting retreats, which she is on one now, and the ladies rave about my pulled pork. They love it.

Wow, talk about good timing. I'm just getting back to wanting to smoke a butt and this video has me even more excited about it. I just told someone to not over-complicate smoking a butt and now I'm leaning toward this level of pro butchery! Everything he says makes sense. Except who would have thunk removing the fat cap wont affect the moisture of the meat? And it makes total sense that it would be a barrier to getting seasoning in to the meat. He DOES say you can just plop it in the smoker as-is and make good PP, but this is the next level type of stuff Schlotz may be looking for.

What chef Tom doesn't cover here is the rub and how its placed on the smoker. Do you lay it open where the separation is, or leave it folded closed?

Quilting retreat...That's something my wife would totally be in to. Where do they retreat to? Are there lodges somewhere with Berninas and quilting tables already set up or do the ladies rent an AirBnB and bring their machines with them?

 

[Torch&Tone]

As a bunch of others have said, sometimes it is best to simplify, simplify, simplify. Drill down into getting the purest, pork-iest smoked pig possible...

However, if you want to go a little exotic, look at the spice/herb/fruit combinations in certain other cuisines. Mexican, Chinese, and Indian blends are easy, but so are Peruvian, Greek, and Thai. A lot of it depends on your preference for spicy, sweet, funky, etc., but there are heaps of directions to go. Generations of grandmas, the world over, have figured out tasty flavor combos. I promise they won't mind you cribbing off them.

You can also mix-&-match (adapt some shichimi as a dry rub, serve with lingonberries from IKEA; the shichimi has a bit of heat and citrus-y, salty notes that go well with the vaguely-cranberry-like-but-sweeter lingonberries). I've been thinking about combining coconut, cayenne, and chocolate in my next pork project - and not just because they all start with the letter "c"!

 

[chopsaw]

Take it to 185 / 195 and slice . Makes a great knife and fork meal .
I'm in the salt , pepper and smoke or roast camp .

I've actually been breaking them down and just smoking about a 3 lb. hunk .
The rest gets cured or turned into sausage .

 

[Smokin Okie]

You could do what I did...take a few years off! That's right, I thought I was the only person in the world who got tired of pulled pork. I also got to a point where everything didn't have to taste like smoke, so I stopped smoking everything that wasn't tied down. Now, the occasional smoke is special once again and smoked pulled butt is tasting good and I'm about ready to start smoking my own again.


Wow, talk about good timing. I'm just getting back to wanting to smoke a butt and this video has me even more excited about it. I just told someone to not over-complicate smoking a butt and now I'm leaning toward this level of pro butchery! Everything he says makes sense. Except who would have thunk removing the fat cap wont affect the moisture of the meat? And it makes total sense that it would be a barrier to getting seasoning in to the meat. He DOES say you can just plop it in the smoker as-is and make good PP, but this is the next level type of stuff Schlotz may be looking for.

What chef Tom doesn't cover here is the rub and how its placed on the smoker. Do you lay it open where the separation is, or leave it folded closed?

Quilting retreat...That's something my wife would totally be in to. Where do they retreat to? Are there lodges somewhere with Berninas and quilting tables already set up or do the ladies rent an AirBnB and bring their machines with them?

I put it on the smoker closed, but it won't take long for it to open as the meat tightens and shrinks. The trim is a bit tedious, getting all the connective tissue and as much silver skin as possible out of that crease. But I think its worth it.

The quilting thing is Mrs Okies quilting club. Its a group of ladies, maybe 10 at most. They did to go a cabin on Lake Texoma, but the lady sold the cabin. So now they meet at a ladies house and " camp " for up to two weeks. They do this spring and fall.

 

[geek with fire]

I was recently reminded of the legendary SoFlaQuer finishing sauce. If you haven't tried that, I highly recommend it. That is a simple change to an already good process that pays dividends.

 

[chef k-dude]

I put it on the smoker closed, but it won't take long for it to open as the meat tightens and shrinks. The trim is a bit tedious, getting all the connective tissue and as much silver skin as possible out of that crease. But I think its worth it.

The quilting thing is Mrs Okies quilting clatch. Its a group of ladies, maybe 10 at most. They did to go a cabin on Lake Texoma, but the lady sold the cabin. So now they meet at a ladies house and " camp " for up to two weeks. They do this spring and fall.

Thanks, I will definitely try this on the next one.

Two weeks? That's some solid "bachelor time"! I get a week if I'm lucky...

 

[sawhorseray]

Throw it into the crockpot, no coals or splits, a few peppers and spices and you're all set for tacos! RAY

 

[schlotz]

Change up the wood, try something you have never or have not in a long time. salt and pepper and smoke, sometimes the simpler stuff is a great change of pace.

Always my standby for most meats. Do like the idea of different wood, might experiment with mesquite and/or cherry.

Try injecting instead of brining, here is a basic butt injection recipe that you can add to if you choose but this will make delicious pork shoulder.

1 C. Apple juice
1/2c water
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4c apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs kosher salt
1/4c brown sugar (can go up to 1/2c depending on your sweet tooth)
1/2 tsp gran or powdered garlic

Mix this up and inject all that you can in a 8-9# butt. Inject everywhere.

Feel free to add cayenne or woorsey sauce or whatever else you want but the base is solid.

As far as rubs go, lately I’ve been digging the Meat Church “Holy Gospel” and their “Holy Voodoo”
Smoke as normal and enjoy.

Hmm injection... like the ingredients. Been reading comment regarding Meat Church's rubs. Guess I need to go get some and try. Thanks Eric!

Try mixing in a different rub into the pulled meat, or separate it into a few different batches and try multiple different seasonings.

Chris

Now that's a good idea separating into multiple batches to try different seasonings. Thanks Chris!

Try this trim from Chef Tom. I've been doing this for a while now, and it exposes much more surface area to smoke and it creates more bark. I almost cut the butt into two pieces.

And I gotta recommend Kosmos Dirty Bird. Mrs Okie, takes my pulled pork to her quilting retreats, which she is on one now, and the ladies rave about my pulled pork. They love it.

Hmm... bird rub on pork might be worth a shot. Thanks!

I'm a big fan of using fruit juice based brines/injections especially cranberry based.It's got to be 100% juice blends...none of that diet/lite stuff.

If you can find it OceanSpray's Cranberry/Blackberry is an insanely good base but unfortunately isn't made in a 100% juice blend anymore but there a bunch of other blends some of which I still haven't tried.

Wife always has OS 100% Cran-raspberry on hand. Do you inject juices or usually brine with them?

I was recently reminded of the legendary SoFlaQuer finishing sauce. If you haven't tried that, I highly recommend it. That is a simple change to an already good process that pays dividends.

Thanks Josh. I have tried it. Can't say I really care for it though.

As a bunch of others have said, sometimes it is best to simplify, simplify, simplify. Drill down into getting the purest, pork-iest smoked pig possible...

However, if you want to go a little exotic, look at the spice/herb/fruit combinations in certain other cuisines. Mexican, Chinese, and Indian blends are easy, but so are Peruvian, Greek, and Thai. A lot of it depends on your preference for spicy, sweet, funky, etc., but there are heaps of directions to go. Generations of grandmas, the world over, have figured out tasty flavor combos. I promise they won't mind you cribbing off them.

You can also mix-&-match (adapt some shichimi as a dry rub, serve with lingonberries from IKEA; the shichimi has a bit of heat and citrus-y, salty notes that go well with the vaguely-cranberry-like-but-sweeter lingonberries). I've been thinking about combining coconut, cayenne, and chocolate in my next pork project - and not just because they all start with the letter "c"!

Like your thinking

Take it to 185 / 195 and slice . Makes a great knife and fork meal .
I'm in the salt , pepper and smoke or roast camp .

I've actually been breaking them down and just smoking about a 3 lb. hunk .
The rest gets cured or turned into sausage .

Our favorite is to the have a bone-in butt sliced into 1" steaks and grill them. One of these days I need to enter the sausage making arena. Thanks Rich!

Throw it into the crockpot, no coals or splits, a few peppers and spices and you're all set for tacos! RAY

We have a few favorite crockpot recipes. As I write this I've got short ribs sitting on a bed of veggies with thyme, rosemary and a bottle of Pinot Noir in the pot. Already smells wonderful. Thanks for the idea Ray!

 

[Smokin Okie]

I did this cook for quite a while, but I dont inject any more. Now I just use rub as a finishing dust when I pull the pork, to add flavor to the inner parts of the butt.

This is a good one, however ..........

Pork Butt – Chris Lilly Big Bob Gibson Championship Injection​