Pork butt - first boneless one

[mooncusser]

I normally cook bone-in Boston butts, but came across some boneless ones at the market and figured I'd give it a try. Never cooked one of them before.

Bought a 4.3#. Gave it a bath in mustard - also a first for me, but what the heck since we're experimenting. Rubbed with Byron's Butt Rub and into the fridge. Thought I'd cook on Wednesday, but plans changed so it spent an extra night soaking before cooking Thursday.

I was curious about tying versus not tying. Read a few takes both ways. Butcher's work to remove the bone left uneven thickness, so I opted to tie it for the sake of even cooking.



Another heavy sprinkle of rub while starting the MES and AMNPS w/ pitmaster's choice and some hickory. (Thanks to Bearcarver for advice on placement.)

Into the MES at 250°. Gave an occasional spritz of apple juice. At around 165-170° it went into a pan and foiled with a bit more apple juice. Pulled around 200° and took around 8 hours overall.



Final results were a tasty pile of pork with amazing au jus - and a pretty surprising bark. In addition to being nice and dark, the extra rub put on before cooking added some spiciness (was a bit heavy-handed, would go less next time).



All told it was different from other pulled pork I've cooked, and in a good way. A few things to improve on and a few more tricks learned. Only sad thing is that there's only one meal left (we've been feasting on it). So we'll just have to do another cook!

Thanks for looking! And for the advice I've gained here.

 

[chilerelleno]

Hey man,
that butt looks great, nice cook.
Any pics of the Pulled?

I'll do Butts both boned or bone-in, no biggie to me.
For boned I always truss it up tightly, and I consider boned kind'a a bonus for getting rub inside the Butt without injection.

 

[mooncusser]

Thanks! Sorry, didn't get a pic of it pulled. Guess we were a bit hungry and excited to try it.

It got plenty of seasoning inside, that's for sure. Could still make out some of the spice grains when I cut the twine and started pulling.

 

[chilerelleno]

I do like bone-in though, I've two 5lb'ers in the smoker today.

 

[mooncusser]

Yeah, I'm really more used to bone-in. I don't usually find them smaller than 7-ish pounds around here. So this was a chance for a slightly faster cook, plus something a tiny bit different.

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good . I use roll netting for boned and rolled .

since we're experimenting.

Also another way that comes out good , is to just do it as a sliceable roast . Good knife and fork meal , and great sandwiches the next day .

 

[smokerjim]

nice looking pork, bone in or boneless doesn't matter to me, what ever the best deal is.

 

[mooncusser]

Looks good . I use roll netting for boned and rolled

Thanks! Where do you buy the netting? Tying wasn't a hassle, but would like to try netting some time.

 

[mooncusser]

nice looking pork, bone in or boneless doesn't matter to me, what ever the best deal is.

Thank you!

 

[smokerjim]

a

Thanks! Where do you buy the netting? Tying wasn't a hassle, but would like to try netting some time.

amazon sells it, you'll just need some type of tube to load it on and slide your meat through

 

[mooncusser]

a

amazon sells it, you'll just need some type of tube to load it on and slide your meat through

cool, thanks for the suggestion

 

[chopsaw]

I buy the netting from Sausage maker . Sold buy a number for the size . 28 is the largest that I have seen . I also have some smaller stuff . You don't need to have the tube to load . I've done picnic shoulders for ham using a stock pot .

 

[gmc2003]

Nice job on the boneless butt. For me it's more of a whats available and cost as to whether I go boneless or bone in.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[smokerjim]

I should of been more specific, you don't need to buy the tube, you could use a lot of things, a 2 liter bottle with the ends cut off will work, a bigger can with ends cut off.

 

[mooncusser]

Nice job on the boneless butt. For me it's more of a whats available and cost as to whether I go boneless or bone in.

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks! And I appreciate the Like

 

[mooncusser]

I should of been more specific, you don't need to buy the tube, you could use a lot of things, a 2 liter bottle with the ends cut off will work, a bigger can with ends cut off.

Thanks for the advice! Think I get the idea - it's for shoehorning the meat into the netting.

 

[chopsaw]

I should of been more specific, you don't need to buy the tube, you could use a lot of things, a 2 liter bottle with the ends cut off will work, a bigger can with ends cut off.

I wasn't trying to disagree with you . I just thought of the dedicated tube they sell at a hefty price . The 2 liter bottle with the ends cut off , and ripped down the side would work perfect . Thanks for the idea .

 

[smokerjim]

I wasn't trying to disagree with you . I just thought of the dedicated tube they sell at a hefty price . The 2 liter bottle with the ends cut off , and ripped down the side would work perfect . Thanks for the idea .

you were right, the way I had it worded it sounded like I was telling him to buy the tube, that's why this forum is great everyone is here to help