Pork Butt, HELP

[PyroWalden]

So i'm new to this barbecuing and smoking thing and just needed some help, was wondering on how to keep the meat so tender and moist when its been cooking for so long so it doesnt dry out, and also if I use a dry rub before cooking does marinating it during cooking affect much of the dry rub, or should i put enough dry rub on the meat first so it the marinade doesn't ruin the taste.
Am looking to shred the pork after for a pulled pork meal for the family.
Thanks for any help given :)

 

[Suam461]

I'm no expert by far, but in my experience pork butt/shoulder is such a fatty piece of meat that it's very difficult to dry it out. If you wrap it in foil partway through the cook it will hold even more moisture. Also don't skip the rest period! I usually wrap it in extra foil and let it rest for about an hour. Then I save any juices to add after pulling.
I'm sure others can give you better tips, but that's been my experience and I have made a few!

 

[bdskelly]

Howdy Waldon.
First let me say relax. You picked the perfect cut for success. If you have a thermo probe you’ll want to cook that butt until the internal temp is 200 to 205. The bone ( if you bought a bone in butt) will slide out easily. Good news. Butts seldom dry out even if a bit over cooked.
In my opinion I wouldn’t bother marinating the butt. Dry rub is usually good enough. Good luck.b

 

[schlotz]

Welcome Pyro. It's very hard to mess up a pork butt. They are a very forgiving cut of meat. You might take a look at the recipe in my signature below to get you started.

 

[joedube70]

Welcome from Cleveland.

 

[gmc2003]

Welcome to the site. Don't fret about it. Butt is very forgiving and can be smoked at lower temps or higher temps w/o any noticeable changes to taste or texture. Good luck and let us know how it goes. You can spritz or mop if you want to during the cook - that's a personal choice. I don't usually.

Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!
As said above, it's really hard to screw up a pork butt.
We don't wrap ours, cause we like a lot of bark mixed in with the PP.
Good luck!
Al