The Butcher has decided.

[smoking gun]

I was mulling over this weekend's smoke, Brisket or Butt and lo and behold my local meat cutter has decided to run a special on friday. Whole pork butts for 1.99 a lb. Looks like a pulled pork throwdown will be commencing saturday. Any tips on what to look for when choosing a butt? Size, Firmness, jiggle....errrr fat content?
Also do you guys have any special rubs you use for butts?

I can see where this thread could go downhill fast.

Thanks,

SG

 

[bbqgoddess]

Rubbem! mop em! yeah!!
I have got butt envy now! I am going to use my cherry kiss vinegar for my next butt...it is made with cherries, oranges, and chocolate mint..that will be the mop..for the rub I am going to use some kind of mix of cocoa and coffee...
So basically I build around my mop...
Have a grand adventure!!

 

[ronp]

The smaller the size = less time in the smoker, depends what you are looking for, how many peeps to feed etc.

Look for one with some fat cover, but not thick .

So far as rubs there are many recipes here, just do a search here for pork rubs.

Good luck!!

 

[taipans]

I was wondering kind of the same thing. How many pounds per person ratio is a good rule to follow when buying? Like lets say I have 8 adults, how large of one should I buy?

 

[pineywoods]

For commercial purposes I believe they figure 1/4 pound per sandwich. I figure 1/3- 1/2 pound per person for family and friends. Remember you will loose 40-50% while smoking so personally for eight adults I would get an eight pound butt. If I have left overs thats great but at least I know people won't walk away hungry. Of course I always have a couple big eaters around.

 

[meandmytwodogs]

Why Choose just one? I picked up a 12.57 Brisket and a 9.5 Butt for family coming into town next weeeknd. COOK IT ALL AND SEAL UP WHAT YOU CAN'T USE RIGHT AWAY!

Rubs: Jeff's rub is good. There have also been lots of great rub recipies posted recently in a "My first butt" post I read through. Do a search I have no doubt that you will find what you are looking for!

Dave

 

[taipans]

Thanks for the information! I am going to use SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce for sure!

 

[pineywoods]

Thats a good move I don't do butts without the finishing sauce anymore. I have tried with and without and everyone I feed regularly wants it with.

 

[roscoe dog]

I guess I have been getting a good deal on pork butts at $1.19 a pound. A month ago they were .99 cents a pound so I picked up 5 of them.

 

[doctor phreak]

for simple all around rub i use is equal parts of paprika , sugar (white or brown) salt , and black pepper and i use this pretty much on everything...real good and real simple....and for a mop or spritz i like using pepsi or a fruit juice of choice....happy smoking..

 

[mavericksupersonic]

Good luck, I'm sure they'll be good. I paid $1.99 last month as well. It was $1.79 in April. Let's hope the trend doesn't continue.

Also, I picked up two of them. One had a nice fat cap and the other looked pretty clean without the cap. The one without the big cap was much fattier inside and i think it also resulted in about 25% less meat than the one with the cap.

I cut the cap off the other one because I like as much seasoning on the meat as possible since I don't eat the fat. When it came off the smoker, it was perfect and I was surprised by how much more meat came off it compared to the other butt.

I guess moral of the story is to go with the one with the nice cap.

 

[capt dan]

I pay about 1.39-1.59 a lb all the time here in sw mich. But I am sure prices are a bit regional and the smaller shops hafta charge more. Last year 89-99 cents a lb was the norm.