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Boston Butt - fat side up or down?

Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I cooked an eight pound butt this weekend. Took 19 hours and turned out great except that it is a little greasy. I cooked the butt with the fat side up so as the fat melted it would keet the butt moist.[p]Any thoughts on this or anybody cook with the fat side down?[p]Also, I kept the Guru set at 212 so the dome wouldn't go above 250. Do you Guru users find this normal?[p]Thanks

Comments

  • Adrian B.
    Adrian B. Posts: 124
    Moonshine Mike,
    I cook mine fat side up. [p]I keep my Guru set at 225* or just a hair under for smoking. Saturday the done temp read close to 300, but yesterday it stayed around 250. I recently calibrated the thermometer, so I dunno why there was a difference - except maybe atmospheric pressure?

  • sprinter
    sprinter Posts: 1,188
    Moonshine Mike,[p]I cook mine fat side down but I really dont think it makes any difference. The butt is so fatty anyway that the little bit of extra fat that is on the top vs. bottom is really irrelevant. What temp did you cook it to? If you cook it to about 195-200 you'll cook a bunch more fat out of the butt and it will be less greasy but pork is greasy no matter what temp you cook it to.[p]Troy
  • TRex
    TRex Posts: 2,714
    Moonshine Mike,[p]I cook mine fat cap down, simply b/c #1 there's plenty of fat inside the butt itself to keep it moist and #2 the fat cap actually acts as an additional heat shield to keep the meat on the bottom from burning or getting charred (when you pull your butt of the grill you may have fat sticking to the grate but not meat!)[p]I've taken all my butts to 195 and haven't had any problem with greasiness or lack of moisture.[p]Good luck in the future![p]TRex
  • Moonshine Mike,[p]I do my Boston Butt fat side up, but I use the EggSettera place setter to insure indirect heat. Without it I'd consider using putting the fat cap down.[p]Best,[p]Eliot

  • Thanks everyone for the feedback....I cooked the butt to 198 before taking it off and did use the platesetter for indirect. My second attempt at cooking a butt and must admit, the second time around was much better than the first. Just looking to learn as much as I can about the process.[p]It was rather comical; I had 4 probe wires wrapped in tinfoil coming out of the egg during the cook. Two for the Guru, a digital readout of grate temperature and one for meat temp….plus I was collecting data on dome temp.