Boneless butt

Haggis

Kids coming home for the weekend. Wife has an 8 pound bone-in boston butt in the freezer so I asked her to get another one and I'd cook them both. She returned with a 14 pound boneless butt from Costco. [p]I've looked at the archives and reviews for boneless seem mixed. So what should I do? Twenty-two pounds is a lot of meat! Should I cook ONLY the boneless or should I cook them both? If I do them both should I cut the boneless in half to make them all similar sizes? [p]I also noted that several archived posts mentioned a netting to hold the boneless together. Mine does not have one and I haven't opened it to see if its a flat piece of meat. If it is, should I tie it up for cooking? [p]
Any other thoughts or suggestions?

thirdeye

Haggis,[p]Not trying to be a smart a$$, but are you sure that 14# is one butt and not a two pack? I've had whole shoulders (picnic and butt) that are around that size.[p]~thirdeye~

grEGG

Haggis,[p]
Probably two boneless butts. I buy my meat at Costco and that is the way they typically sell it. I use the same method as bone-in and just tie the butt up with a couple of strands of kitchen twine to keep it in a tight package. It cooks just fine.[p]Good Luck-grEGG

Haggis

thirdeye,[p]I was astonished at the weight but haven't opened it up yet - you might be correct. If so, that resolves the "should I cut it in half" issue. [p]Thanks.

AZRP

grEGG,
I've done the same with Costco butts but I've had second thoughts lately about tying them up for a low and slow. My reasoning concerns the 40-140 safe zone. On a bone-in the outer surface is where the bacteria are present and that gets up to temp in a safe amount of time. On a boneless one tied tightly there will be bacteria deep into the center that probably won't be in the safe zone in time. Like I say, I've done it and haven't gotten sick. Maybe someone a lot more knowledgeable than me can chime in on this. -RP

Wise One

AZRP, if you're doing it for pulled pork, there is no need to have them tied up. The worst that will happen is that you will get a lot of bark and "chef's choice" (the part that is a bit tough and my wife does not like so I cut it out and put it in a separate container for me to snack on). You probably bring up a good point that tying up a roast that is going to be slow cooked is probably not the safest thing to do.

Haggis

AZRP,[p]I just HATE it when I raise a simple question and other people turn it into a question of existentialism more suited to Sartre than the Wise One! <LOL>

AZRP

Haggis,
Sorry dude, I was bored at work. -RP

Haggis

AZRP,[p]Hmmmm . . . maybe you need to retire like me . . . LOL

fishlessman

Haggis,
there is no need to tie, just put the cut side down and tuck the loose edges underneath.there is 2 in that package im betting. i usually start those at 275 dome and drop the temp down to 225 after about 3 or 4 hours

Haggis

fishlessman,[p]Thanks, that sounds reasonable. Would you also take advantage of the extra exposed surface to apply additional rub?

fishlessman

Haggis,
i use a lot of rub, then mustard, then more rub. it always mellows nicely with a long cook