Butt Size....seriously

TF1 · February 2002

So I call my butcher to ask if he has received pork butts lately- as I'm looking to overnight one on Saturday. He tells me he has them in but mentions they are each about 8-10 lbs. To me that seems like alot...not that I'm arguing- I'll cook it- and enjoy every last bit of it. What length of cook am I looking at though?
I thought butts were in the neighborhood of 5-6lbs???? Any thoughts?[p]TF1

Stogie · February 2002

TF1,[p]That is indeed the "wholesale" size. They come to your butcher like this with 2 butts per pack. The smaller sizes you normally see are cut in half from these larger ones.[p]This is all I ever cook anymore. If you are going to invest this kind of time in cooking, might as well have lots of leftovers...it freezes very well![p]Now, I have been experimenting with cooking these guys for 22 hours. It works GREAT and you will NOT dry them out. [p]Why cook so long? Because I love to sleep! The problem with an overnight cook is the time of evening you have to start. But, I also like my butts fresh off the cooker. So what's a guy to do???[p]Let's take an 8 pounder as an example......[p]This will take 16 hours to cook....I cook at 225º, grate level. Let's say you want to serve dinner at 6pm on Saturday. That means you would have to start cooking at 1 - 2am to hit your time. That is much too late for me to stay up![p]So, I will start this cook at 9 pm the night before. Sleep thru the night and cook until around 1pm the next day. At this time the butt will be very close to 200º. Then I will kill my fire and at the same time, wrap the butt in foil and place back in the cooker until 6pm.[p]I have done this several times and they have been among the best butts I have cooked. My first 2 tests yielded only 1/2 cup of fat that had not been rendered out. My subsequent cooks have been about the same.[p]If the butt gets done much earlier than 1 pm....by "done" I mean 200º internal...then you simply move the timetable up, place back in the pit for 5 hours(with the fire killed) and take out then wrap again and wrap in towel and hold in ice chest till dinner.[p]This whole process has some scientific foundations as well. This was pointed out by Cook's Illustrated when they cooked pot roast. They brought the temp up to 210º internal and then cooked for an additional hour. This proved to be the best tasting roast.[p]Anyway, just something for those who love to sleep![p]

TF1 · February 2002

Stogie,
Thanks for the great info. One more question for you though. The "fat cap" on these look more like the polar ice cap. Do you trim some off, score it, or leave it be?[p]And, again, thanks for the great info.

Jethro · February 2002

TF1,[p]Before my cooking my most recent butt, I would have said I leave them on. My last one though had too much fat for me to ignore so I trimmed it down. It was definately not dry, still plenty of fat inside.[p]Keep em Smokin,
Jethro

Stogie · February 2002

TF1,[p]I trim every bit of it, right down to the meat. No rub will penetrate that and there is plenty of fat inside to keep moist....as Jethro mentioned.[p]

Butt Size....seriously

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