Boston Butt

[JH-ATL]

I tried cooking a Boston but in a new way.....got the idea from a cooking show.

3 1/2 to 4 lb but

brush with extra virgin olive oil.
spices rubbed in to suit...salt, black pepper, red pepper, garlic, etc.
wrap but totally in aluminum foil.
place an internal heat guage into it.
put into a 200 degree oven until temperature gauge rises to 165 degrees (170 for some).
takes about 6 to 8 hours depending on the size of the but.

It came out really tender and moist. My wife said she liked it better than slow cooking on the grill. Of course, picking out a good marbled cut of meat always helps. Some say "there is more in the picking than in the chief's cooking".

I, of course, used my home made South Carolina mustard based BBQ sauce. the following is an approximate mixture ratio:

3/4 cup yellow mustard
3/4 cup water
1/2 to 3/4 cup white vinegar (depending on your taste)
tsp garlic powder
tsp black pepper
tad of salt
tbs real butter
1, 2, 3 tbs of packed brown sugar....maybe more if you like...I don't.
a couple of shakes, maybe more, of tobasco sauce.

I forgot to add that you must simmer for five or so minutes, never boil, getting it to the consistency you like. You can add water if you go too far initially....never boil!!!

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

 

[bayoutider]

I cook pork and beef roasts that way someitmes. I like to drain the juice off the pork roasts and use that to cook fresh green beans or cabbage. Do not attempt this if you have high cholesterol or heart problems When the roast is almost done I drain the juices, sauce the meat and return to the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Outrageously tender. The beef juice also makes fantastic gravy for rice, potatoes or the meat.

I don't use the temperature probe just the time method. I often do this overnight in the oven while we sleep.

 

[BamaLuver]

I have a good friend that smokes a Boston Butt every Christmas Eve for his family. The day before, he spends all day and all night slowly cooking that baby and it's delicious! Makes my mouth water.... Yummm!

 

[rtr12]

I have a good friend that smokes a Boston Butt every Christmas Eve for his family. The day before, he spends all day and all night slowly cooking that baby and it's delicious! Makes my mouth water.... Yummm!

Ahhh! Your friend is doing it right!

 

[TideBeliever]

Brown BButt on all sides in olive oil on stove top in cast iron skillet.
AFTER browning, inject with garlic butter marinade.
Coat outside with the following:
1/2 cup dark brown mustard mixed with 3 Tbsps. liquid smoke and 1/4 cup prepared horseradish.
Wrap tightly in foil and bake in roaster pan on rack [fat side up] at 200 degrees until done.

 

[TideRollsInVa]

I normally smoke 2 or even 3, 6-7 lb butts. I make a night of it, of course with Crimson Beers.

I first rub the butts down with a load of salt and I do mean a load and I place the butts, fat side down in 1 or 2 alluminum pans, deep enough to hold a good deal of Apple Vinegar. I place those pans on the smoking end of my grill, fill the pans to half full with vinegar and smoke for seldom less that 12 hours. Difficult but I try to keep the temp below 250. Once done the bone will just slide out of the meat. I like to chop the meat and then mix with the sauce.

I can normally get the boys to visit for this. And it freezes well.

 

[bayoutider]

I normally smoke 2 or even 3, 6-7 lb butts. I make a night of it, of course with Crimson Beers.

I first rub the butts down with a load of salt and I do mean a load and I place the butts, fat side down in 1 or 2 alluminum pans, deep enough to hold a good deal of Apple Vinegar. I place those pans on the smoking end of my grill, fill the pans to half full with vinegar and smoke for seldom less that 12 hours. Difficult but I try to keep the temp below 250. Once done the bone will just slide out of the meat. I like to chop the meat and then mix with the sauce.

I can normally get the boys to visit for this. And it freezes well.

Normally people put meat fat side UP to allow the fats flavor to work into the meat and keep it moist. But however you like it.

When I cook a very lean beef or pork roast I will ask my butcher for a piece of suet (beef fat) to lay on top or put bacon on top.

 

[rtr12]

Normally people put meat fat side UP to allow the fats flavor to work into the meat and keep it moist. But however you like it.

QUOTE]

Normally, I would be hollering, "Amen", but in the case of Boston Butts, it's not important to have the fat side on top. As a matter of fact, I would suggest that you not put the fatty side down and here's why. Boston Butts have so much fat marbled throughout the cut that it is actually better if you let some of the fat cook off of the bottom.

However, following your train of thought on adding fat the lean meat, when I smoke Boston Butts I ALWAYS stick a couple of whole chickens on the rack underneath the Butts and let the Butt drippings do the basting for me.

Of course, you know my opinion of cooking Boston Butts, ribs, etc. in the oven so I won't repeat it again. No need to stir the pot. LOL!

 

[TideBeliever]

I'll stir the pot. I have 3 well used smoker's, but in the winter months prefer to use the oven.

I take a large roasting pan lined with crisscrossed 18" wide al. foil [from Sam's] long enough to enclose the chicken, ribs or butt to be cooked.

I place a small bowl in the bottom of the pan filled halfway with pickling spice and liquid smoke. I place a rack with the prepared chicken/ribs/butt above the bowl and enclose all with the crisscrossed foil.

The oven has excellent temperature control and the foil keeps the moisture in and self bastes.

The results are quite acceptable IMHO.

 

[rtr12]

I'll stir the pot. I have 3 well used smoker's, but in the winter months prefer to use the oven.

I take a large roasting pan lined with crisscrossed 18" wide al. foil [from Sam's] long enough to enclose the chicken, ribs or butt to be cooked.

I place a small bowl in the bottom of the pan filled halfway with pickling spice and liquid smoke. I place a rack with the prepared chicken/ribs/butt above the bowl and enclose all with the crisscrossed foil.

The oven has excellent temperature control and the foil keeps the moisture in and self bastes.

The results are quite acceptable IMHO.

Oh, I understand the convenience of the oven. I think the difference is in our definitions of "acceptable".

When I use my smoker, it requires me to be outside in the harsh Alabama winters for about 10 minutes every 6 hours. I don't mind braving the bitter cold of Birmingham for good BBQ. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor the dark of night will keep me from completing my Boston Butt!

Don't get me wrong, I have eaten oven roasted meat in certain situations. If it's free, if there isn't a decent BBQ joint within 200 miles, if hades is frozen over.....

 

[TideBeliever]

Ahhh... Pot Stirred!

 

[bayoutider]

Normally people put meat fat side UP to allow the fats flavor to work into the meat and keep it moist. But however you like it.

QUOTE]

Normally, I would be hollering, "Amen", but in the case of Boston Butts, it's not important to have the fat side on top. As a matter of fact, I would suggest that you not put the fatty side down and here's why. Boston Butts have so much fat marbled throughout the cut that it is actually better if you let some of the fat cook off of the bottom.

However, following your train of thought on adding fat the lean meat, when I smoke Boston Butts I ALWAYS stick a couple of whole chickens on the rack underneath the Butts and let the Butt drippings do the basting for me.

Of course, you know my opinion of cooking Boston Butts, ribs, etc. in the oven so I won't repeat it again. No need to stir the pot. LOL!

If the butt is that fatty I would trim it.

 

[rtr12]

If the butt is that fatty I would trim it.

Well, I do trim the thick layer of fat off of the bottom simply because there is so much fat marbled throughout the butt anyway. I don't know how you could trim the fat inside the butt without ending up with chopped raw pork.

When I smoke Boston Butts, I smoke them open for about 8 hours which actually cooks a lot of the fat out and allows the smoke to work into the meat. After that I wrap them in extra heavy foil and put them back on the smoker for 12-16 hours. The wrapping in foil turns the outside meat as tender as the inside meat. Even after cooking the butts open for 8 hours, the juice pours out when you open the foil and actually starts dripping through the foil about 8 hours before I pull them off.

 

[bayoutider]

Well, I do trim the thick layer of fat off of the bottom simply because there is so much fat marbled throughout the butt anyway. I don't know how you could trim the fat inside the butt without ending up with chopped raw pork.

When I smoke Boston Butts, I smoke them open for about 8 hours which actually cooks a lot of the fat out and allows the smoke to work into the meat. After that I wrap them in extra heavy foil and put them back on the smoker for 12-16 hours. The wrapping in foil turns the outside meat as tender as the inside meat. Even after cooking the butts open for 8 hours, the juice pours out when you open the foil and actually starts dripping through the foil about 8 hours before I pull them off.

I guess you think I don't know what marbling is. If there was that much fat in the marbling I would choose a different butt at the market. I will sometimes cut the fat cap off meat, season the meat, then lay the fat back on top. No sense arguing with you any more about that, it will probably end with another locked thread.

My rule of thumb is about 1 1/2 hours per pound when cooked at a temperature of between 200-235 with prime temperature between 215-225, I can't tend my fire any closer than that and drink beer at the same time. I will serve pork at any temperature 165 and above but pork "pulls" easier between 180-190 but that's just my preferences, Emeril may beg to differ. But, once you wrap your butt, shoulder, whole stinking pig or what have you in heavy foil, it doesn't matter much whether the meat is on a pit, smoker, in an oven or a hole in the ground. All you have is heat.

The point most everyone using an oven has tried to make is not everyone has or wants to take the time to BBQ (BBQ is different from grilling) or slow smoke their meat. Some, because of living arangements, are not allowed to use a conventional smoker. Therefore oven recipes are perfectly acceptable on this forum since it is not strictly a "Grillin" board. I would eat JH-ATL or TideBeliever's roast in a minute. I'm sure TideRollsInVa's Butts are perfectly fit to eat as well, never insisted different.

I have to find a suitable source for some wood soon and light my old smoker. I have been separated from it for a while. I did grill some buffalo burgers on my new gas grill yesterday that turned out well.

 

[Dartigan]

I did grill some buffalo burgers on my new gas grill yesterday that turned out well.

OOH! Where did you get the buffalo meat?! I want some! I had some buffalo jerky once and it was incredible.

edit: Oh yeah... as to not hijack the thread... I like to smoke my butts for 18+ hours then wrap them in foil, then wrap them in a few towels (like the ones you use to dry off with after a shower), then put them in a cooler. Then take them to the tailgating site, throw on a pair of latex gloves (so you don't have to find a place to wash your hands -- and so your hands don't smell like butt for a week) and do the pulling there on site.

If I'm smoking before game day, I like to smoke the butts until we get ready to go to bed (let them smoke for at least 8 hours or so) then I wrap them in foil and put them in the oven at 220 until we get ready to go the next morning.

But bayou is right... once you wrap the butts in foil (if you wrap them properly to keep all the moisture in) you could finish cooking them in a pit with burning car tires used as fuel and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in taste.

 

[JH-ATL]

Dartigan

Where do you get buffalo meat???

I get it from my wife's parents (pay to have them ship it , that is) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The meat has a delicious flavor. I love to cook with it and eat it, whole family does. Big down side, it is very expensive!!!

Rib eyes on the grill are just great. So is a roast. Like our Southern white tail deer meat, it is very lean and cooks much quicker that beef of a comprable cut.

I know this sounds corny, but put a little pork fat on top of it while grilling it and it helps the moisture content. Also I never take a piece past medium rare, even if I am cooking for my daughter who likes every piece of meat extra well done.

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

 

[TideRollsInVa]

I'm sure TideRollsInVa's Butts are perfectly fit to eat as well, never insisted different.

"Fit"??? I'll show you "fit". LOL!!!

To be honest, if I were not placing the butts in the liquid, fat side up would be ideal.

Are you serious, threads even have to be locked on this board, too?

 

[rtr12]

I, of course, used my home made South Carolina mustard based BBQ sauce. the following is an approximate mixture ratio:

3/4 cup yellow mustard
3/4 cup water
1/2 to 3/4 cup white vinegar (depending on your taste)
tsp garlic powder
tsp black pepper
tad of salt
tbs real butter
1, 2, 3 tbs of packed brown sugar....maybe more if you like...I don't.
a couple of shakes, maybe more, of tobasco sauce.

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

JH,
I actually looked pretty closely at this recipe when you first made the post. It sounds great to me. I'm going to mix up a batch pretty soon and give it a try. I love the Carolina flavor, but never had a good recipe to make any at home. I also mentioned your recipe to one of my team members during the competition. He his big on Carolina BBQ, but had never checked out TideFans so I clued him in.

 

[JH-ATL]

RTR 12

I use only 1/2 cup white venegar & one tablespoon of packed brown sugar.

Do not forget to heat to a simmer and bring down to the consistency you like....never boil!!! You can add additional water if needed.

I find more vinegar is too much for me and one tablespoon of brown sugar is all I want for sweetness. Others like more of either &/or each....same goes for the tabasco sauce, matter of taste.

I use to travel to Columbus, Ga. quite a bit on business. The people I met with had this great BBQ place in Phoenix City, Ala.,across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus. Chicken Comer was the the old balck guy's name and also the name of the restuarant. Chicken Comer used only a mustard based BBQ sauce there. It was the best I had ever tasted and I still have not found a better place &/or receipe.

I asked Chicken one day what he used and he casually gave it out. He then added, but its all in the mix and heating.

He subsequently got old and sold out to a new man. The new fellow did not believe in turning over withheld employee taxes to the IRS. Big mistake.They came in and closed him down. No one I know in Columbus/Phoenix City knows what happened to the recipe.

I use to buy a gallon at a time to take home...I miss Chicken Comer!!!!!