Pork Butt Help

[TheMagicNookie]

Hey traeger dudes and dudettes, need some help from the more experienced crowd as far as pork butts go.

Did my 3rd or 4th attempt tonight, usually turns out good, flavor wise and such, but i feel it's not quite there as far as the cook goes. I"ve seen pork butts literally fall apart when dropped from a foot, butts that just fall apart as soon as the bone glides out almost on its own. Mine take effort with some wolverine like claw shredders to get apart after a 7-8 hour cook. Bone needs to be pried out with a pair of pliers. I may be answering my own question here, but i think its the quality of the meat.

I'm in oregon, small town on the coast, only store is a Fred Meyers. Nothing better than Choice is sold, but even i've managed to take 3 "choice" tomahawk that magically showed up at the butcher counter (never seen tomahawks sold there, i've had to order direct in the past from a farm up north and they take 2 months to get delivered) 3 days before fathers day better than any Del Fresco or Mortons steak ( according to the ol lady and my father).

I think i've tried everything short of doing it boneless. Trimming off all virtual fat, leaving it as is, just removing the fat vein along the shoulder blade, just the fat cap... Anyone throw me some tips? I got a Pro 575, so no Supersmoke. :<

 

[primeone]

Hopefully we can give you some ideas to try on the next smoke to get it better! What temp are you smoking it at? Are you wrapping with foil/butcher paper?

Here's my last attempt at pork butt: https://www.traegerforum.com/threads/whats-for-dinner-tonight-dinner-ideas.93/post-9365

 

[TheMagicNookie]

250 all the way through last night, got to 160 pretty quick at about the 3 hour mark, foil wrapped after that with a half of a beer thrown in. Mesquite pellets. Maybe it was a small butt too getting to temp too quick, should I lower the temp to 225 or maybe even 200 and just go longer?

 

[PriceMP5]

I personally like to cook pork at 275, my reasoning is pork butt has a lot of fat through out the meat and I believe cooking at a slightly higher smoking temp helps render that fat better.

 

[TheMagicNookie]

I’ve been trimming mine as much as possible, out of necessity after the first time hahaha I’ve had my gall bladder out after it tried to kill me while camping a year ago. A friend of mine just told me he’s been smoking his at 180 to start then 220 to finish, I may have to give that a go.

 

[Bluesmoke]

I inject mine with apple juice and brown sugar then put it on at 225 until internal temp hits 160. Then I double wrap in foil and add more apple juice and brown sugar and turn it up to 275. Once it gets to 203ish, I take it off and let it rest for 45 mins. Don’t forget that part. The meat needs to relax after being heated up so much. Once I get it out of the foil the bone falls right out. I shred mine with a KitchenAid stand mixer. I’ve had consistent results using this method.

 

[RoadRunner18]

You might want to try this recipe:

HARDWOODS: Cherry, Apple, Reserve Blend or Signature Blend (I like Signature Blend because of the Hickory, Maple and Cherry wood blend)

COOK TIME: 10 Hours

EQUIPMENT:
* 2 - Large Aluminum Pan
* Large Aluminum Foil
* Grill Rack
* Injector

INGREDIENTS:
* Bone-in Pork Butt
* My own Pork Rub
* Apple Juice
* Yellow Mustard
* Brown Sugar
* Liquid Butter
* Clover Honey or Agava
* 1/4 Cup of Butcher's Pork Injection

PREPARATION:

1. Injection:
* Pour 2 cups of Apple Juice and 1/4 cup of Butcher's Pork Injection into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
* Place Pork Butt on a Grill Rack and place in a large aluminum pan.
* Inject Pork Butt with Injection Mix until you see it rise.
* I apply a light coating of yellow mustard to hold the rub.
* Coat the Pork Rub with your favorite Pork Rub.
* Refrigerate overnight.

2. Your Cook:
* Pre-heat your cooker to 225 (Super Smoke if you have it)
* Place the Pork butt and grill rack on the grill grate.
* Set meat probe for 160 degrees.
* When the meat temp reaches 160, remove the pork butt from the grill.
* Place the Pork Butt and grill rack in the aluminum pan and coat the pork butt with brown sugar, clover honey or agave, and liquid butter.
* Pour in 2 cups of apple juice.
* Wrap the pan very tightly with aluminum foil.
* Return the pan to the grill.
* Set your meat probe for 205 and insert into the wrapped pork butt.
* When the meat temp reaches 205, remove from the grill and vent for 10 minutes.
* Seal the pan back up with the foil and let the Pork Butt rest for 45 minutes
* after rest, remove the Pork but from the pan and place in a clean aluminum pan.
* Pour pan broth liquid into a fat separator. Use this broth as a dipping sauce or pour over the pulled pork for added flavor and moisture.
* Remove Bone and pull apart the Meat and prepare for some good eating!

 

[Steevo]

You gotta hit 205 degrees F in the meat, or the pork doesn't break down like you are looking for. Use the probe for tracking, but use an accurate instant read thermometer to get the exact temp.

 

[Slimpicker]

You gotta hit 205 degrees F in the meat, or the pork doesn't break down like you are looking for. Use the probe for tracking, but use an accurate instant read thermometer to get the exact temp.

Actually you can pull off at 195, wrap in foil, a towel, in a cooler for at least 90 min, it can even stay more.
The meat will rise those last few degrees after wrapping.

 

[bfletcher]

You should be able to produce a beautifully-cooked butt whether you cook it at 225f or 275f but perhaps I missed at what finished temp you're pulling your meat. On average, I remove mine from the smoker when they hit ~201f-203f. I probe in several places to check for that finished temp and when inserting the thermometer probe you should feel only a very slight resistance.

I don't know what impact it might have if you're trimming all the fat cap, though.

 

[Slimpicker]

The secret to any porkbutt is the resting period... I do porksteaks the exact same way. Pork steaks are just a porkbutt cut into steaks... I will be making some today and show but the way I do it is:

Dust them with my rub all over
Cook/smoke fully done and even add a little burnt to them...
put the all in a sealed foil pan or in a turkey roaster smothered with BBQ sauce...
between 250 and 300 for at least 2 hours, more if you have the patience.
they will fall off the bone and be SO tender you can eat them with a plastic fork!!!
Basically they have now come real close to being sliced pulled pork....