Pork Strange experience with a Boston butt

[Mr.Fabulous]

So I wake up early this morning to fire up the T in sub-freezing conditions. Come back inside to the warmth, & begin prepping the butt to go on. Open cryo-pak, drain, pat dry, & begin applying the binder, when I notice my Boston butt appears to be butterflied, & the bone is noticeably absent.

I have cooked dozens of these (purchased at Food Lion (Southern grocery chain headquartered in Salisbury, NC), & they are not labeled boneless, & never have been boneless. I have seen boneless butts at Sam’s & Costco. But when given an option, I prefer to cook the bone-in variety as I think they taste better. Plus the experience of removing the bone before pulling the meat is such an enjoyable one .

Other than the impending disappointment of my smoking buddy Chewbacca later when there is no shoulder bone for him (poor pup, I can already see the sorrowful looks he is going to give me), it’s really not going to make a difference.

My question is simply ‘why?’

Any guidance or insight will be greatly appreciated.

(Apologies for no pics, I was not awake at 4am, & still hungover from the rum last night. It WAS a great bottle of rum)

 

[Slimpicker]

Tie it up?? or cut in half at the butterfly

I cut my bone-in and one half is a little bigger... no big deal there.

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

If it wasn’t 4am & I wasn’t hungover, I would have thought of that ….. .

Still want to know why

 

[Slimpicker]

OKAY, I'll give you that one indeed... that's funny

 

[GrillMeister]

I only smoke bone in as it is important to get that outside surface above 160 degrees ASAP. The inside is sterile and free from bacterial.

Boneless butts have a much larger surface area and if you tie it together, the inside (which has been exposed to bacteria) will take much longer to reach 160 degrees so the bacteria has a chance to replicate while at optimal temps for it to do so.

I love boneless butts when making sausage as they are easy to cut into strips to feed the grinder.

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

I only smoke bone in as it is important to get that outside surface above 160 degrees ASAP. The inside is sterile and free from bacterial.

Boneless butts have a much larger surface area and if you tie it together, the inside (which has been exposed to bacteria) will take much longer to reach 160 degrees so the bacteria has a chance to replicate while at optimal temps for it to do so.

I love boneless butts when making sausage as they are easy to cut into strips to feed the grinder.

It was supposed to be bone in. That is all I ever use for pulled pork. Had to be a packing mistake

 

[dkuchenberg]

So I wake up early this morning to fire up the T in sub-freezing conditions. Come back inside to the warmth, & begin prepping the butt to go on. Open cryo-pak, drain, pat dry, & begin applying the binder, when I notice my Boston butt appears to be butterflied, & the bone is noticeably absent.

I have cooked dozens of these (purchased at Food Lion (Southern grocery chain headquartered in Salisbury, NC), & they are not labeled boneless, & never have been boneless. I have seen boneless butts at Sam’s & Costco. But when given an option, I prefer to cook the bone-in variety as I think they taste better. Plus the experience of removing the bone before pulling the meat is such an enjoyable one .

Other than the impending disappointment of my smoking buddy Chewbacca later when there is no shoulder bone for him (poor pup, I can already see the sorrowful looks he is going to give me), it’s really not going to make a difference.

My question is simply ‘why?’

Any guidance or insight will be greatly appreciated.

(Apologies for no pics, I was not awake at 4am, & still hungover from the rum last night. It WAS a great bottle of rum)

I'm not going to tell you what I thought when I read the title. LOL just turned 67, working on 12.

 

[Slimpicker]

I'm not going to tell you what I thought when I read the title. LOL just turned 67, working on 12.

Yup, wrong web side indeed...

 

[Wayne55]

I just pulled from the freezer a 5# boneless pork butt. Been doing a lot of reading and found a 4-hour technique at Thermoworks.com. I'm going to use it on Sunday except wrap in pink butcher paper instead of aluminum foil. Wish me luck!

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

I just pulled from the freezer a 5# boneless pork butt. Been doing a lot of reading and found a 4-hour technique at Thermoworks.com. I'm going to use it on Sunday except wrap in pink butcher paper instead of aluminum foil. Wish me luck!

Is this the article you are referencing?

Butterflied pork butt

Please post back how it goes. That sounds interesting

 

[Wayne55]

Is this the article you are referencing?

Butterflied pork butt

Please post back how it goes. That sounds interesting

Yes, it is. I forgot to mention that this butt came in our package from Butcher Box, so it is a small one. I'm assuming I'll have to finish butterflying it out. Bearded Butchers did a comparison of butts bone-in and boneless. I don't access to one of the fancy netting devices.

 

[RustyJake]

Another method,

 

[Wayne55]

Another method,

Wow, that's pretty amazing, too!

 

[RustyJake]

Wow, that's pretty amazing, too!

It looked a little dry when he was shredding at the end. But that could have just been the camera angle. You would have a lot of bark with all the straps being exposed to spice and smoke

 

[Wayne55]

I was concerned about the rootbeer bath. I'm going to just butterfly it. I have a rack I can use to elevate the butt above a pan of water that helps even out the heat. I saw that done on a comparison of pellets done here. First time out of the gate for a butt!