# I love butts



## Parkerboy (Jan 21, 2018)

Pork butts that is but not cooked to pulling point. I prefer sliced or chopped.


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Man that looks great! I like them like that as well, but my favorite is still taking them to the "pulled" doneness. The key is keeping them moist.

Speaking of "I love butts"..... I heard that shortly after Haute Pursuit got his RecTec, he applied for the personalized license plate "BUTTMAN" . 

I wonder if he ever got that? ? ?


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## cubera (Mar 9, 2005)

Thought I was the only one who preferred sliced. 


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Pork butt is my favorite BBQ, even over ribs. I inject my butts with apple juice, really helps with the moistness. Have never had any issues with moistness in the many many butts I have cooked. I prefer it pulled, but mainly for the tenderness. No reason why a butt cooked to 205 internal temp (pulling temp), couldn't be sliced.


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## Parkerboy (Jan 21, 2018)

RB II said:


> Pork butt is my favorite BBQ, even over ribs. I inject my butts with apple juice, really helps with the moistness. Have never had any issues with moistness in the many many butts I have cooked. I prefer it pulled, but mainly for the tenderness. No reason why a butt cooked to 205 internal temp (pulling temp), couldn't be sliced.


I pull the butts off at 190-195 degrees and let them rest for an hour or so the slice and chop it. This is the typical way they are done in the deep South so it is what I grew up eating. BTW, I have never injected a butt and only season lightly with seasoned salt and pepper as I want the taste of the pork to shine through.

I spoke with Myron Mixon about this once as we are both from Georgia and he chuckled and said he never injects or rubs butts he cooks for family but competition butts aren't for eating, they are tasting.

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## al_carl (Jan 20, 2012)

:biggrin:


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Parkerboy said:


> I pull the butts off at 190-195 degrees and let them rest for an hour or so the slice and chop it. This is the typical way they are done in the deep South so it is what I grew up eating. BTW, I have never injected a butt and only season lightly with seasoned salt and pepper as I want the taste of the pork to shine through.
> 
> I spoke with Myron Mixon about this once as we are both from Georgia and he chuckled and said he never injects or rubs butts he cooks for family but competition butts aren't for eating, they are tasting.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


With a few exceptions, I cook at home like I do in competitions. As far as injecting, I like the flavor imparted by the juice, isn't like wow that is apple juice, but does add moistness and a sweetness. Everyone has their own definition of good bbq, that is why it seems to be more difficult to do well at small cook-offs, judging is by local people with different preferences.
I have my own opinion about Myron Mixon, never met him so I don't really know him, but his TV persona is pretty brash and foul mouth.


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## Parkerboy (Jan 21, 2018)

RB II said:


> With a few exceptions, I cook at home like I do in competitions. As far as injecting, I like the flavor imparted by the juice, isn't like wow that is apple juice, but does add moistness and a sweetness. Everyone has their own definition of good bbq, that is why it seems to be more difficult to do well at small cook-offs, judging is by local people with different preferences.
> I have my own opinion about Myron Mixon, never met him so I don't really know him, but his TV persona is pretty brash and foul mouth.


His persona in private is exactly the opposite of what you see on tv. He was very polite and friendly and was in no way brash nor did he curse once and I talked with him about 20-30 minutes. I was somewhat surprised and pleased.

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## Karen M (Jun 27, 2016)

I smoked my first pork butt on the rectec this weekend. (sorry..no photos) I injected with apple juice, soy, brown sugar, salt, and worcestershire. Before I put the rub on it I used a coating of dijon mustard and molasses. Then a liberal amount of rub. Smoked at 225 until about 195 degrees. took it off the fire, wrapped in foil and then a towel for a couple of hours. Great bark and was more moist than any I've ever done. It took about 12 hours. I love my rectec.


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## Postman (Oct 11, 2015)

I like big butts and I cannot lie. Like to slice them into thick steaks about 2" before bbqing them. More area to get charred and take in more smoke, kinda like "burnt ends" on a brisket. Really the fatter butt the better. Ha,ha. The flavor is in the fat.


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

RB II said:


> Pork butt is my favorite BBQ, even over ribs. I inject my butts with apple juice, really helps with the moistness. Have never had any issues with moistness in the many many butts I have cooked. I prefer it pulled, but mainly for the tenderness. No reason why a butt cooked to 205 internal temp (pulling temp), couldn't be sliced.


I just did a variation of this. Needed to smoke 5 pork butts (all about 7#s each) for a large, extended family get-together.

The day before smoking, I made a concentrated brine with 2/3 dark brown sugar and 1/3 canning salt. Cooled this brine in the frig. Put the 5 cold butts in a cooler and covered them with the brine. Then added about 8# of ice in gallon ziplocks on top of all the butts to keep them submerged and cold.

Very early the next morning, I pulled the butts out of the brine to dry and begin warming. I took about 2 cups of the brine and and mixed it with one 12 ounce can of frozen, concentrated apple juice. This made about 30 ounces of apple juice/brine combo. About 6 ounces of this mixture was injected into each of the 5 butts. Butts were then rubbed with my favorite spices.

Smoked them for 5 hours at around 225, and then wrapped them in foil for 6 hours at 250. Let them rest for 45 minutes before pulling. Saved all of the juice in the pans and foil. Separated off most of the fat and poured the remaining juice back into the pulled pork. Finished product was very moist and tender.

Based on all of the compliments, this may have been my best pulled pork.


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## StinkBait (May 31, 2004)

Dick Hanks said:


> Separated off most of the fat and poured the remaining juice back into the pulled pork.


Hey Dick, how exactly do you separate the fat from the juice?


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

StinkBait said:


> Hey Dick, how exactly do you separate the fat from the juice?


There are 2 ways to do this:

1) I you have the time, put all of the drippings in a bowl or jar and put it in the frig for a couple of hours, or the freezer for 1 hour. All of the fat will have risen to the top and has solidified when cooled. You can just peel all of the solid fat off of the top of the good juices.

2) The drippings can be poured into a fat separator and allowed to rest for around 5 minutes. The fat rises to the top and the good liquids are below. The spout's base is connected to the base of separator. As you pour out of the spout, the juice is what comes out 1st. Stop pouring when you see the fat line getting close to the spout.

I prefer method #1. It gets ALL of the good stuff!:cheers:





 (fat separator video)


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

I use a fat separator to gather the juice. I won 4th place pulled pork out of 60+ teams this past spring with no other "sauce" than the separated drippings. SOOO good.


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## StinkBait (May 31, 2004)

Dick Hanks said:


> There are 2 ways to do this:
> 
> 1) I you have the time, put all of the drippings in a bowl or jar and put it in the frig for a couple of hours, or the freezer for 1 hour. All of the fat will have risen to the top and has solidified when cooled. You can just peel all of the solid fat off of the top of the good juices.
> 
> ...





RB II said:


> I use a fat separator to gather the juice. I won 4th place pulled pork out of 60+ teams this past spring with no other "sauce" than the separated drippings. SOOO good.


Great info, thank you guys.


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