i’ve got a couple boston butts in the freezer; need to make at least one soon - figure i’ll slow cook it whilst brewing my RuinTen clone this saturday (40#+ of grain and 24oz of hops :o).
Anyways, got any good ones? I want to stick to using my dutch oven for either braising or slow roasting so I can keep the maintenance to a minimum since I’ll be finishing brewing during some of the cooking time.
Any help will be appreciated!
I make a lot of these in my smoker but braising probably a great way to cook them as well. I believe the most important step is to brine the meat for at least 12 hours. The brine adds a lot of flavor and helps maintain the moisture. There are hundreds of brine recipes online but I keep it pretty simple - in a couple quarts of filtered water add 1 cup pickling salt, 1 cup brown sugar, some whole peppercorns and maybe a 1/4 cup of molasses if you like. Another variation I tried recently was to add a bottle of a good dark beer (porter, stout or bock) to the brine. You may have to boil the brine to get everything dissolved, make sure you cool completely before adding the meat (or cool with ice).
Also, I always use a dry rub before smoking. Again, tons of great ones on the web but pork loves chili powder, dry mustard and pepper. Alton Brown’s recipe for rub is one of my favorites - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pulled-pork-recipe/index.html
The last Boston Butt/ Pork Shoulder that I braised in the oven I did Korean style. Basically took what I usually do w/ Korean short ribs and did w/ a pork shoulder. Came out great and the tacos we did w/ leftovers were amazing.
I just eyeball everything, so no exact measurements.
Soy Sauce
Brown sugar
Rice Wine
Garlic (I just used garlic powder)
onion (I chop it in one of those hand choppers until minced)
Sesame Oil
Black pepper
Ginger
Mix in bowl, place pork in ziplock bag and pour in marinade. I let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Put dutch oven on stove top burner on med - med high and brown each sided of the pork w/ a little olive oil. Take out the pork and throw in some onions, carrots, celery, water, little apple juice, soy sauce, rice wine and ginger and stir well. Place the pork back into the dutch oven and braise in the oven @325. I have the liquid covering about 1/2 of the pork. After about an hour - hour 1/2, turn the pork over and add more liquid if needed. I just added a little water. I used a 3.5 lb boneless picnic pork shoulder and it took a little about 3 hours to cook.
Removed from oven, covered w/ foil and let sit for about 20 minutes then shred. We served w/ rice and sliced green onion and a side of mac salad (Hawaiian plate lunch style).
With the leftovers, we put some water and some of the leftover juices into a pan, brought to a boil and then added the leftover pork and cooked it down. For the taco, take some corn tortillas, put in some of the pork with some cabbage, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber and a some cilantro. I also like just putting the pork in the corn tortilla and just add some good spicy kimchi on top. The next night we took some wontons, added the same mixture, fried them up and dipped in some tai chili sauce.
Get a good cut from a trusted butcher- that has made the biggest difference for me. Put on a traditional BBQ dry rub with a paprika base and your favorite spices. I use onion powder, garlic powder, ground dry mustard, a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, a little cayenne and a small amount salt/pepper to taste. Apply rub the night before, wrap and leave in fridge. Smoke unwrapped for about 1.5-2 hours then wrap with foil for last 2 hours or so. I do an 8 lb butt for 4-5 hours. Five if I can keep the temp under control, less time if it gets too hot.
You’ve already got the meat.
You want to keep maintenance to a minimum.
If your using a dutch oven, I’m assuming it’s cast-iron.
My plan for good butt (insert childish snickering here) has always been KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I would dry rub the whole roast and let sit overnight - if not, it’s not the worst thing ever since you’re braising it.
Rub:
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp celery seed
2 tsp cayenne
Those are all suggestions, and can be tailored to your liking. It’s a pretty basic BBQ rub base that can be added to for whatever you’re doing.
For the cooking:
I would get the dutchie real good and hot - so you can sear the roast on both top and bottom.
Use whatever oil you have lying around to coat the pan (bacon grease preferrably) and then sear both sides.
Once you have nice crust on both sides, add 1 Tbsp of applejuice and place the covered dutchie in the oven at 250. I would check it after 2 hours for temp, but it should take a nice looooooooong time to slow roast.
For the record, I don’t think butts needed brined. Plenty of fat to keep it moist. Also, 190 internal temp is key for the fall apart goodness. That’s when the cartilage and whatever other fancy things in there that I forget break down to really make it fall apart.
Ever done tacos al pastor? Basically just a chunky rub/marinade of pineapple, chiles, and mole spices. Slice the butt into 1" sections from the fatty side, going most of the way through. Rub the whole thing down, tie with kitchen twine, let rest 3-4 hours, then slow roast until done. It should pretty much fall apart. Serve with tortillas, pineapple, green chiles, avocado - the usual.
Agreed, lots of fat for moisture, so no need to brine. Although I still squirt mine down with some New England cider and cover it with foil (I use indirect heat on a propane grill) once the temp hits around 170F and continue barbequing until the 190’sF. Yum!
On the rare occasion I don’t put a pork butt in my smoker with hickory and apple wood, I make it like Sean and Jeremy described - tacos al pastor style , and Korean style respectively. Both are intensely flavorful and make killer tacos. Hard to go wrong either way.
I like to brine the meat in apple juice and salt water overnight and rub with brown sugar, sage, salt and chili or cayenne. Smoke until internal temps are 160 over hickory and apple wood w apple juice in water pan. Usually takes 10 hours or more. You can cheat and smoke it for at least 4 or 6 hours and put it in oven at 170-200. Until meat can be pulled. And that’s the key. You have to cook the meat till it is tender enough to be pulled in strips.
If cooking in oven put in shallow pan and pour in some coke and wrap meat and pan with aluminum foil. Man that makes it tender!
Paul, cut it in half. Make sausage with the boneless part. Failing that you could tie and smoke, slow roast or braise it after an injection and light rub.
The bone-in half should be either brined or rubbed with 2% salt and 2% sugar by weight and wrapped tightly in a freezer bag to cure and flipped once a day for at least a week. Rinse and then hot smoke until internal is 150F. Quench ham/bacon 
in pot of cold water. Wrapped well will last quite some time in the fridge.
Yeah, you can make great bratwurst with boston butt. You will need some fat back and sausage casings. I have a recipe somwhere. See if I can find it.
That’s a Southern man right there! My mom, who lives in B’ham, uses Coke as an ingredient for just about any braised meat or crock pot dish. Personally, I don’t think I’ve made pot roast w/out coke and onion soup mix!
Well now I’m going to have to make a pot roast with coke!
Nother idea for boston butt - carnitas. You can make 'em in oven or crock pot.
I’ve been doing the Texas Crutch to reduce smoking times to about 6 hours. Smoke it for 3, wrap it in foil and add some liquid (Coke, if you like) and smoke it for a couple more. Un-wrap it and finish.
Without doing this, I need 10 - 12 hours to get it so the meat will pull.
As for Coke, I’ve always used ginger ale instead.
+1 on carnitas. Cooks Illustrated has a good recipe
I wish I had the time I once had in my younger days to take the time to brine and smoke one up right. I always take the easy way out - Crock Pot on low, a sliced onion, apple cider and/or Coke, fat side up. Walk away for the day. When it’s done, just pull it and toss with some BBQ sauce (not much is needed at that point). Serve it up on a good roll with some slaw available for those who choose to use it.
Damn that sounds good. Start it before work- dinner is ready when you get home!
Thanks for all the help guys. I want to try just about every recipe put on here!
Here’s what I did for the first one yesterday:
Dry rubbed overnight, wrapped in plastic:
Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper
Crushed fennel seed
Crushed cumin
Cayenne
Paprika
A little thyme
Then got the Dutch oven super hot, sautéed one yellow onion and three Crisp apples (both sliced up), then browned all sides of the pork, added about 20 oz of robust porter an some chicken stock to deglaze and bring the liquid level halfway up. Put in the oven at 275 for 3.5 hours, flipping once in the middle.
Then pulled the meat and brought the braising liquid to a boil to concentrate it and spooned some of that over the meat. Served with sautéed Swiss chard and mashed sweet potatoes (made in a pressure cooker - divine). Was a great meal especially after a long IIPA brewday.
I’ve definitely got to try the crutch on my next butt - last one took 14 hours