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Pork Butt Selection & Preparation
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Originally
posted: 01/04/2005
Last updated:
06/28/2008 |
In this topic:
Pork Butt Defined
 Despite
the name, pork butt does not come from the rear end of the hog--it is cut
from the shoulder.
The pork shoulder weighs 12-18 pounds and consists
of two portions: the butt, which is the upper portion of the
shoulder, and the picnic, which is the lower portion.
The whole pork butt is a
rectangular roast weighing 6-10 pounds and containing a portion of the
shoulder blade bone. It is sold bone-in or boneless; if boneless, a whole roast may
be cut into half portions.
The whole picnic weighs
6-9 pounds. It contains a
portion of the foreleg and is usually sold with some skin attached. The
picnic is sometimes cut into an upper arm portion (the meatier portion,
usually sold skinless) and the lower foreleg portion (containing more
bone, skin, and connective tissue).
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Photo 1. Whole pork butt |
Photo 2. Whole pork picnic |
Other Names For Pork Butt
Pork butt is also know by
the following names, or some combination thereof:
- Boston shoulder roast
- Boston roast
- Boston butt
- Shoulder butt
- Shoulder blade roast
Why Pork Butt Is
Preferred For Barbecue
You can make great-tasting
barbecue with either pork butt or picnic. Both portions contain a lot of
fat and connective tissue, which results in moist, succulent meat after
many hours of "low and slow" cooking. However, most people use pork butt
because it is more commonly available in stores (especially at wholesale
warehouse stores) and because it has somewhat less waste than the picnic.
Both portions, however, are quite inexpensive.
Choosing
A Pork Butt
There are several
considerations when selecting pork butt for
barbecuing:
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Pork Quality Grades
Although all pork is
inspected for wholesomeness by the USDA, it is not usually graded for
quality. The USDA says this is because pork is "produced from young
animals that have been bred and fed to produce more uniformly tender
meat."
When pork is graded
for quality (which is voluntary and paid for by the pork producer), it is
only graded into two levels: "Acceptable" and "Utility." The USDA says
that supermarkets only sell "Acceptable" pork; "Utility" pork is mainly
reserved for processed foods.
So unlike beef, where you
have to decide between quality grades of USDA Prime, USDA Choice, and USDA
Select, each of different quality and price, you don't have to worry about
quality grades when shopping for pork butt.
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Whole, Untrimmed
Pork Butt In
Cryovac
At the supermarket, whole or
partial pork
butts are sold individually, usually boneless and with much of the exterior
fat removed.
Picture 1 shows a typical pork butt
from a
supermarket. The package contains one boneless roast weighing 3.99 pounds,
probably a half portion of a whole butt. It is labeled, "Pork Shoulder -
Blade Boston Butt Roast Boneless" and is priced at $2.79 per pound, or
$1.99 per pound with the store's club card.
At the wholesale warehouse store,
whole pork butts are usually sold in Cryovac packaging, two to a package,
with the exterior fat intact. In the past, warehouse stores typically
carried bone-in butts, but boneless butts are becoming more common.
Pictures 2 and 3 show a
typical package of pork butts from a warehouse store.
It contains two boneless roasts weighing a total of 19.23 pounds. Each
roast weighs over 9 pounds. It is labeled, "Boneless Pork Shoulder"
and is priced at $1.35 per pound. After trimming a total of 4.5 pounds of
fat, these roasts cost the equivalent of $1.75 per pound.
Since pork is a commodity,
prices will fluctuate greatly over time. When prices are down, bone-in pork butt
can be purchased at warehouse stores for at little as 89¢ per pound.
Most people will choose pork
butts from warehouse stores because they cost less per pound and can be
trimmed as desired because they are sold whole with the external fat
intact. Also, as long as you're firing up your cooker, you might as well
cook two pork butts, so the two-to-the-package you get at the warehouse
store fills the bill.
Looking at Pictures 2 and 3, you
can understand why first-timers might think
they're getting a single, humongous pork butt! In the Cryovac
packaging, it's hard to tell where one roast ends and the
other begins. This presents a problem if you want to buy roasts of
equal size...often you'll open the package to find a 6-pound roast
and an 8-pound roast, but you can't tell this by looking at the package. This
isn't a big deal, but it does mean that the smaller roast will cook faster
and must be removed from the cooker sooner than the larger one.
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Weight
Most people choose
whole, untrimmed pork butts weighing 6-8 pounds each. The pork
butt articles featured in the Cooking Topics
section of this Web site assume roasts in this weight range. However, roasts
that are outside this range cook just fine, so
don't worry too much about weight when buying pork butt. |
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Meat Characteristics
Choose pork butt with
a smooth, firm, white fat cap and a good amount of fat marbling
within the meat itself. The meat should be red-pink in color with a
coarse grain.
These characteristics
can be difficult to assess when meat is sold in Cryovac. In fact, due
to the lack of oxygen in the package, the meat may appear slightly
purple, but after several minutes of exposure to the air, it will
regain its normal red-pink color. You can see this difference in
color in the photos above showing supermarket pork butt wrapped in
plastic film and warehouse store pork butt in Cryovac packaging.
The good news is that
warehouse stores usually sell high-quality meat having the
characteristics described above. If you get the meat home and find
otherwise, return it to the store for a refund. |
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Bone-In or Boneless
You'll make great
barbecue regardless of whether you use bone-in or boneless pork
butts. Bone-in seems to be getting harder to find at some warehouse
stores, so your only choice might be boneless, but that's OK.
A pork butt consists of
a number of individual muscles that converge at the shoulder. These
muscles are held together and attached to the bone by connective
tissue. As a result, a bone-in pork butt is a very solid chunk of
meat. When the bone is removed, a pork butt takes on a more
"relaxed" shape and is not as solid as it was before. For this
reason, boneless pork butts are sometimes tied with kitchen twine or
netted by the butcher to give them a more compact shape and to make
handling easier on and off the cooker.
People usually have two
reasons for preferring bone-in pork butts. One is that it's fun to
remove the bone from a properly cooked roast, since it usually pulls
out clean with no meat attached--in a sense, the bone is like
a built-in doneness indicator. The other reason is that some people
believe the meat near the bone tastes better. There may be some truth
to this, since there is more fat and connective tissue near the bone
that adds moisture and flavor to the meat during cooking. However, the
effect is negligible once all the meat is pulled, seasoned, and mixed
together for serving.
One thing that the bone
does not do so well is transmit heat to the interior of the roast.
According to Robert L. Wolke, author of
What Einstein Told His Cook, bones do not conduct heat as well as
the meat itself because they are porous and relatively dry. So don't
cook bone-in pork butts hoping that the bone helps cook the meat more
evenly or quickly. |
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Avoid Enhanced Meat
Lots of supermarket
pork butts are injected with a solution of water, salt, sodium
phosphate, and other ingredients to make the meat more moist. This is
called enhanced meat and most
barbecuers avoid it because they don't like paying for water instead
of meat, and because the meat can taste hammy or too salty.
Enhanced meat can be
identified by reading the fine print on the product label. Look for a
phrase indicating the percentage of solution added to the meat and
the solution ingredients.
Click on this photo to
see a larger image of the fine print on the supermarket pork butt
shown earlier in this article. It reads, "Tenderness and moistness
enhanced by a solution of up to 12% water, salt and sodium
phosphates." Assuming this 3.99 pound roast contains 12%
solution and is selling for $1.99 per pound, you're paying 95¢ for
7.7 ounces of solution.
Marketing phrases like "always tender", "moist and juicy", "moist
and tender", "tender and juicy", "guaranteed tender", and "extra
tender" are tip-offs that the meat has probably been enhanced.
Non-enhanced meat may
say "all-natural" or "no added ingredients" on the label, or may
say nothing at all. Most whole pork butts in Cryovac are not
enhanced; if they are, the "solution added" text must be printed on
the package.
But what if you buy
meat from a butcher where the meat is not
pre-packaged? Has that pork butt been enhanced or not? To find out, you'll have to
ask the butcher. He or she should be able to show you a
case box or the original Cryovac packaging which will carry the
"solution added" text if the meat has been enhanced.
If you have no choice
but to use enhanced meat, you may wish to reduce the amount of salt
in your rub, since the meat has been injected with a fair amount of
salt.
You can learn more
about this subject by reading the
Enhanced Meat article. |
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Prepping A Pork Butt
The most basic way to prep a
pork butt for barbecuing is to simply remove it from the
Cryovac packaging, pat it dry with paper towels, and apply a heavy
sprinkling of rub to all sides. Some people will cook untrimmed pork butts
with the fat-side facing up, believing that the fat "bastes" the meat
during cooking.
I subscribe to the
preparation method I learned at the Paul
Kirk Pitmaster Class in 1997, which is to remove the fat cap and
any large areas or pockets of external fat that can be easily trimmed
away, then apply the rub. The logic behind this method is that:
- Smoke and rub won't penetrate
the external fat.
- It takes more time and fuel to cook
a pork butt with all the fat intact.
- Unlike a brisket flat,
which is quite lean and benefits from the protection that a layer of fat
offers, a pork butt contains a tremendous amount of intramuscular fat,
so the roast essentially "self-bastes" from the inside out.
- After many hours of
cooking, much of the external fat renders away, and you're not going to
eat the fat that's left--you're going to cut it away and discard it.
- Removing the external
fat allows for the formation of more dark, flavorful outside meat that
people enjoy so much.
You'll need a large,
sharp knife to trim a pork butt. Don't try this
with a paring knife, a utility knife, or any knife that is dull. You may
wish to invest in a
butcher's knife, but a
large, very sharp chef's knife will do.
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Remove Pork Butts From The
Cryovac
Remove the pork butts from the
Cryovac packaging and pat dry with paper towels.
It is not necessary to rinse
the meat, but there is no harm in doing so.
You may notice a slight odor
when opening the Cryovac packaging. This odor is normal and should dissipate quickly. If the odor is
a strong, putrid smell that does not dissipate after a few minutes, even
after rinsing under cold running water, this is a sign that the meat is spoiled,
and it should be returned to the store for a refund.
You may also notice some liquid in the bottom of the
Cryovac packaging. This liquid is called "purge" in
the meat industry. It is normal for meat to release a modest amount of
liquid as it sits in the packaging. However, a large amount of liquid is
an indication of excessive storage time, improper storage temperature, or
previously frozen meat.
This picture shows two
untrimmed, boneless pork butts that have been removed from the Cryovac
packaging and patted dry with paper towels. These roasts weigh over 9
pounds each and are shown with the fat-side facing down. |
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Remove The Fat Cap And
False Cap
Picture 1 shows a side view
of one of these 9-pound untrimmed pork butts, with the fat cap on top of
the roast. It's 1/4" to 1/2" thick in most areas, but up to 3/4" thick in
a few spots. The thickness of the fat cap will vary from roast to roast,
depending on the individual hog and how it was trimmed at the processing
plant.
There are no style points
when it comes to removing the fat cap, so trim it off in whatever way you
feel most comfortable. However, here's a method that works well for me.
Place the roast on a cutting
board with the fat-side facing up. Turn the roast so that the narrow ends
are on the left and right. Assuming you're right-handed, start at the
right end of the roast and cut between the fat cap and the meat, trying to
remove as much fat and as little lean meat as possible. After cutting
about 1" down the length of the roast, grasp the fat cap with your left
hand and lift up slightly so you can see what you're cutting. Continue cutting between the fat and the lean
down the entire length of the roast until the cap is removed.
Picture 2 shows the outside
of the fat cap after it has been removed. I like to remove it in a single
piece, but you don't have to do it this way.
Picture 3 shows the inside of
the fat cap. Note that small amounts of lean meat were removed in the
process, which is OK...you just want to minimize that.
After removing the fat cap,
you may see areas that appear to be lean meat, but upon closer inspection
reveal a thin layer of meat covering another thick layer of fat.
This is called a "false cap" and should be trimmed down to the lean meat
below.
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Remove Other Areas Of
External Fat
With the fat cap and false
cap removed, turn your attention to other large areas of external fat.
Trim patches of surface fat down to the lean meat. If you find pockets
of fat where several muscles converge, just trim out whatever fat seems
reasonable.
There comes a point of
diminishing returns when trimming fat from a pork butt. There's no way and
no reason to remove it all, so just remove the majority of fat that makes
sense to you. It's hard to remove too much fat from a pork butt, unless
you trim so deeply between individual muscles that the roast starts to
fall apart! Remember, the internal fat and connective tissue holds the
roast together and provides great flavor and moisture during cooking, so
don't go trimming deep inside the roast.
This picture shows the two
pork butts after removing the fat caps, false caps, and most external fat.
The roast on the left
weighed 9 pounds, 10-1/2 ounces before trimming, and had 1 pound, 13-1/2
ounces of fat removed.
The roast on the right
weighed 9 pounds, 11-1/4 ounces before trimming, and had 2 pounds, 10-1/4
ounces of fat removed.
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Remove Unsightly Bits
And Pieces
When trimming a large cut of
meat like a pork butt, you may stumble across things like big veins,
bloody spots, or even an occasional lymph node (sort of a cream-colored or
light-brown circular mass extending an inch or more down into the meat,
usually removed at the processing plant but sometimes missed). Just trim
away these things if you find them. Remember, this hunk of meat used to be
part of an animal, and these things are normal.
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Tying A Boneless Roast
If your boneless pork butt
seems kind of floppy and you want it to have a more compact shape, tie it
in several locations with kitchen twine.
Place the roast with the
narrow end facing you. Cut a length of kitchen twine, loop it around the
roast, bringing the two ends to the top of the roast. Pull snug and tie
with whatever kind of knot you like, then repeat in several locations. A
surgeon's knot
works well and is easy to tie.
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Seasoning The Pork Butt
After trimming a pork butt,
apply a generous amount of dry rub to the meat and cook immediately, or apply
the rub, wrap the meat in Saran
Wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The rub does not penetrate the meat
during refrigeration, at least not deeply, but
it does form a moist layer of seasoning that adheres well during cooking.
You can also
apply a bit more rub before putting the meat in the cooker.
Another method, described in
the Pork Butt - Slathered With Mustard & Rub
article, is to apply a thin coat of mustard to the pork butt, followed by
a generous sprinkling
of rub, then either cook immediately or wrap and refrigerate overnight.
The mustard helps the rub stick to the meat, and oddly enough, the meat
does not taste like mustard after cooking.
The Pork Butt - Slathered With Mustard & Rub
and Pork Butt - The Renowned Mr. Brown articles
contain popular rub recipes for pork butt. You'll also find more dry rub recipes
and information on injecting flavorful liquids into pork butt on
The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board.
Temperature Of
Pork Butt
Before Cooking
There are two schools of thought on this point.
One school holds that you should allow a pork butt to sit at room
temperature for up to two hours before cooking. This helps to minimize
the difference in temperature between the meat and the cooker.
Why is this important? Some barbecue
experts say that cold meat can be fouled by creosote that results from a
poorly managed fire, especially in wood-burning cookers. The result is
bitter tasting meat. This isn't much of a concern in the WSM as long as the top
vent is fully open at all times. And of course, the WSM is
charcoal-fired, not wood-fired. Others say that a pork butt at room
temperature takes less time and fuel to cook than a cold one, but I'm not sure this is much of an issue, either.
The other school of
thought believes that it's best to take meat straight
from the refrigerator and put it into the cooker. Their theory is that the smoke
ring, that pinkish/purple color that forms beneath the surface of
the meat, is formed only while the meat is below 140°F. By starting
with a cold piece of meat, it spends more time below 140°F in the
cooker, resulting in a stronger smoke ring.
I've cooked pork butts both
ways, and I'm not sure I can tell a difference either way. Lately, my
habit has been to take the pork butt from the refrigerator and place it
directly in the cooker. I've not gotten out a measuring tape to see what
affect, if any, this has on the formation of the smoke ring, nor have I
noticed any bitter flavor to the meat.
Frankly, I think meat
temperature is more of an issue with grilled meats that cook quickly over
high heat than it is for large cuts like pork butt that barbecue for
8-16 hours or more.
Converting Collagen
To
Gelatin Is Key To Tender Pork Butt
In his book
On Food And Cooking, author Harold McGee says that meat is composed of
three tissue types: muscle fiber, connective tissue, and fat. Connective
tissue consists of the proteins collagen, elastin, and reticulin. Collectively, these proteins bind the muscle fibers together and help
connect muscles to bone--McGee calls it "the physical harness of the
muscles."
Pork butt has an abundance
of connective tissue, as do most muscles that work very hard. It's this
connective tissue that makes pork butt such a tough cut of meat. The good
news is that muscles that work hard tend to be more flavorful than those
that don't work hard.
According to McGee,
connective tissues made of elastin and reticulin don't break down during
cooking, but collagen turns into soft gelatin. It is this conversion from
collagen to gelatin that renders the tough old pork butt into the tender
barbecue we enjoy so much.
Internal Meat Temperatures
In the book
How To Cook Meat, authors Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby say
that tough cuts of meat must be "cooked through doneness to
tenderness." In other words, you don't stop cooking a pork butt when it
reaches the internal temperature we associate with tender cuts like pork
loin or pork tenderloin. A pork butt is not edible
if cooked to 140°F or even 170°F.
In order to be tender, a
pork butt must be cooked to an
internal temperature of 180-205°. The reason for this, according
to McGee, is that the
conversion of collagen to gelatin doesn't even begin until meat reaches an
internal temperature of 140°F, and is most efficient as internal temps
approach 212°F. "Low and slow" barbecuing at
225-250°F is ideal to facilitate this conversion, providing
gentle heat over many hours, allowing the collagen to make its transition
into gelatin. While some moisture will be driven out of the pork butt as
it reaches these high internal temps, the gelatin makes up for it and
keeps the meat moist.
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For sliced pork, cook to 180-185°.
- For pulled pork, cook to 190-205°.
Where To Measure Internal
Temperature
A pork butt consists of
a number of individual muscles that converge at the shoulder, and there is
a lot of fat and connective tissue between these muscles. As a result, you
will get different temperature readings between different muscles and
between meat and fat or connective tissue.
I feel the best way to
measure internal temperature is to check in several locations and
average the results. For example, if you're shooting for 195°F and
you get readings of 193°F, 195°F, 198°F, and 201°F in different
locations, you've achieved your goal of 195°F. If you prefer to
measure in just a single location, then measure in the thickest part
of the meat.
Temperature Plateau
It's common for a pork butt to reach a temperature plateau
of 155-170°F during cooking--a
point at which the internal temperature stops rising and stalls, sometimes
for several hours. It's thought that this has something to do with the
amount of moisture in the meat and the conversion of collagen to gelatin
discussed above.
Do not despair, because this
is when the meat is starting to "cook through doneness to
tenderness." With
some patience and a 225-250°F cooker temperature, the pork butt will
eventually move beyond the plateau and the meat temperature shall rise
again.
If you're cooking a very
large pork butt and running short on time (or patience), you can kick the
cooker up to 275°F without doing any harm. Or, if the pork butt has reached
160-175°F, you can wrap it in foil and finish it in the cooker or in
the oven, like in Pork Butt - Quick Cooked.
Cooking
Times
How long will it take to
cook pork butt to 180-205°F? As a rough estimate, figure 1-1/2 to 2 hours per
pound based on the trimmed weight of an individual roast. For example,
when cooking two roasts weighing 8 pounds each after trimming, the total
cooking time for both roasts should be 12-16 hours.
Remember, this is only an
estimate--it may take more or less time, depending on the thickness of the
pork butt, the amount of connective tissue that needs to be converted to
gelatin, the temperature of the cooker, weather conditions, and the number
of times you open the cooker for turning and basting.
While it may not take much
more time to cook multiple pork butts that it does to cook just one, it
will require more fuel. Make sure to use more charcoal in the cooker when
barbecuing multiple pork butts.
Cook
Fat-Side Up Or Fat-Side Down?
If you choose to cook a
whole pork butt with the fat cap intact, should you cook it fat-side up or
fat-side down? Some people believe that cooking fat-side up helps "baste"
the meat during cooking, while others believe this is nonsense--that pork
butt is laced with so much intramuscular fat that it doesn't matter
whether the pork butt is cooked fat-side up, down, or sideways.
You'll have to decide this
for yourself, since I recommend that you trim off much of the external fat
as described earlier in this article.
Turning
& Basting
Turning meat over and
end-for-end several times during barbecuing helps to promote even cooking. Basting helps keep the meat
moist and adds a little flavor to the surface of the meat. Turning and
basting is not as important with pork butt as with other cuts of meat, so
you can decide for yourself whether you want to go to the effort.
Using 1-1/2 to 2 hours per pound as a guideline, calculate how long it will
take to cook the pork butt. For example, two 8-pound pork butts will take
12-16 hours to cook, so take the shorter time of 12 hours and divide it in half.
The
first time to turn and baste the meat is at this halfway point: 6 hours. If you
baste sooner than the halfway point, the rub won't have a chance to set up
on the surface of the meat and you'll end up washing away much of it.
Baste one side
of the pork butt, then turn it over and end-for-end and baste the other
side. You can baste with any flavorful liquid you like. It might be apple
juice applied with a spray bottle, or a complex concoction applied with a
cotton mop. You'll find lots of ideas in the Recipe Forums on
The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board.
The Pork Butt - The Renowned Mr. Brown article
features a recipe for a cider vinegar baste.
Now, divide the remaining
cooking
time in half. In our example, the next time to turn and
baste the meat will be in 3 hours. Repeat this process until about the
last hour of cooking, then stop turning and basting.
Remember, every time the
cooker is opened, it loses temperature, so be quick and efficient when
turning and basting.
Foiling & Resting
After Cooking
As with any large roast, it's important to let
pork butt rest for at least
30 minutes before slicing or pulling so the juices inside the meat have a chance to
redistribute. You can read more about the science behind
this in Letting Meat Rest After Cooking.
At a minimum, place the
pork butt on a rimmed baking pan, cover loosely with foil, and let rest 30
minutes before slicing or pulling.
For even better results,
wrap the pork butt tightly with aluminum foil, place in an empty ice
chest, and hold until ready to serve. The meat will continue to cook for a
little while because of carry-over heat, making the meat even more tender.
More importantly, the extended rest results in moister meat, and the
collected juices inside the foil will soften any tough crust on the
exterior of the meat. The meat will remain safely above 140°F for 2-4
hours. See Holding, Storing & Reheating Barbecued Meats
for more details.
Slicing, Pulling & Chopping Pork Butt
Here's how to slice,
pull, and chop pork butt for serving on a plate or in a sandwich:
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Slicing Pork Butt
After
cooking the pork butt to 180-185°F and letting it rest for at least
30 minutes, remove the bone (if any) and slice the meat across the
grain. The grain can be difficult to determine, since the pork butt
consists of a number of muscles that converge at the
shoulder from different directions. Just do your best to find a
direction that yields attractive slices cut across the grain. If you
don't like what you see after a few slices, turn the roast a
different direction and try again.
Sliced
pork butt is usually served on a plate, not in a sandwich.
I'm
not a big fan of sliced pork butt, so I don't have any photos to
share with you. I prefer pulled pork as described below.
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Pulling Pork Butt
When pulling hot pork
butt, protect your hands by wearing heat-resistant gloves or
disposable latex gloves over cotton work gloves.
After cooking the
pork butt to 195-205°F and letting it rest for at least 30 minutes,
remove the bone (if any) and pull the meat into thumb-sized pieces or
smaller, as shown in these two pictures.
The two most common
ways of pulling pork are by hand or with large serving forks.
To pull the meat by
hand, separate the roast into chunks along the natural seams between
muscles. Remove any areas of fat or connective tissue by hand or by
scraping with a knife, then tear the chunks into small pieces.
To pull the meat
using serving forks, just plunge two forks into the meat side-by-side
and pull the meat apart. Use the forks to break large pieces down
into small, bite-sized ones. Remove any areas of fat or connective
tissue by hand.
Many people enhance
the flavor of pulled pork by mixing in leftover rub, or
by mixing in a thin, vinegar-based (or even a tomato-based) sauce.
Pulled pork butt can
be served on a plate or in a sandwich. It's common for a pulled pork
sandwich to be served on a bun with a drizzling of vinegar-based
sauce and a scoop of cole slaw. |
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Chopping Pork Butt
Chopped pork butt is
prepared from pulled pork by chopping it finely on a large cutting
board with meat cleavers (if you have them) or with a chef's knife.
Chop the meat as finely as you like, then flavor with rub or sauce as
with pulled pork.
Chopped pork butt is
usually served in a sandwich, topped with barbecue sauce and a scoop
of cole slaw.
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More
Unsightly Bits And
Pieces
As you pull pork, you will
undoubtedly find large pockets of fat, connective tissue, large veins, and
other unsavory bits and pieces. Just remove these things by hand or by
scraping or cutting them away with a sharp knife.
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"Mr.
Brown" Or "Bark"
The terms "Mr. Brown"
or "bark" describe the dark brown outside meat of barbecued pork butt that is so flavorful.
Make sure that each of your guests gets some of this meat in their serving
of pulled pork.
Pork
Butt Yield
When you take into account
trimming the fat before cooking, the shrinkage that occurs during cooking,
and some waste when pulling the meat, you'll end up with a 40-60% yield of edible meat from an untrimmed
pork butt. For example, an 8-pound untrimmed pork butt will yield 3-5 pounds of edible meat.
If you're cooking pork butt
for a group, figure 4-6 ounces of meat per sandwich. Assuming a 50% yield, an
8-pound untrimmed pork butt will yield 16 4-ounce sandwiches or almost 11
6-ounce sandwiches.
Leftovers
There's a good chance you'll end up with lots of leftover
pork butt. See
Holding, Storing & Reheating Barbecued Meats for tips on how to
freeze and reheat the leftovers.
Back to Cooking Topics |
