Achieving a perfect pork butt recipe partly depends on the quality of the raw product. If you will make a smoked pork butt recipe, the first thing to consider is to select a fresh product and not the frozen one.
It can be challenging when buying a perfect butt, but the ideal should be the one that has large money muscle on the front. It is located at the end of the round bone. When cooked properly, it’s tender enough that can be sliced with just a sharp knife.
You can also choose a pork butt having a big horn muscle. It is equally tender as the money muscle not to mention the savory flavor it has.
If you want to try a smoked pork butt, you can consider this recipe.
How to Smoke a Pork Butt
For the marinade you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 cup corn oil
- 2 cups cider vinegar
- ¼ cup rock salt
- 1 can pineapple juice
- 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/8 cup paprika
- 1/8 cup white pepper
For the rub:
- ½ cup non-iodized salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup paprika
- 1/3 cup black pepper
- 1 tbsp. each of the following; onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, hickory salt, celery salt, ground cumin, ground sage
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
For the glue:
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
Direction of Smoking:
After preparing the marinade, rub and the glue, you can start injecting the pork butt with a little amount of marinade in different parts of the butt.
Place the pork butt in a resealable plastic bag and let it set for 8 hours inside the refrigerator.
To keep the rub stick, you can apply a coat of glue and sprinkle the rub generously into the meat.
Prepare your smoker and set the temperature to 250°F and add the hickory and apple wood chips into the charcoal.
Place the pork inside the smoker. Make sure not to over smoke the pork. After a couple of hours, you can apply the baste and place again the pork into the smoker and smoke for one more hour. Repeat the basting for 3 times.
After which, you can remove the pork out of the smoker and wrap it with aluminum foil and return it again to the smoker.
You can remove the pork from the smoker once it reached 200°F and let it stand for 20 minutes before pulling.
Read: How to Smoke a Pork Butt in an Electric Smoker
How to Smoke a Pork Butt Roast
Image source Cayobo
After finding the perfect pork butt, the next thing to do is to make a rub that you can apply or coat into the butt. Sprinkle the rub onto the meat and gently massage it so that the flavor of the rub will stick to the meat.
Obviously, each individual has its own smoking technique. If you will smoke pork butts, you must know the right temperature.
You should also know the proper tenderization process. Wrapping the butt in an aluminum foil to retain the moisture. Before wrapping, you can apply the baste and the dry rub. Wrap it tight and put the butt back on the smoker.
When checking if the meat is done, you should not open the door of the smoker constantly. Instead, you can use a digital thermometer. Likewise, you won’t be able to achieve the right tenderness of the butt if you’ll keep on opening the smoker.
Aside from the temperature, the appearance of the smoked pork butt is also important. To obtain a mahogany look of the butt, you can apply a final glaze. Unwrap the foil after removing the butt from the holding cooler and apply the glaze.
You can use a barbecue sauce that is sweet and spicy or whatever sauce you may like. You can also mix the juice drippings on the pan to give an extra zest of flavor.
After applying the glaze, place the butt back to the smoker for an hour at 245 degrees to caramelize the bark.
Smoked Pork Butt Temperature
Many BBQ enthusiasts say that by simple looking at the smoked pork, they can tell if it’s done. But, this is not true all the time, but rather may lead to disappointment.
Using a digital meat thermometer will save you from the struggle, thus maintain the required temperature when smoking a pork butt.
When smoking a pork butt, the required temperature of the smoker is 240°F. The ideal time to smoke is about 1.5 hours per pound and the finished temperature should be 200°F.
It is necessary to use a digital meat temperature to avoid opening the door of the smoker. The thermometer will help you monitor the internal temperature throughout the cooking process.
Some smokers come with digital meat thermometer that stop automatically once the desired meat temperature is reached and switch to warming mode.
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