Smoked Pork Butt!

I have had a desire to try smoking some pork shoulder or pork butt for some time now, so last weekend I got up the gumption to smoke some butt! I bought a 5 pound pork butt for $4.99 (How’s that for a cheap dinner?), and I used a recipe from Peace, Love and Barbecue by Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe. This recipe made over 10 very tasty sandwiches. It was an easy recipe to fix, though it took a long time to smoke (typically 4-5 hours, mine went longer though for reasons outlined below).

Mike has some very good advice for smoking pork butt. “Don’t plan on doing anything else during that (smoking) time. You’re going to need to babysit the meat. Fix yourself a cooler with an ample supply of beer, get something to read or someone to talk to”. I showed this to my wife, Linda, and announced that I was planning to follow this recipe to the letter (this on the nicest Saturday we have had here in Eastern Iowa). Needless to say, this did NOT fly! She quickly pointed out that I could keep a fine eye on the smoking process from the garden, which is actually closer to the smoker than the deck, while I was preparing flower beds. She did let me drink the beer though.

Here’s how it went:

Thursday Night Brine

· Fill a 1 gallon plastic freezer bag half full of water.
· Add ½ cup of Kosher Salt
· Mix until the salt is dissolved
· Place the Pork Butt in the bag and refrigerate over night

Friday Night Rub

· Remove the Pork But from the brine bag, rinse and pat dry
· Tenderize the meat by puncturing it with a fork, all the while screaming in a high voice “SCREE! SCREE! SCREE! SCREE! SCREE! SCREE!” You can even turn on the kitchen faucet to simulate that shower sound.
· Season the Pork Butt liberally with your favorite rub or dust. I used Saucy Joe’s Ultimate Rub.
· Tenderize again. You probably won’t get away with the sound effects a second time. I didn’t.
· Refrigerate over night.

Saturday Morning Smoker Prep

· Soak apple wood chips for two hours. Apple is THE wood for pork!
· Fire up the smoker and get to a constant temperature of 225-250°F. NOTE: I set the smoker at 200°F, and that was too low for a reasonable cooking time. The meat never got above 150°F. I had to finally raise the temperature to get the meat to reach a ‘done’ temperature after over 8 hours.

Saturday Smoking Start

· Remove the Pork Butt from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
· Place the Pork Butt in the smoker, fat side up. This allows the fat to render and soak the rub spice flavor down into the meat.

Mopping Sauce Ingredients

1 qt apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Mopping Sauce Prep

· Place ingredients in a large saucepan
· Heat to a boil, stirring constantly
· Thoroughly dissolve all ingredients

Saturday Smoking

· Smoke for 1 hour, then mop the meat
· Mop every 30-35 minutes. NOTE: Mop once an hour if you are using a water smoker. I did this and added apple wood chips at the same time.
· At the 4 hour mark, insert a meat thermometer into the center of the meat, not near the bone.
· Continue to cook until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165-170°F for sliced pork or 185°F for pulled pork. I went for 185°F and the meat was ready to fall apart.
· 20 minutes before the meat is ready to come out of the smoker, mop the Pork Butt with your favorite barbecue sauce.

Serving Smoked Pork Butt

· Slice or pull the meat apart, removing any chunks of fat as you go.
· Shred the meat by hand using two forks, or chop it with a cleaver.
· Eat the meat alone, or pile it on a bun. Add more barbecue sauce, sprinkle some more rub, add a dollop of coleslaw and squash that top bun down.
· Hold on tight for a true smoked treat!

Smoked Pork Butt Sammiches!