The Texas BBQ Forum

I cooked a pork butt this weekend and I bought the wrong cut of Pork. Every video I have seen had a bone in it and had a fat cap. The butchered mess that I bought had no bone in it, nothing resembling a fat cap, was made up of 2 pieces of meat that looked like it had been hacked to death by a machete, and the 2 pieces were totally different sizes. I had to use skewers just to get it to resemble a loaf shape for cooking.

So, what am I looking for when I buy a Pork Butt? I am wanting to make pulled pork. Is there something on the label that I need to look for? Should I avoid buying the packs at Costco/Sam's?

Thanks for the help.

I have bought the packs at SAMs without an issue. I generally find them two to a pack, bone in, with a total weight of 15-18 pounds. I would simply check to see if it is a bone in butt.

Good luck with it.

Yeah, you can almost forget trimming the cap if the bone's out...lol. I'd rather get a kick in the face with a golf shoe.

As was said, bone-in's a must, and depending on the sanctioning org I opt for a good-sized money muscle as well. Look for some good marbling. If it looks lean as a pork loin, it probably won't end up moist and succulent like you'll want for pulled.

You want a bone in pork shoulder. It sounds like you bought a boneless one. It's a tough bone to get out, so it gets pretty messed up when they try to do so. You could have tied it into a roast and done it that way. Just look for "Pork Shoulder" or "Boston Butt". You should be able to see or feel the bone on the side of the meat.

I didn't even think of trussing it like a loin. That probably would have worked better.

Thanks for the replies!

Girevik wrote:I cooked a pork butt this weekend and I bought the wrong cut of Pork. Every video I have seen had a bone in it and had a fat cap. The butchered mess that I bought had no bone in it, nothing resembling a fat cap, was made up of 2 pieces of meat that looked like it had been hacked to death by a machete, and the 2 pieces were totally different sizes

not sure about your question, you first want to buy a "boston butt roast" that is what we call a pork butt... secondly make sure the expiration date is still valid. A butt roast is the upper part of the front shoulder and should weigh about 7 to 9 lbs some are larger depending on the hog. Not sure what you bought. I use the bone in a pork butt as a doneness indicator, when the bone wiggles and pulls out freely and clean its ready to cool and serve

Almost sounds like you bought a deboned picnic ham.

Boston butt has a fairly complicated shoulder bone in there.

A picnic has a round bone and is from a little further down the pig's front leg. Hams come from the back leg.

I did smoke a picnic once. Though I was scared of it, it came put really well and when it was done, the arm bone pulled right out like magic.

How did the OP's pig come out anyway?

I smoked the butt on my new UDS. It came out really good. The smaller piece cooked faster than the larger one and wasn't as moist, but it was still really good. The larger piece was wrapped up in foil, followed by a towel (not sure where I saw someone do that) and put in a cooler. We ate the smaller piece about an hour after it came off the UDS. We got full and took a long nap after and I totally forgot about the bigger piece in the cooler. When we took it out many hours later it was still warm and it was some of the best pulled pork I have ever had.