PORK BUTT ( great for first cook)

[Turtle]

Just a simple cook here. Surprised no one has put it in this section yet. This an easy cook that has lots of room for error.

Ingredients:

Pork Butt

Kitchen Twine

Dry Rub

Prepare Dry Rub

Pick your own spices! Use Porkchops very own Dry Rub 101 instructions (I like lots of garam masala and use brown sugar. But that is the cool thing about Porkchops recipe, you use what you like )

Link to Porkchops Dry Rub 101--------->http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=119

Pick out a pack of pork butts…

If they are boneless I like to tie them up to keep their shape.

Smother with your rub. (Smother less if you like less salt.)

Put on grill at 225 degrees, indirect heat.

Wait about 16 hours until the meat hits 185, some say 195, some say 200. Pork is safe to eat after it hits about 140 so the higher temps is just to soften it up. My experience is that past 195 it starts to be less moist.

Use scientific instrument to determine suitability of consumption.

Start diet in the morning!

[Sanny]

Wow, those are some heavy butts!! But extremely photogenic.

[Curly]

Dang man...that's a large Turtle, no?

[Firemonkey]

Whoa!

I have met Turtle, and unless he sent an agent to do his bidding (a pseudo-turtle?) or he ate most of the charcoal he picked up, that scale is way off!

Turtle, are you holding two (maybe 3) bags of charcoal in your arms while weighing in?!

[Turtle]

Whoa!

I have met Turtle, and unless he sent an agent to do his bidding (a pseudo-turtle?) or he ate most of the charcoal he picked up, that scale is way off!

Turtle, are you holding two (maybe 3) bags of charcoal in your arms while weighing in?!

That was true turtle read out, 283.5 lbs. 1/2 pound for the camera.

Being as tall as I am throws people off on a gestimate..folks never suspect... but it came in handy pushing my KK to the back yard!

[Sanny]

well, remember that turtles weigh their houses along with the turtle part. Makes a difference.

[Porkchop]

back last summer when i was weighing in at 300 lbs (5'9"), i had many tell me i didn't LOOK 300 lbs. thing is, i dont think most people KNOW what 300 lbs of person looks like...

besides, who wouldn't be happy about 300lbs of porkchops???

btw, nice butts turtle! next time, get a pic of the pull too! and what's "garam masala"?

[LeadDog]

"garam masala"?

It is a combination of spices used for Indian Food. Do I see a theme here today?

[Majestik]

MMMmmmmm....

Garam Masala

Originally From: The Book of Curries and Indian Foods by Linda Fraser

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks, crushed

2 teaspoons whole cloves

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

3 tablespoons cumin seeds

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

Put all spices in a heavy skillet and dry roast over medium heat 5-10 minutes, until browned, stirring constantly. Cool completely, then grind to a find powder in a coffee grinder or with a pestle and mortar. Store in an airtight container up to two months.

[Porkchop]

i'm defo giving that a try next time i do pork loin or tenderloin. sounds like lebanese type of flavor profile... thanks!

[ThreeDJ16]

"garam masala"?

It is a combination of spices used for Indian Food. Do I see a theme here today?

I am thinking the Taliban has invaded the forum?

-=Jasen=-

[Majestik]

"garam masala"?

It is a combination of spices used for Indian Food. Do I see a theme here today?

I am thinking the Taliban has invaded the forum?

-=Jasen=-

Then you need to brush up on your geography.

hehe

[Curly]

"garam masala"?

It is a combination of spices used for Indian Food. Do I see a theme here today?

I am thinking the Taliban has invaded the forum?

-=Jasen=-

Then you need to brush up on your geography.

hehe

Well, Pakistan was part of India back in the day...there's a few of them Taliban types that migrated from Aphganistan to Pakistan...maybe that's what he meant

[Majestik]

Well' date=' Pakistan was part of India back in the day...there's a few of them Taliban types that migrated from Aphganistan to Pakistan...maybe that's what he meant [/quote']

MMMMMMMmmmmaybe....

Does forced migration count? Aight, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Hehehe.

[Syzygies]

Here's another rub, more austere but plays well with other foods:

12-24 assorted dried Mexican chiles

2-3 TB smoked Spanish paprika

sea salt, 1% of weight of pork butt

2/3rds as much black pepper

Pan-roast and seed chiles, grind with remaining ingredients, slather bone-in pork butt with rub and olive oil till it all sticks, leave 24 hours in fridge (e.g. in a Cambro food storage container) before cook.

Cook indirect 21-22 hours at 210-225 F using apple and hickory smoke, e.g. in 9pm, out 7pm the next evening. By morning the internal temperature will be nearly in the 170-180 F range, raising all sorts of fears that the meat will be burnt shoe leather by dinner time. It won't! Your goal is to slow the fire to 200 F, to keep the pork butt in this 170-180 F range as long as possible, melting the fat and collagens and tenderizing the butt. One is more or less "boiling off" the collagens and fat; there are amazing temperature plots on the web showing that the internal temperature will appear stuck, even falling, as the butt dwells in this range. Understanding this is the key to pork butt. Not rocket science, and it works pretty well even by accident, making this a quite forgiving cook.

The butt should break out of this range, drifting up toward 190 F as serving time approaches; don't go higher, 185 F is fine. One can coax this along by bringing the fire back up to 225 F. The "authentic" norm for pork butt, achieved at an internal temperature near 200 F, is a way too stringy standard; the butt can be served anytime after it busts out of the 170-180 F range, if it stayed in this range for as long as possible. Now foil and towel in a cooler used as a "warmer", till serving time. Attempts to carve will be futile; it should just fall apart from slight pressure with a spoon.

Great with tortillas made from fresh masa, if you live somewhere with decent Mexican markets. Last night, we also served guacamole, garden tomatoes, and pot beans.

"Dry" is a function of maximum internal temperature, more than cooking time. A monunental single piece, bone-in, will dry less than boneless pieces. One also wants to be sure to have melted most of the fat; a long cooking time in the 170-180 F range serves this goal.

[johnnyboy]

Syzy, just tell me how much sea salt for an 8lb butt bone in? I'll take it from there.

Otherwise I'm going to have to ask how much is 1% of 8 lbs, and I don't want to do that. Cause then I'll have to ask how many oz. per table spoon, something like that.

[Firemonkey]

There are 16 ounces in a pound, so 8*16=128 ounces. 1% is 1.28 ounces

A tablespoon is .5 fluid ounces.

But its not that simple, because a fluid ounce != one ounce of weight - weight depends upon density, while a tablespoon is a volume measurement. To cook like a mathematician, without actually being one and computing your densities, you need a scale

[Syzygies]

Syzy' date=' just tell me how much sea salt for an 8lb butt bone in? [/quote']

Short answer: A tablespoon of fine sea salt is roughly 1% of 4 lbs. So I'd use 2 tablespoons salt.

However, salt varies in density, and it's the weight that matters. This is why professional cooks often standardize on kosher salt; they get used to measuring it pinch by pinch, by feel. This is also why most of the world cooks by weight, not volume, and uses the metric system. I've switched over for cooking. A digital scale is very handy in the kitchen.

For this application, it really doesn't matter so much! Most importantly, take careful notes, and tweak your methods so they come out as you like.

For a liquid brine, the salt reaches equilibrium, and I like 2.5% salt by water weight, which is a light ham. For ribs, I like to apply a rub very much like the above (or just salt and pepper) several days in advance, making a ribs that lean in the direction of a dry-cured ham. There's a greater proportion of bone, and my magic number is 0.8% salt by total weight of the ribs; 1% comes out too salty.

For pork butt, a day in the fridge and a day in the cooker isn't enough time for the salt to reach equilibrium, though things happen faster as the pork heats up, and people expect a stronger flavor near the bark. So, unlike ham or even ribs, I'd take my 1% recommendation with a grain of salt. Just measure somehow, and take notes, so you can dial in what you like.

[johnnyboy]

Thanks Syzy! I think I'll stick with 2 tablespoons!!

I just have say though; after reading and applying all your calculations I could only come up with 1.99999999999999999 tablespoons.

To figure the difference in weight between that and 2 tablespoons; I think I'll just stick with what you said.

[dub]

Two TBs is about the amount of kosher salt I'd use on a 8lb butt. Also about 3TBs of brown sugar, 2 TBs of black and or red pepper,2 to 3 TBs of garlic powder and whatever additional spices I feel the need for. Makes about a 3/4 cup 'batch'. FWIW, garam masala is a perfectly wonderful 'additional spices' addition. I use it as a shortcut when I'm too lazy to mix up my own 'Secret Blend' (or 'SB' or, more likely 'BS')

dub(cuz 'BS' is an essential ingredient in Q!)