Boston Butt - Need Advice

[liquid25]

I've read alot on the forum about making this and thought I would give it a try.

I just talked to my butcher and he said the smallest he has is 15lbs and it has the bone in. Am I setting myself up for failure on my first attempt?

Thanks guys!

[Fuzzybear]

I don't think so - it will just take longer to cook!  It's weird that your butcher will only sell you a 15lb roast - mine will give me anything from 3lbs up to 8lbs - my most recent was 7lbs bone in.

Fuzz

"A mans got to know his limitations"

[liquid25]

Thanks. I'll post the results.

[IKnowWood]

You also might consider cutting the bone out yourself to reduce the time.  

For somethign that big, even if you cut the mass down (which you might have to) to smaller parts to reduce time and make it fit in the smoker without touching the walls.

With Bone in, be prepared for a long time.  20 hours or more.

Even better, cut out a 8 lb or so and cook just that and save the rest for a few days from now.  Try starting it at night the day before you want it done.

[liquid25]

I appreciate the advice on cutting it down. I broke it in half. I'll do one Saturday and one on Sunday.

$1/lb is what I paid. Is this an average price? I was expecting to pay more.

Thanks again folks.

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Paying about $1.49 in CA.

Arcs_n_Sparks

[IKnowWood]

i paid $1.99 and seen posted $1.88 in another store here in Md.  So $1 is great price per Lb.

Did Butcher give you discount as he had such tight requirements for you?  maybe he had it for a week and wanted to off-load it.

ir maybe as it is so big, He just wanted it to go.

[liquid25]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by IKnowWood</i>
<br />i paid $1.99 and seen posted $1.88 in another store here in Md.  So $1 is great price per Lb.

Did Butcher give you discount as he had such tight requirements for you?  maybe he had it for a week and wanted to off-load it.

ir maybe as it is so big, He just wanted it to go.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Not sure, he offered me a few different butts all around 15 pounds. I told him I wanted the one with the best fat cap. I guess I'll find out in a week or two if this is his normal price.

The reason I was suprised by the price is because if you buy smoked pork around here it goes for about $8 per lb.

[bsolomon]

liquid 25,

I'm not sure about your logic of breaking it in half and then doing one on saturday, and one again on sunday.  I think in that case, the total cooking time for the two separate pieces will end up being longer than if you had just cooked it as one larger piece.  You will probably end up using more electricity, and you will definitely end up using twice as many bisquettes.  

My advice would be to just put in the whole 15 lbs as one piece.  Prefereably start in the evening, early enough to get the smoking time completed, the water changed, and the temperature setting settled before bedtime.  Then let the BS work while you sleep, and by mid-day or early afternoon (figure at least 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hr per lb.), you should be good to go.  FTC for a couple of hours, and pull just before you are ready to serve.

[liquid25]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bsolomon</i>
<br />liquid 25,

I'm not sure about your logic of breaking it in half and then doing one on saturday, and one again on sunday.  I think in that case, the total cooking time for the two separate pieces will end up being longer than if you had just cooked it as one larger piece.  You will probably end up using more electricity, and you will definitely end up using twice as many bisquettes.  

My advice would be to just put in the whole 15 lbs as one piece.  Prefereably start in the evening, early enough to get the smoking time completed, the water changed, and the temperature setting settled before bedtime.  Then let the BS work while you sleep, and by mid-day or early afternoon (figure at least 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hr per lb.), you should be good to go.  FTC for a couple of hours, and pull just before you are ready to serve.


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Thanks for the advice - I started smoking the whole 15 lbs a couple of hours ago. My logic for doing a half at a time was:

-Keep a good eye on it (even though I have a remote digital)
-I don't have a great setup for smoking. The best I can do is to set it a few feet in the garage and leave the door open. Didn't care to leave it like this all night. If I leave it outside it will likely get snowed on and the wind would kill it.
-I mentioned to people at work what I was up to. They love my jerky so I've set their expectations. I thought if I messed up the first batch maybe I could make corrections on the second one.

Anyway, you make a good point.

Right now I'm just praying that the temp goes up. I did a preheat for an hour and had it up to 260. At 5:30 the temp was 150 and now (7:30) it's only up to 180 - stuck for a while.

[justafeedboy]

I am a new bee and just followed nxsbills instructions,  I did two butts with the bones in  (17.5lb).  I followed instructions to a tee and the two butts took 23 hrs.  It made for an impressive first major smoke.  An electronic therm. made all the difference,  I used recipes from the book Smoke and Spice for Mr. Brown and made coleslaw and 3 sauces.  The key is getting to 187 degrees and ftc.  The wait is worth it[:D]

[Fuzzybear]

Supermarkets up here cost me almost $2 a pound.  Costco was $1.37 yesterday when I bought 2 7lb butts.

"A mans got to know his limitations"

[Oldman]

Now here in the Sunshine Errrr make that the Storm State (Florida) Boston Butts can easily go for $2.29 per pound with them going on "sale" for $1.89 per pound.

Olds

[tsquared]

$1.87/lb on sale here in Victoria.
T2

[liquid25]

I smoked this with the bone in. The meat has discoleration in some areas mostly around the bone. Is this normal?