Pork Butts for the Whole Squad
Touchdown Dance Worthy Pulled Pork
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Pulled Pork - the cheat code to BBQ
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3 Butts is Enough
It's hard enough to plan a Super Bowl party or host any gathering without having to worry about great food. But, imagine feeding a mountain of homemade BBQ without breaking a sweat. Better yet, imagine doing it (1) blindfolded, and (2) your hands tied behind your back!
This recipe is that easy, I promise.
I had the opportunity to cook for nearly 20 people this past weekend on a cabin getaway & I decided to take the easy route by providing "fresh" BBQ cooked in advance.
If you don't know: pork butt is the training wheels of pitmaster-y.
That's not to say folks shouldn't be proud of their pulled pork recipes! Just understand that the pork butt is the most tolerant piece of meat you can smoke.
You can cook it at 200° F
You can cook it at 300° F.
You can forget to wrap it.
You can smoke it without a water pan.
You can smoke it with fairly dirty smoke.
You can do everything short of set it on fire--just be patient and it will do the work for you.
So naturally, I grabbed some mesquite wood, 3 pork butts, & smoked those butts on a Wednesday night util it was time to wrap.
Typically I'd finish them in the oven after wrapping, but since they weren't going to be eaten for a few days, I froze them.
Cut to the weekend--the only step remaining was to finish the par-smoked pork butts in the oven for a few hours until ~200° F internal.
The Recipe
Serves 20
3 ~8lb Pork Butts
Salt
BBQ Rub
Smoking Wood (Mesquite)
BBQ Rub
2-3 parts Paprika
2 parts Brown Sugar
2 parts Chili Powder
1 part Ground Black Pepper
0.5 parts Cayenne
0.5 parts Cumin
0.5 parts Mustard Powder
* Note #1:
This is sort of what I start with whenever I'm making a generic BBQ Rub. Feel free to add literally whatever you want into it. Everything is "to-taste". Make it your own.
* Note #2:
It does not contain salt. Seasonings are not capable of penetrating into the meat--I have found it best to apply the desired amount of salt (and ideally plenty of time for it to penetrate) before applying other flavors.
Optional: Score the fat-cap(s) in a hatch pattern
Thoroughly salt all 6 sides of the pork butts (you almost can't over-do this, they are large pieces of meat & can comfortably handle a generous amount)
Allow at least 15 minutes for salt to penetrate
Apply BBQ rub thoroughly to all 6 sides of the pork butts
Bring smoker up to ~250° F (Maintain cooking temp. between 200° F~300° F)
Smoke pork butts for ~5 hrs until ~150-160° F internal
Remove pork butts from smoker
Wrap each pork butt 2x tightly in aluminum foil
Optional: Store in refrigerator / freezer to finish cooking later
Place wrapped pork butts in oven at ~300° F
Cook pork butts until ~200° F internal
Let rest 15 minutes
Pull & serve
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