First was injection. This is said to impart a lot of extra moisture and flavor deep inside the meat. I used a very simple and standard pork injection. In order to try and hit as many areas of the butt as possible while limiting the number of entry holes, I would use the same entry hole for 3 different injections. That is, instead of removing the needle entirely from the butt, I would pull it almost to the surface and then change directions and push it into the butt again. Do this every few inches on the butt to maximize coverage. If you decide to taste the injection, you will find that it is extremely salty. Don't be alarmed, once it is injected, it will propagate through the meat and it will taste fine once it is cooked.
Once injection is complete, put the pork butt in a large freezer bag and pour the remainder of the injection into the bag. Seal and let it sit overnight - this would be like a brining phase.
The next morning, take the butt out of the fridge a few hours before you want to start the smoke. You want the butt to slowly come up to room temperature prior to beginning the smoke. This difference can be 30F or more depending on the setting on your fridge and the ambient temperature. Starting out the smoke with room temperature meat means it doesn't need to smoke as long and reduces the chances for overcooking and dryness.
Remove the butt from the freezer bag and rinse off any excess brine/injection solution and pat dry with a paper towel. Once you have the butt out and dried off, we can begin the marinating process. First, slather a layer of mustard onto the butt. This time around I just used plain yellow mustard but you can mix and match with grainy or honey dijon or whatever you want. The mustard itself does not lend much flavor - its main purpose is to give the dry rub something to stick to. It also happens to make a nice crust on the meat when smoked.
I used a different dry rub from my pork rib mix. This time I removed all sugar from the rub in order to avoid any burning of the crust. After all, we want a dark mahogany color, not a coal black color. The dry rub recipe can be found here. Here is a shot of the dry rub mixture. You will notice that it has a far lighter color than my pork rub rib due to lack of brown sugar.
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| Pork butt dry rub |
Liberally sprinkle the dry rub over the entire butt, turning the flipping the butt as necessary to get the sides and underneath. Once the butt has the mustard and dry rub applied, let it sit on the counter until the internal temperature reaches room temp (about 70F).
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| Pork butt with dry rub applied |
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| Closeup of rubbed pork butt |
Once it comes up to room temperature, you are ready to smoke. I cooked my butt at 225F throughout the entire process. I decided to use cherry wood this time to impart a more subtle smoke flavor as well as to try something new. Make sure you have a probe thermometer inside your pork butt so you can track the temperature. Just try to insert it in such a way that you are equidistant from the edges and also avoid bones as they will throw off the reading.
Put your pork butt into the smoker and cook until the internal temperature reaches 160F. For me, this took about 4 hours. While it is smoking away, take the time to make your mop. I decided to incorporate some of the dry rub into the mop this time around in order to add more flavor. I found that my previous mop with the pork ribs really didn't make much of a difference flavor wise at all. The mop this time around was far better - when I smelled the final product, I could detect a pretty strong presence of the vinegar that I used in the mop. Click here for the recipe.
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| Pork dry rub mop |
You don't want to be mopping too often as this will make it tough to maintain a steady heat in your smoker. I don't apply mop for the first time until 2 hours into the cooking process and then every hour to hour and a half thereafter. Don't hold back on the mop - since we are not applying it too often, be sure to get a good amount of it on there.
Once the pork butt reaches 160F internal, it is time for the tenting phase. This is the period of time in which the meat is going to tenderize significantly. Remove the butt from the smoker and place on a bed of aluminum foil. Apply more mop liberally and finish off with a light dusting of the dry rub. Wrap the butt up tight in the aluminum foil and put it back into your smoker. At this point, the butt has absorbed all the smoke it is going to, so remove your chips from the smoker.
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| Pork butt ready for tenting |
This tenting will help keep moisture and heat close to the butt and will significantly speed up cooking time as well as juiciness of the meat. Keep the butt tented until internal temperature reaches 195. At this point, all of the fat and connective tissues will have rendered and distributed through the butt, making it tender and delicious. Remove the butt from the smoker and unwrap it from the foil. You will notice a golden liquid that has collected at the bottom of your foil packet. Be sure to save that! It makes an awesome au jus to serve alongside the butt. You could also whisk in a little more oil and vinegar and turn it into a salad dressing.
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| Foil is removed |
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| Foil is removed - same shot but with better light! |
Apply a finishing rub and/or finishing glaze if you wish. I slathered on some apple butter to mine in order to get that sweetness I was after. Once that is on, put it back into the smoker for 15-20 minutes. This is just long enough for the finishing rub and glaze to caramelize for a wonderful mahogany color. Any longer and you risk getting coal colored bark.
When you remove the butt from the smoker for the last time, you should have a dark brown/mahogany crust. You will also be able to smell all the spices and vinegars from the rubs and mop as they mingle with the porky smell to create a mouthwatering aroma. Unfortunately, you can't dig in quite yet. The butt needs to be tented again (just on the serving platter) for 15-20 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute and reabsorb inside the meat. If you were to cut into it or start pulling it now, all those juices would flow out onto your plate and be wasted. So have patience and tent it.
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| Butt under final tent |
Once the time is up, you can reveal your masterpiece to your eager diners. They are sure to be impressed. Check out the wonderful color of the crust as well as how moist and juicy the meat is when you cut into it. The slightest press on the butt will get the juices oozing out. I ate mine with a little more apple butter on the side (I like my pork on the sweet side).
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| Ready to serve - great color, great aroma |
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| Juices ooze out of the meat as it is cut |
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