What’s the best way to cook a pork butt?
So many possibilities...
Not in the slow cooker. At least, that’s the opinion I formed after cooking a pork butt in my slow cooker over the weekend.
Pork butts are on sale at Food Lion right now (sale ends today!). We purchased a 6.9-lb. cut on Saturday for $12 and some change, which is a really good deal. But how to cook it? Alas, we do not own a smoker, which I am betting a lot of you are going to recommend for pork butts. I’ve watched enough Food Network shows to know how awesome a pork butt can be after hours in the smoker.
But pork butts should not just be for professional barbecue makers. And they don’t always have to be barbecued, either.
Because we weren’t going to be home all day to keep an eye on the meat in the oven, I decided to try it in the slow cooker. I rubbed it with some Penzey’s BBQ 3000 (awesome stuff) and placed it in the cooker with the fat cap on top. I added about 1/2 cup of water, but that probably wasn’t necessary since this cut produces so much juice and grease.
That was the problem, in my opinion – the grease. After about 12 hours in the cooker, the meat was deliciously tender and falling off the bone, but the entire hunk of pork was sitting in a lot of grease. It was gross. I drained it off, of course, then shredded the pork and put it back in the cooker with some barbecue sauce. It was good, but I’m not closing the book on pork butts.
Update: I have attached an oven recipe for braised pork butt with salsa to the end of this entry. End update.
The next time, I believe, I will place the meat, fat side up, on a rack in a roasting pan, cover it with aluminum foil and cook it low and slow in the oven. That way, all of the grease will drip off of the meat, basting as it goes, but it will end up in the pan underneath the pork instead of having the pork sitting in the grease.
Some friends of mine also bought a pork butt at Food Lion this weekend and used a recipe to make Korean lettuce wraps. This called for marinating the pork overnight, then slow-roasting it in the oven before shredding it and serving it in lettuce wraps with kimchee and other sauces. Here is that recipe from the New York Times.
I’m interested to hear from you all about how you’ve cooked pork butts in the past and how they turned out. Feel free to talk about smoking pork butts – just because I don’t have a smoker now doesn’t mean I’m not in the market for one!
Braised Pork with Salsa
Serves 8
Although this is technically a slow cooker recipe, my colleague prefers to make it using the oven method.
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt
1 1/2 cups prepared tomatillo salsa
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin
3 plum tomatoes (1/2 pound), thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1. Trim and discard pork surface fat. Cut meat apart following layers of fat around muscles; trim and discard fat. Cut into 2-inch chunks and rinse with cold water. Place in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Turn heat to high.
2. Combine salsa, broth, onion and cumin seeds in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Pour over the meat. Add tomatoes and mix gently. Put the lid on and cook until the meat is pull-apart tender, 6 to 7 hours.
3. With a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a large bowl; cover and keep warm. Pour the sauce and vegetables into a large skillet; skim fat. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil, skimming froth from time to time, for about 20 minutes, to intensify flavors and thicken slightly. Add the pork and 1/4 cup cilantro; heat through.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.
Oven method: Total: 3 hours Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine pork, salsa, 1/2 cup chicken broth, onion, cumin seeds and tomatoes in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; cover snugly with foil. Bake until the pork is pull-apart tender, about 2 1/4 hours. Skim fat. Uncover and bake until the meat begins to brown, about 15 minutes more. Stir in 1/4 cup cilantro. Ladle into bowls, garnish with sour cream and remaining cilantro.
January 17, 2012 - 10:49 AM
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Last night I also cooked a pork butt in the slow cooker. I used Shirley Corriher’s recipe for oven (or slow cooker). The piece I purchased was about 4 pounds including bone. I trimmed as much fat from it as possible and cut the piece in two (for faster cooking in a slow cooker!). That sure sounds funny. Shirley recommends to pat brown sugar over top and as liquid use apple juice and Worcestershire sauce. I cooked on high 30 minutes and then cooked 8 hours on low which were her recs. I think I could have cut it to 7 or even 6 hours. I pulled the meat from liquid which we ate for dinner with a minimum amount of “broth” because of the heavy grease. The flavor was good (and not spicy). I refrigerated liquid and meat separately and skimmed the fat from the liquid (substantial) and poured the rest of it over the meat this morning. Next meal will have the meat and extra flavor of liquid and I think the flavor will be better the second time around. I rarely buy larger than 4 pounds. If the store has only larger sizes, I ask them to cut to size. They do. If I didn’t live in a condo, the smoker sounds wonderful. I do so I don’t have a chance for that style. The recipe will be in the 7-Day Menu Planner the week of March 18. And…it was $1.99 per pound.
I’ve had a lot of success with injecting them with marinade and inserting garlic cloves in them.. Then roasting them in the ronco rotisserie… They turn out perfect. SUPER juicy with crispy fat on the outside.
I think I’m going to have to go buy one or to butts now!
Susan and Maria, both of those methods sound good. I’d love to have a rotisserie! Susan, I’ll bet yours was better than mine because the apple juice and brown sugar surely made for a better broth.
I did note that a lot of juices could be separated from the fat. You could make something really tasty with the leftover broth, probably.
I’m a fan of the slow cooker, though I do a few things differently. First, I do a dry rub the night before. This rub varies every time, but always includes smoked salt, kosher salt, white pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper. I cut thick slabs of yellow onion to put in the bottom of the slow cooker. This raises the butt off the bottom of cooker, but also adds a little onion flavor. Lastly, I don’t add any BBQ sauce until after the meat is cooked and shredded. I’d recommend giving the slow cooker another shot. Good luck.
Great idea to let the pork sit with the dry rub overnight, Phil. The onions are a good trick, too.
Another colleague says she cooked a pork butt this weekend, too, using a recipe that calls for cutting the butt in chunks and carving off as much of the fat as possible, then roasting the chunks in the oven.
My favorite way to cook any large cut of fresh pork is roasting in the oven. Rub all over with salt, freshly ground black pepper, brown sugar and rubbed sage(and for extra flavor place several sprigs of fresh sage throughout). Roast low and slow 15 -20 minutes per pound. It’s delicious serverd warm or cold. The “broth” is excellent for fried eggs the next day. Heat any cooking to temp and drop a couple of tbsps of the broth just prior to breaking the eggs. Almost steams them. Even days later the roast makes an “out of this worls” cold sandwich!
I cook mine the microwave. It’s great, and only takes about 3 hours for 10 lbs. Put itin a microwave cooking bag add liquid smoke. Done deal
greg
I agree with Phil’s method. I do trim the fat a little before I apply the rub, knowing that the slow cooker is not going to render off as much fat as other forms of cooking. After it has sat overnight with the rub, I will lightly brown the outside in a skillet or Dutch oven before putting it in the slow cooker.
Does Greg really cook his in the microwave?? I would never think of doing that…
I agree with Phil. I LOVE my slow cooker and would definitely try again with this. His recipe / method sounds great.
Well, we don’t cook with pork since my wife has an allergy to it. Years ago when I did cook with it, we cooked Boston butt in the crock pot, then let it cook and hand shredded/separated the meat to make bbq from it.
We largely do the same thing now except instead of pork, I use a beef chuck roast…still in the crock pot. The results are almost identical, and very good.
The grease and fat is always the problem though, because they’re cheaper cuts with a lot of fat in them. As long as they cook sufficiently long (without drying out) to break down the connective tissues in the meat to make the cuts more tender, smoking, oven-roasting, crock pots…they should all work.
I’m buying a smoker this spring and I plan on trying it out with the roasts to see about making our own smoked bbq at home. I’m pretty sure it’ll turn out well.
That should say *let it cool*…handling any hot food product by hand is not something I encourage…
Has anybody ever tried to slow cook something like this on the grill? I’m not much of a grillmaster, but I would think it would be hard to keep some of the newer gas grills from becoming too hot even if you put it over indirect heat. Maybe a charcoal grill?
You are right , nothing beats an outdoor smoker. I use a Big Green Egg and the reults are amazing!!
I was going to recommend the onion trick, then saw Phil had already done it. I use that for any larger piece of meat in a slow cooker…works great with whole chickens as well.
I’ve also contrived a method with making strips out of foil, putting them down the side of the cooker, under the meat, and up the other side, then, with the lid on….pulling them tight. It lifts the roast right up off the bottom of the crockpot so it’s not wallowing in the nastiness the whole time.
Lindsey, yes…I would recommend charcoal or wood. I’ve tried smoking with my gas grill, and even just using 1 burner on low, the temps get a little too high for smoking/slow cooking. I’ve tried putting the meat on the side away from the burner, with the smoker box with wood chips over the burner being used, and had some ok results, but nothing like what I get with hardwood and a proper smoker, or even a good kettle grill.
BLOGGER FAIL – I hit enter before completing my comment.
Anywho, I used the juice from 1 orange and 1/4 cup of water for the liquid for the carnitas. The rub was oregano, Adobo seasoning, cumin, pepper, and salt. I let the butt cook for abour 6-7 hours. I remember there was grease, but not a whole lot.
I’ve slow cooked turkey breasts on a charcoal grill but can’t remember doing a pork butt. I’ve also done chicken and pork loin indirectly on gas and it’s worked fine.
I agree with folks who suggest a rub.
Every time my husband does his barbecue (always a butt) he cooks it on the grill. Low temp (like 2 of 5 burners on medium..keeping the grill temp to about 250) for a LONG time, maybe 7-8 hours. We tend to do this on vacations or long weekends because it does require some babysitting but it is totally worth it. The slow heat practically destroys that fat cap but keeps the meat juicy-not greasy.
Depending on the size of your crockpot, you can put a metal rack in the bottom from a broiling pan, or you can make one using vegetables to flavor the broth (carrots, parsnips, onions, peppers).
You can also twist some foil into long snakes and lay that down in the pot.
Any of those will raise the meat up off the bottom of the pot and out of the liquid somewhat.
Generally speaking, it’s not necessary to add liquid to a slow cooker. If you want extra broth, sure go ahead. The extra liquid will not prevent overcooking nor will it add moisture into the meat. It is very possible to overcook a hunk of meat in a potful of broth, and have the meat inside be dry and tough.
The slow cooker is the way to go, if you refuse to spend $99 on a smoker.
Just follow this procedure – cover the pork shoulder with a dry rub or a marinade the night before. Fashion a foil doughnut in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put the pork shoulder on top of the foil doughnut and cook on low for 8 hours.
Remove the shoulder, drain off the fat/juice from the slow cooker. Return the shoulder to the cooker, shred with forks for pulled pork barbecue. Add one cup of apple cider vinegar, one cup of apple juice, one heaping tablespoon of red pepper flakes, and whatever other secret ingredients you like. Ketchup, barbecue sauce, whatever. Leave the pulled pork in the slow cooker until you want to serve. End of story.
If you want the pork shoulder to be slice, etc., then don’t pull it apart, slice it. The dry rub or marinade flavor the pork before it is cooked, the sauce is for later. Only rookies put sauce on their pork shoulder before cooking it.
The more elemental, the better.
We smoke our pork butts using an electric smoker. My husband is the king of the smoker in our house (I just can’t seem to get the hang of it). He does as Phil does – puts the rub on overnight.
It goes in the smoker for 6-8 hours (depending on the size) using a mixture of cherry and hickory wood chips (2:1). Yum!
@Lori, I only got the second part of your post, I think…was there more than what I approved above?
I definitely don’t put sauce on a pork shoulder, country-style ribs, etc. before cooking. It is a waste of sauce.
I think it’s possible to let pulled pork BBQ get too soft in the slow cooker after shredding, too. Even if you shred it, sauce it and leave it on warm, it can eventually get very soft. But that’s all up to the individual’s taste.
Lindsey – ok, serious blogger fail on my part!! I thought I hit “enter” and submitted by post too soon!
What I was trying to say was that the only time I have ever done a pork butt was in the crock pot to make carnitas. I had the butcher @ Kroger cut one in half for me to make a 3.5 pound roast. I rubbed it with oregano, cumin, Adobo seasoning, salt and pepper and let it marinate overnight. When I put it in the crock pot, I added 1 onion (quartered), 4 smashed garlic cloves, the juice and pulp of 1 orange plus 1/4 cup water. I let it cook 6-7 hours.
Yum!
I love some good ole Boston Butt. I cook it several ways. Cast iron dutch oven, camp dutch oven and Crock Pot. For the Crock Pot I take about a 5 pound bone in Boston Butt with some fat trimmed off rubbed with mustard and Southern Succor Rub wrap it and let refrigerate overnight. Then I do something some might never have heard of I cook mine in about 12 ounces of root beer for 8 hours until tender. Drain all Rootbeer, shred, then put back in cooker with your favorite BBQ sauce (I use sweet baby rays Honey chipotle because it kinda offsets the sweetness but still has a bite to it)for about 30 minutes longer. good stuff I tell ya
I cooked my Pork Butt in a slow cooker for an entire day..it was falling apart..was delicious….I did trim the fat off after an hour and I did add NC style spicey BBQ Sauce. Since thge BBQ sauce is so spicy after the meat was done I drained it andsaved it in the fridge and let the fat harden…that seemed to take care of most of the fat and grease….was uber yummy!!!