Literally asking for a friend, who lives alone. What is the smallest boneless pork butt suitable for pulling? If there is an answer, I assume the grilling parameters (target temp and time range) would be close to those of a 4-5# butt, yes? Thanks.
-
-
You could pull 2-3 pounds, not sure you could find something that small in a cryo. Local store puts them that small in tray packs. -
You could buy a 4 to 5 lb pork butt and split it, smoking half and freezing the other half for a later use. Or you could smoke the whole thing and portion it into smaller servings, freezing some.
Smoke time depends a lot on thickness; bits that weigh less may take nearly as long as the larger ones, if the thickness is comparable.
KathrynComment
-
If there's a Costco nearby, they sell boneless "country style ribs" which are 1.5 lb (approx) strips of butt. I use them to make Blasphemy Pulled Pork: https://blasphemyribs.com/2020/03/13...y-pulled-pork/Comment
-
Being single, here's my take.. about 3lbs. Remember, they shrink during cooking, so 3lbs will yield 2.25 or so. That's about 4-5 pulled pork sammies.
As Kathryn and others note, you can cook more, pull, vacuum seal in portions and reheat. That is ultimately the only way to manage cooking some of the BBQ styles (pulled pork, brisket etc). Plus, who wants to spend 6-10 hours smoking a pork butt to end up with just a few portions?Comment
-
I like to split a whole butt into two smaller roasts plus trimmings and smoke the two "half roasts" in the same cooking session.
The two smaller roasts will still need maybe two thirds of the time needed to cook one whole roast, but I'd rather get the cooking done in one go and then freeze what meat we can't use quickly.
You could also try country ribs or pork shoulder steaks, both of which are smaller cuts from the shoulder area.Comment
-
In my humble opinion which probably isn't worth 2 cents, do a whole butt, if yer going through trouble of dry brining, seasoning, firing up the smoker and drinking a couple or 12 adult beverages you might as well eat your fill put in the fridge the next day portion vacuum seal tag freeze. Next time you have a hankering for a samy take out one portion put in a sauce pan with enough water to cover put the spurs to it by the time you get a six iced down and the water comes to a boil your pork is thawed heated and ready for super. ENJOY!!!
Comment
-
You could also use the boneless pork picnic cushion instead of the butt/shoulder. It is more lean but still works well for pulling. I purchase it from The ChefStore/Cash n carry whole restaurant supply store. It is smaller portions of about 3-4 lbs. each.Comment
-
What mgaretz said. I don't need a lot of pulled pork, and 'country-style ribs' (sliced from pork shoulder) work fine for me. My last package had 6 pieces totaling 3.8 lbs.
Edit: Another advantage to cooking smaller portions is that you can try more rubs & sauces. I typically cut a rack of pork spare ribs in half, and use different rubs on each half. My cookbook -- so many recipes, too few mouths to experiment on.Last edited by SmokingPat; June 21, 2021, 01:37 PM.Comment
-
Another cut that's usually smaller is an arm roast at 2-3 pounds per roast. If the butt is the shoulder of the beast, the arm roast is the upper leg area more or less just below the butt. I have made pastrami using arm roasts and they turn out good.Comment
Comment