Divide a Boston Butt before or after smoking it?

[Evvy]

Thanks to new friends in the introductions channel, I've landed here to ask a question. We've rebuilt our MasterBuilt gravity smoker, well... I did. My Seabee other half wonders what bug bit me! I mostly ignore him because I was Army Corps of Engineers and that's what we do. We fix things! Our Army-Navy household is usually at peace until the Army-Navy game. By then, the next game, he'll be glad I got the project finished and learned how to use it. I've got less than a year!!

Mu questIon. We bought a Boston Butt from the local butcher. It ended up being 5-1/2 lbs, trimmed. There's only two of us to eat it so what do you do? Cut it in half now and freeze one piece or cook the entire thing and freeze the cooked meat? I was planning on following Meathead's beginner's recipe unless y'all tell me otherwise.

[Donw]

Just my 2¢ but I’d split and cook both to save time and energy. Pulled pork freezes well and is easy to reheat. By splitting and then cooking you can get more bark.

[Panhead John]

+2

[RonB]

+3 - Not only will you have more tasty bark, but the cook will be quicker.

[Dewesq55]

+4. I always cut my butts in half before cooking. Speeds the cook and extra bark

[GOCS]

There are 2 of us and that is what I do (cook it all in 1 go). Get a vacuum packer, too. When pulled, the other half will not only freeze well, but will fridge well if vacuum sealed.

[Dewesq55]

Evvy there are lots of us.

[DaveD]

LOTS of us cook for just two! I do the same as above, cook the whole thing, pull it, package up portions of pulled pig in vac seal bags to use in a variety of subsequent meals. In fact, it's damn near time to do my next one, I have only a couple of portions on hand...

[Jared49]

Problem is I cook for two and then my wife wants some , too!!

[bbqLuv]

I smoke the pork butts whole and make pulled pork, then freeze in 1.5-pound portions.

Before cooking slice the but into county-style pork ribs. Half the butt with bone-in, the other half cut into country-style ribs.

[Evvy]

Love this!

[LA Pork Butt]

Pulled pork either pulled or whole freezes well, but it won’t be as good as fresh. If you are looking to cook once I think I would divide it before cooking and cook both at the same time. Pull one and freeze the other whole. But, you could use this as an opportunity to get experience divide the uncooked butt freezing half for a later cook wile cooking and pulling the other half. Have fun!

[Evvy]

I like the idea of dividing now, smoke my first, and have the other half for the next attempt.

[RonB]

Dry brine before freezing the second piece. It will save you time later.

[fzxdoc]

That 5.5 lb butt will lose about half its weight during cooking, so it won't go as far as you think. Freeze any leftovers for posole or killer loaded nachos.

When I smoke a 12 lb pork butt (split in two for more surface area for the rub) for the two of us, by the time we get two dinners out of it, there's only a couple of pounds (cooked) left to go in the freezer.

Welcome to The Pit!

Kathryn

[Smoker_Boy]

Wow Kathryn, I had no idea it would lose that much weight!!
fzxdoc

[bbqLuv]

Loaded Nachos with pulled pork, are so good.

[barelfly]

Posole!!!!! Now that’s a recommendation of goodness!!!!!

[Steve R.]

What I would do is cut it in half, season both halves, then put one half in the smoker and the othe half in the freezer (tightly wrapped in Glad Press 'n Seal).

No need to thaw the frozen one before cooking, so you can be ready to cook that one in the few minutes it takes to heat up the smoker.

[Purc]

I smoke even larger butts (sometimes whole, sometimes split) than that for just me. The reason is the same amount of effort. Like fzxdoc, after several meals not a lot left over so I make individual portions to freeze and then pull one package out for tacos, stuffed baked potatoes, quick sandwiches etc. Pulled pork does freeze very well. I always have some in the freezer ready for a quick meal morning, noon or night.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

If you spilt first you get extra bark! For some that might be a negative but that's my favorite bite of pulled pork. There's only 2 of us here as well, generally I pull/slice/shred whatever and then freeze portions for later cooks. If I'm going to use the meat in something I want to season differently I'll smoke the whole butt, if I know I'm just gonna be using leftovers in nachos, tacos, eggs whatever splitting it in half gives extra bark during the cook and the extra seasoning doesn't really mess up those types of re-uses.

[jfmorris]

I would cook one that size whole. Remember, 5.5 pounds raw meat will end up at maybe 3 pounds cooked meat once it's pulled. You lose a lot of moisture and weight while cooking - 30 to 40 percent. And - pulled pork freezes and reheats well. In (sacrilege!) the microwave even! There... I said it!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

a few splashes of apple juice helps on the nuke reheats

[Panhead John]

Ain’t nuttin wrong with reheat in the microwave, as long as it’s done on low power.

[Soonerpop]

My vote goes here. It will last a long time for 2 people. Reheated in the microwave is great!

[johnec00]

The butts I get are usually more like 8 pounds or so. I cut the collar muscle (money muscle) off for rotisserie roasting and slicing, then halve the remainder for pulled pork. I generally pull the whole thing then divide into meal sized packages, vacuum seal and freeze. Since I usually Texas crutch wrap, I add some of the liquid to each bag before sealing. Four nights a week, I have dinner for one, so this is what works for me.

[RichieB]

Smoke it, eat some, save some for recent meals and vacuum seal for future meals.

[HawkerXP]

+1

[barelfly]

Lots of great advice. And as a recent addition to cooking for just two….knowing your portion sizes for two and vac sealing leftovers that way is a great way to make a quick easy meal later! I have a number of two portion meals in the freezer stacked up for quick meals.

Either way..Enjoy that pork!

[Santamarina]

Smoke it whole. Shred the it all. Vac seal and freeze leftovers. Sous vide to reheat and it’ll taste like it just came off the pit!

[Mosca]

This is what I do as well. When I vac seal it, I do some in individual portions, some in two portions, and some in four. I don’t weigh them, I just “handful” them.

Because they are juicy, you can either bag them in regular bags first, then force the air out and seal (that’s what I do), or freeze the bags unsealed, then seal them after the meat freezes. I don’t have enough freezer space to do that!

[Lynn Dollar]

I do the same, cept I put the pulled pork into 1 pound bags to vac seal.

And I do a deep trim on the butts, I almost separate them in half. Learned it from Chef Tom at ATBBQ , it creates a lot of bark but the butt remains in one piece.

https://youtu.be/0DoKvxJh6aM?si=zyCIXztPDtuiI-ny&t=132

[Evvy]

I ended up dividing the shoulder into two pieces and cooking side-by-side. I read in Meathead's recipe that one can calculate weight x 90-minutes. So was that 2-1/2 lbs x 90 minutes or 5 lbs x 90-minutes? More toward the latter as it turned out. I also read somewhere in his copious writings that it's about thickness, not time. I dunno... it will take more runs to figure out.

my husband loved the results even if it was 9:30 at night before supper went onto the table!!

[mrteddyprincess]

Nice job. Welcome! BBQ only gets better from here on out.

Brian
Fishers, IN

[Sweaty Paul]

Most excellent!

[jfmorris]

If I am running on a scheduled and dinner time is approaching, my solution for Boston butts is to wrap in foil (never below about 170 IT), and increase smoker temp to 300F, and get it done! . Glad it worked out for you, but you can increase the temp next time to reduce the cooking time, especially later in the cook.