First Pulled Pork - Kurobuta/Berkshire

[Omega-Man]

Last Weekend, for my fourth cook on my Primo Oval XL. Got a boneless Berkshire pork butt. Boneless was probably a mistake. After I trimmed the fat, where the bone used to be opened up which then needed to be tied to hold it all together. Next time bone in! Used Meathead's Memphis Dust. Put it on the smoker at around noon and, all you guys were right! (Not that I ever doubted you) Hit the stall at around 170 degrees and at 185 it started to inch up. At 11:30 PM!, I was looking like a rank amateur (which I am) and took it off at 195. Couldn't wait for 203 which Meathead recommends. It jiggled and everything so, I was quite excited and, my family hungry and tired of hearing me say, "only 10 minutes more" (like the kids asking "are we there yet?!). Anyway, it was amazing, so tender and juicy. However, turned out about a quarter of the butt wasn't fully cooked but, I didn't serve that so, I was still a hero to all.


6 Hours In





8 Hours In




Done (11-12 hours)

[ComfortablyNumb]

Very nice. I used to raise purebred Hereford hogs, but with the changes in the national association I'm now crossing them with Large Black/Berkshire crosses. My hope is to get the long bacon characteristic of a Hereford with a little more fat then the Hereford, but not as much as the Large Black, with the marbling characteristic of the Berkshire.

[Omega-Man]

Sounds quite yum! Good luck!

[EdF]

How about some Tamsworth?

[ComfortablyNumb]

Tamworth isn't common in my area, although I used to have a guy come from Oregon to get Hereford boars to cross with Tamworth sows. His wife was fifth generation on a large cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon. They would butcher the meat and sell it in the Portland market. One dressed hog was $900.

[LA Pork Butt]

Looks like the ones I do regularly, and I'll bet tastes great. I have removed the bone before, but never tied them up. I like cooking them bone in better. I like to allow about 16 hours for lighting and bring the ceramic up to temp to holding on a faux cambro or at least 2 hours. That's why I like to put them on early the night before and serve for noon.

[(Lo-N-Slo)]

I do my bone-in pork butts on large Big Green Egg set at 220 degrees using a BBQ Guru controller. It all works nicely. I light the BGE about 3:00 in the afternoon and then with a long stall it is ready for lunch the next day. Biggest problem is a lack of self-control after the pork butt is pulled at 203 degrees. A lot of it seems to disappear before it gets to the table. I also use a Weber Performance grill and a Barrel House cooker. My task for tomorrow is to start curing a slab of pork belly for sweet bacon, and starting the brine on a pork tenderloin for Canadian Bacon.

PS My wife of 40 years is from Korea an goes bonkers for anything cooked over charcoal. Growing old together is what makes life worth living.

[EdF]

Yeah bacon - both kinds!

[Mosca]

Next time put it on at 8AM and 275*. It will be ready for dinner. Pork butt is extremely forgiving that way.

[(Lo-N-Slo)]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that.

[kmhfive]

Good-looking Butt!