Boston Butt Sous Vide

[Evvy]

Growing up in Rhode Island next door to Boston, Massachusetts, I can say that the name Boston Butt comes from the old sailing days. Pork was a staple aboard ship and shoulders were packed in quarter height barrels. Because of the barrel's short height they were called butts for the butt end of a barrell. Pork was heavily salted then as a preservative since refrigeration wasn't possible. It's not likely that the Boston Butt of the time resembled anything familiar to what we eat today, but it is the same'ish cut.

Boston Butt

Sous vide	165-F x 18hrs
Cooled on the counter then pat damp if you will apply your fav rub. Pat really dry if you just want to brown the meat as steam will impede browning.	45-minutes
Smoker, but finish no higher temp than 165 (145-150 is good for service temp)	45-minutes
Outcomes:	Nice and juicy and easily pulled, but we chop it here in NC. Hey, it's what we do!

Bourbon BBQ sauce

Ketchup:Bourbon (any proof)	2:1
Brown sugar	to taste
Garlic, minced	to taste
Chile powder (I use chipotle)	to taste
Vinegar (nod to NC!). I use balsamic and try to add brightness to balance the sugar's influence.	to taste

Heat it to a boil and then simmer 15-minutes to flash off the alcohol and thicken it a little.
Never comes out the same way twice. Always yummy!

Corn on the cob:

Sous Vide until kernels are bright yellow (can hold up to an hour)	30-minutes

I do this while the butt smokes since the sous vide water bath is already hot. Why sous vide? Because I froze several dozen last year, each as a pair of cobs with a 1/2 tablespoon of butter; all in the vacuum bag. It's self basting that way. We can't get native corn yet. Mike Vrobel, turned me on to this method. It's a neat time saver because I drop in as many cobs as I need and go set the table while they warm up. Sweet corn is genetically meant to be sweet. All you need to do is warm it. The old boil for 10-15 minutes days are gone and that length of time can overcook it.

Mac & Cheese

Colby jack:sharp cheddar	2:1
Make a flour roux (be sure to cook the roux long enough to prevent four tasting pastiness! Err on the too long side. Four:butter	1:1
Chicken broth
Cream
Brown Sugar
Pasta

I think I got the recipe from ATK, and tweaked it over the years by adding a small amount of brown sugar to return me to Hawaii, where I served with the Army Corps of Engineers. Going to a reunion there in September. I can hear the trade winds calling! Of interest perhaps, a luau is a pig sticking! BBQ is a Hawaiian way of life.

My cooking journey's goal is to get to this same level of goodness with straight up BBQ. 200-F... makes my knees knock!

[Thunder77]

I do mine 155 for ~10 hours. Cool and re-rub. Onto the smoker for about 4 hours. No vinegar sauce for me! KC style all the way!

[Evvy]

Good point re time Thunder77! I should have mentioned that this particular cook was about 9-lbs so I went longer to make sure it was tender all the way through. LOL - we are northerners and don't like eastern NC's vinegar BBQ so the vinegar was really meant to balance the sweetness of the sugar.

[Thunder77]

Looks good!

[fzxdoc]

Excellent writeup, Evvy . Thanks!

Kathryn