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pork cuts

FM Former Member
Hello all, I'm new to this forum, but a fellow BBQ lover. Last week i smoked my first pork butt(bone in), it was about 7 pounds. I smoked it at 240F for 12 hours and when i went to take it off the smoker it was so tender it started to fall apart as i lifted it. I was so pleased with the result so i decided to smoke another one. But the second butt turned out alot different, i followed the same prep as the one i did last week with the only difference being that this pork butt was 8 pounds. After 12 hours i went to take it off expecting it to be as tender as the one before but it was stiff as a board with an internal temp of 170F. I had to smoke it for another 6 hours before it was tender enough to take off, which kept me up until midnight. Now i don't know much about cuts of meat, but i had smoked some pork shoulder i got at the super market a few weeks ago and found that it took alot longer then a butt, what i'm wondering is if my butcher gave me the wrong cut of meat. Is there a difference between a boston pork butt and a boston shoulder pork butt? or are they the same thing? Anyways, the first butt that i smoked turned out exellent, but the second was tougher and took longer to smoke, but still delicious. I'm still very confused with the difference between the two, any help would be greatly appreciated.

To prep my butts i brined them for 8 hours with a concentration of 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup sugar, along with some rub. Then put rub on and let sit for an hour before i put it on the smoker.
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FM Former Member
Jon

Welcome to the forum. This is a perfect example of "every piece of meat is different" even if the same cut and weight because no two animals are the same. That's why you'll frequently see mentioned in the forum the Smokin Okie addage that "its done when its done."

A pork shoulder and a butt are the same thing. You'll see references to a boston butt and a picnic butt. The boston butt is the part of the shoulder next to the chest and has the shoulder blade. The picnic is upper part of the leg and has a shank (leg) bone in it.
FM Former Member
Thanks evryone for all the helpful advice, however i'm still boggled over the difference between the 2 butts that i smoked. I'm going to do a third one this weekend, but i think i'll try a different butcher. And make sure to choose a butt with lots of fat marbeling, i'm thinking the reason my last butt was not as tender or juicy is maybe it had less fat in it. But really you had to see my fist pork butt to believe it, it was so tender i could have pulled it just by blowing on it lol.
FM Former Member
It's done when it's done

There are so many variations, that it does happen some times that a little weight difference can cause longer cooks. And always remember, they're not from the same pig.

The one thing you didn't mention was the internal temp. You could actually have had the second one real close in temp, say in the 180's, but it wouldn't fall apart yet.

Next time, instead of brining, just inject your brine. Takes less time and flavors the outside. If find if you brine and there is sugar in the mixture, the bark will darken too much.

Very common problem with labeling. I'd venture to say that no one on this forum, other than some folks in the Carolina's EVER even see a Shoulder (they'll weigh over 14lbs).

It's either a butt or a picnic. A picnic looks like a ham shank. A butt usually has the bone in or out. Look for butts over 5 lbs. I usually do them in the 7 to 8 lb range.
wheelzwheelzSmmmmoooookin'!
Hey Jon -- welcome to the forum Big Grin

On your search for butts, you'll never find two exactly alike, maybe close but as stated, everyone is different (and if you think butts are bad, wait til you start doing briskets Eeker )

Always allow yourself plenty of time to get the butt to the internal temp you desire. You will notice that the temp will hang in the infamous plateau from 1-4+ hours and there's no way to predict the length of time. Start your butts the night before at a lower tamp, maybe 200˚ and crank it up to 225˚ in the morning. If you really get in a bind for time you can always toss it in the kitchen oven at 325-350 and finish it up quick but your loose tenderness and gain un-rendered fat.

Saying all that to point out that one needs to plan ahead when there is a specific time to serve.

As I always say, "patience is key," and as Smokin says "It's done when it's done."

Good luck on your next smoke! Big Grin
FM Former Member
the smoker i use is a traeger pellet grill. Works pretty good, one things that i forgot to mention also is that i usually smoke my butts at 225F, but because it was very hot that day, my smoker was steady at 250-260F for the full 16 and a half hours. The temperature of the butt was 180F when i pulled it. I wanted to let it go until it reached 195F but for a 7.8 pound butt to smoke 16.5 hours, at 250F i thought i might have been over smoking it.
FM Former Member
Ok so i think i've figured out what happened with my 2 butts. I came across a downloadable pork manual while looking through google for answeres. What i came across was the shoulder cut section, and in that section i found the 2 butts that i had smoked. The first butt i smoked, which only took 12 hours and was unbelievably tender was the butt (blade) roast which shows far more mableling the the second cut. The second butt that i smoked was a Pork shoulder butt, which until compared side by side to the pork (blade) butt, i would have never known there were 2 different cuts. So it was what i thought all along, my butcher had a counter worker go back to get me a butt (blade) roast, and what he brought out was infact a shoulder butt, which is indead a different cut. I look forward to smoking another butt (blade) roast this weekend, i will post my results and maybe a few pics.

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