Dueling Pork Butts Smoked Recipes

Steps:

• If desired, soak the pork butt in a brine solution for at least 4 hours or overnight. There's a recipe for a brine on this site titled 'Basic Brine for Smoking Meat'. You should do this covered and in the refrigerator.
• Preheat an outdoor smoker for 200 to 225 degrees F (95 to 110 degrees C).
• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, chili powder and any additional seasonings to your taste. Apply this liberally to the meat and rub it in with your fingers. Place a roasting rack in a drip pan and lay the meat on the rack.
• Smoke at 200 to 225 degrees F (95 to 110 degrees C) for 6 to 18 hours, or until internal pork temperature reaches 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

Steps:

• Marinade:
• Place all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and whisk together.
• Rub: Place all ingredients in a container with a lid and shake well.
• Glue: Whisk ingredients together and place in a squeeze bottle.
• Pork: Reserve 1 cup of marinade and set aside. (The reserved marinade will be used to base the pork during the cooking process.) Inject a little marinade into the pork butt in numerous places. Place pork in a resealable plastic bag and cover with remaining marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours.
• Remove the pork from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
• Cover pork with a light coat of the "glue" mixture to help the rub stick. Sprinkle generously with rub, making sure to work it into the meat.
• Prepare a smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F and add the apple and hickory wood chips to the lit charcoal.
• Place pork on smoker. Be careful not to over-smoke. After 2 hours, baste pork with reserved marinade and return it to the smoker for 1 hour. Baste again and return to smoker for 1 more hour. Repeat 1 more time, with the basting and smoking for 1 more hour. Remove pork from smoker, wrap in aluminum foil and return to smoker until the pork has an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. (Alternatively, you can finish cooking the pork in a low oven preheated to 250 degrees F). When the pork has reached 200 degrees F, remove it from the heat and let stand for approximately 15 to 20 minutes before slicing or pulling.

Steps:

• Remove the fat cap and any large areas or pockets of external fat that can be easily trimmed away. The logic behind this method is that: ** Smoke and rub won't penetrate the external fat; ** It takes more time and fuel to cook a pork butt with all the fat intact; ** Unlike a brisket flat, which is quite lean and benefits from the protection that a layer of fat offers, a pork butt contains a tremendous amount of intramuscular fat, so the roast essentially "self-bastes" from the inside out; ** After many hours of cooking, much of the external fat renders away, and you're not going to eat the fat that's left--you're going to cut it away and discard it; ** Removing the external fat allows for the formation of more dark, flavorful outside meat that people enjoy so much.
• Moving right along --
• Mix the injection ingredients together and shoot 'em in those butts.
• Mix the rub ingredients together and rub and spank it on said butts.
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
• Smoke at about 225F until internal temperature reaches 195°F (Approximately 10 hours over mesquite lump with hickory chunks.).
• Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Pull, and have fun. Put some meat in a bun with a little of your favorite BBQ sauce. Add a little coleslaw if you wish and enjoy.

Steps:

• Cut a few slashes in a crosshatch pattern across the fat cap of the pork butt. Rub mustard on top. Massage BBQ rub into the meat, getting it into the cuts. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat a smoker to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Add wood chips according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Place pork butt on rack, with a drip pan underneath to minimize the mess. Smoke until internal temperature of meat reaches 200 to 203 degrees F (93 to 95 degrees C), 10 to 16 hours, depending on size of pork butt and outside temperature.
• Remove pork butt from smoker, wrap in foil, and let rest for 1 hour. Remove bone and shred pork.