No sugar / no carb Boston Butt

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rubizuk

Is lookin for wood to cook with.
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Sunday 2/10/2013
Boston Butt – 6.38 lbs / My first attempt at a no sugar / no carbs Q

I just lost 72 lbs and have decided to watch closer my sugar intake, but I love my Q and do not want to stop that either. There has to be a way that I can do both.

I used Butt Rub (purchased at BBQ Galore/ no sugar/ no carbs) on the night before and it was in the refrigerator for 28 hrs.

Took out, added fresh ground pepper. I prepared a deep cookie sheet pan, put chopped Onions in the pan and water, put the Butt on a rack on top of the pan and put in the WSM.

Started at 11:45 AM and reached 275* by 12:15 PM

Use Cowboy Lump and started with 25 KB. FYI, I never use a water pan, just a clay dish as a defuser.

At 1 ½ hours I basted the Butt and added Diet Cherry DR Pepper to the water in the cookie sheet.

Basted the Butt every 1 ½ hours with the juices from the cookie sheet and added either water or Diet Dr Pepper, trying to keep a 50 – 50 mix.
Ran out of heat about 7 PM and added more Cowboy Lump and got the temp back up to 275*. My error, I hadn’t used the WSM for a while I just didn’t put in enough coals.

Took the Butt off at 10 PM, internal temp was 178*. I was shooting for 190* but Monday was going to be a long day and I needed to get some sleep.

Wrapped the Butt for 30 minutes in foil and towels, then sliced, vacuum sealed most of the butt for later and put the rest in the reefer.

The Butt released the bone easily, almost won’t let me slice it as it was so tender. I could have easily pulled most of it. My wife loved it and she is my biggest critic.

My diet ends today and tomorrow I will get to taste it. Talk about will power, to cook this beautiful Butt and not get to even sample it.

Sorry no pictures.
 
I too have lost quite a bit of weight watching the carbs. IMO, it's not a diet though. It's a lifestyle change... BBQ fits real well if you watch the sugar in the rub & sauce. Congrats on the weight loss. Make it a lifestyle and maintain that target weight!! Cheers!!!
 
You might want to double check your plan of cooking with diet soda. I thought I heard that some of the artificial sweeteners when used for cooking can release harmful chemicals? I am sure the internet will have information on that. Congrats on the lifestyle change!
 
You're not going to add a lot of calories by using regular soda to baste. There are like 140 calories in a can of soda, and I'm assuming you wouldn't use more than one or two for a butt. Even then, you'd have to eat the whole pork butt to get all of those calories. Also, you can cut the soda with apple cider vinegar for more calorie savings without sacrificing the carmelization.

Congrats on the weight loss and keep at it! I dropped 100lbs a few years ago, but that was before I knew how to barbecue.
 
No need to baste a big ole juicy butt with anything, but if you are cooking in a WSM, it does give you something to do. :mrgreen:
 
I'm asking this for my own edification - does the amount of sugar in rub on a butt really amount to much? There is a decent amount of fat in pork butts, and watching portion size will likely be more useful than eliminating the sugar as far as losing weight goes.

I lost about 35lbs last year, my wife lost about 40. We did it by watching carb and fat intake, aggressively reducing the portions that we eat, and exercising regularly. I was able to accommodate bbq into my diet by controlling portion sizes and limiting fats such as butter and cheese in recipes.

Oh, and congratulations about your weight loss! It takes a lot of will power, but it is the single best thing you could have done for your health by a long shot.
 
The diet I am on allows fats from meat (moderate), but from dairy and sugar is to be at a minimum.

Maybe I am taking this too far, but I have been cooking with lots of Sugar, honey, apple jelly in my sauce, etc and I gained 20 lbs last year after I lost a lot of weight and then had to lose 20 lbs this year just to be even with last year. That sucks.

You all are right, only a small portion sugar will be consumed from the rub or sauce with a normal portion, but for now I want to be if anything a little over cautious and build from there keeping an eye on my weight as I go.
 
I did Atkins for a year. Lost almost 80 lbs. after the induction phase, which I carried on longer than prescribed (about a month) I stopped worrying about sugars in BBQ sauces or rubs. I just focussed on eliminating starches and complex carbs. I didn't eat bbq every day, and I never stopped losing weight. And bbq was definitely a go to meal. During induction/ketoacidosis, stay away to keep the carb intake under 20grams a day. After that, it's likely you will still drop like crazy if you stay away from chips, potatoes, bread...dessert...etc. sauces and rubs didn't affect ME at all.
 
02-15-2011 weighed in at 290 lbs
02-11-2013 weighed 225 lbs.

No flour, no sugar no processed foods. BBQ, grilling, fresh fruits, veggies, beans and nuts. Wife lost 35. Basically if it comes out of cellophane we don't eat it. If I had quit beer I would probably weigh 190. But I'm not quitting beer.
Lots of times people have tried to sabotage our eating lifestyle by saying"a little sugar won't hurt". Yes it will.
And great job on the Boston B. You described it quite well.
 
These are some really good replies and I hope that I am not the only one getting something out of this. This is why I put the post up to begin with as it is good to know that we are not alone when trying to keep the weight off. More people, more ideas, then we can sort out what will fit us.
 
Eggspert said:
You might want to double check your plan of cooking with diet soda. I thought I heard that some of the artificial sweeteners when used for cooking can release harmful chemicals? I am sure the internet will have information on that. Congrats on the lifestyle change!
Click to expand...

You're right, some artificial sweeteners do break down into components you don't want to ingest. :yuck: After a quick search, this link lists which ones are heat stable and which ones are not.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=289
 
I cut out sugar from my rubs and don't miss it. I have a serious attraction for stubbs signature sauce which only has a few more carbs than my home made low carb sauce. I eat BBQ lots and can maintain ketosis while doing it. It is all of the other carbs that are problematic for me. I use splenda in my favorite coleslaw recipe and it is awesome.
 
Since we're on the subject of no-carb/cal sweeteners, we have liked Ideal (xylitol) because it has little to no aftertaste. As far as cooking/baking goes - an apple pie turned out great, a pecan pie was so-so. Simple syrup made with Ideal did have an aftertaste to me, but my sister didn't notice it.
 
Forget the basting and diet soda. S & P with some garlic powder, cumin and a little cayenne makes an excellent rub and if you let is set overnight uncovered you'll get a great bark.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
 
For what it's worth, I VERY rarely put any sugar into my rub and do not miss it at all...there seems to be enough natural sugar in the meat (talking about pork shoulder)and fat that caramelises and forms a nice bark.
Congratulations on the lifestyle change, it's a hard thing to start.
 
Congrats on the weight loss, first off :clap:

I never use sugar in my rubs anyway. I like to keep things simple. Just your S&P, garlic, onion powers. Maybe some chipotle pepper or something. Turns out great!
 
The response to my post is great. Good to learn more ways to enjoy Q and still watch the weight.
 
Nice cook!

I lost 75 pounds on a carb restricted diet. Although my weight fluctuates, I've been able keep the 75 pounds off for 5 years now.
I eat no carbs during the week. On the weekends, I try to keep my carb intake down, by using sucralose in my rubs and try to avoid eating chips, etc. I occasionally put sugar in a glaze or sauce. Beer is on the menu however!
Basically I'm on a diet 5 days a week and off 2.
I works for me.

Bob
 
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