What to look for in a good pork butt?

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BecknCO

Knows what a fatty is.
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I just picked up a pork butt on sale for $1.79/lb (sale price for Suckway grocery). I chose an 8.11lb partially because I don't know about a 12+hr cook (this will be the biggest I've ever done), but also because it was labeled bone in whole, wasn't touched with any "enhanced solutions", and because I could also clearly identify the money muscle (learned from you guys).

Some were more red then others, and this one seemed a little more pinkish but had the latest sell by date. How should I be choosing ma butts? :biggrin1:
 
heavily marbled w/a good fat cap imo.
 
I like to trim the fat cap to about 1/8", but then again wth do I know. Why is it important to have a good fat cap if you are going to trim, and does color or the meat make any difference?
 
BecknCO said:
Why is it important to have a good fat cap if you are going to trim, and does color or the meat make any difference?
Click to expand...

I don't trim. I like a good fat cap for the flavor/moisture in the finished product. color is hard to judge. some places package meat w/other gasses to preserve color. as long as it isn't grey, you should be good to go.
 
I used to focus to much on trimming and getting the fat cap just right... found that after cooking about 50 shoulders I more look for bone-in, good color, decent marbling, and meats that have a ton of hard fat ...
 
GMDGeek said:
I used to focus to much on trimming and getting the fat cap just right... found that after cooking about 50 shoulders I more look for bone-in, good color, decent marbling, and meats that have a ton of hard fat ...
Click to expand...

Tell me more about the color and hard fat please?
 
Sounds like you got a good one. I prefer the ones that are a nice pink color. A good fat cap or still with the skin on. I'll put skin/fat cap side down to protect from the heat. It seems you do low and slow too, this has always produced me a fine butt. I wrap at about 4 hrs in and at that time put the fat on the top to let the moisture drizzle through the meat.
 
Same as Blu, I also make sure the Money Muscle is all there.

I've even found a few half butts that had full MM and snatched those up when they were on sale.
 
Thanks Fellas - so to recap, it should be at least 8.5lb, more pink than red, no enhancement, whiter fat and good fat cap, and visible money muscle. Final question - is there a way to tell if the money muscle is whole or partial?
 
I prefer a bone-in butt, a minimum of 8 pounds, a fat cap that is clean and white. No enhanced solutions. I actually like the deep pink pork, as I feel the taste tends to be richer, but, I don't worry if all there is are the light pink ones.
 
Here's an 8.5# Bone-in that I UDS'd on Thursday... took about 10.5 hrs.

E4Uuf43l.jpg


Get these direct from the packer.
 
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