Pork Butt Question

[JoeB]

I normally cook pork butts in a crockpot because I am out all day and don't own a smoker. I set it for 8-10 hours and by the time I get home at night it's at 200-205 internal temp and is fall off the bone tender and tastes amazing. However, I want to have a bark on it because I love the taste of it but here's the dilemma: my mom will not let me use the oven to cook it because she doesn't feel good about leaving it on for awhile with no one home. So I was wondering if I could put the butt in the broiler until it gets crispy. The only question with this is at what temp should I do this? When it's done (200-205) or a little beforehand (190 or so) so it finishes cooking in the broiler? I know this is not BBQ, but I'm making the best of what's available to me.

BTW, I've been reading this forum for awhile, soaking up alot of info, and I love it! I have to say, looking at pics of lots of good food makes me hungry

[hammerwieser]

I'm not sure you can get good smokey bark without low and slow in the smoker. Maybe somebody knows the trick but I don't think the broiler in the oven is the answer. JMO.

[JoeB]

Well I read this thread about cooking a brisket in an oven:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57815&highlight=DARK+CLOSET
and I thought that I could get a crispy outside by using the broiler, but I don't know if it's possible after cooking it in a crockpot and if it would just mess up the pork and cause it to dry out.

[keend]

Joe, use what is available to you and experiment. If you have a crock pot and an oven by all means give it a try. Try cooking to 170 in the crock pot then re-season and put in 350 degree oven till you reach ~200 degrees internal and see what happens.

Check out craigs list in your area and pick up a used Weber kettle or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Both are great pieces of equipment to cook on and you can pick them up cheap once someone else gets tired of cooking with charcoal and goes back to gas..

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[JoeB]

I'll give that a shot, thanks for the suggestion Keen. I've been thinking about getting one of those, but I'm only home for another month until I go back to college, so maybe for next summer. I can't bring any smokers to college Oh well, what can you do. Time to perfect this method then

[Crazy Harry]

I have usedthe crock pot for pulled pork. I coat it with plenty of ruband put it in the pot with a can of beer. After it reached at least 190 and is falling off the bone, I take it out of the pot, put it in a covered bowl and let it rest for about an hour. After pulling it off the bone I serve it with plenty of BBQ sauce.

[JoeB]

Originally Posted by Crazy Harry

I have usedthe crock pot for pulled pork. I coat it with plenty of ruband put it in the pot with a can of beer. After it reached at least 190 and is falling off the bone, I take it out of the pot, put it in a covered bowl and let it rest for about an hour. After pulling it off the bone I serve it with plenty of BBQ sauce.

Why let it rest? To let the juices redistribute? Once it hits 200, I just get a plate and pick off a big hunk of meat. The juices from the pork that collect in the pot make the pork very tasty, plus the apple cider vinegar I put in, so I never let it.

[landarc]

If you rub the shoulder and then allow the pork to rest, you should be able to put it under a low broiler and get some form of bark. I don't really see a reason to do this other than to create a look of BBQ. If you let it char a bit, you will get a product that is certainly edible. I have seen some folks do the rub and rest then throw it on a grill to finish. Only takes a few minutes on a hot Weber to get that done.

[RX2006JE]

today i saw this episode on Guy's big bite and they did a shoulder in the oven and used smoke. here is the recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/p...ipe/index.html

[Neil]

I would advise against using the broiler for a pork butt. If your not careful you could risk drying out the butt under the broiler or worse yet start a grease fire. Your best off getting a WSM or a drum and making a UDS.

[blues_n_cues]

i'll give ya an idea that is a combo of what my grandmother used to do & what Guy Feiri did yesterday on guy's big bite(food network).

grammy's way-(cajun pork roast)
mix flour,garlic pwdr,onion pwdr,salt, black pepper,& a dash of cayenne pepper together & coat the butt liberally w/ that.
braise in a hot oiled cast iron skillet then into the oven on 325 until 180-200 internal-mostly for sliced or chopped pork

Guy's way-
you can rub a butt w/ a salt & brown sugar based rub like you can find around here. place in a 225-250 degree oven in a 9x13" pan w/ a pouch or white hot cast iron skillet of soaked wood chips beside it(remove that after a couple hours or internal is above 140) until you reach 200-210 internal- then pull.
note- you better have a good vent a hood or no sprinkler system in your apt. the sugars & salts in the rub combined w/ the fat rendering is what makes your bark(carmelization)

hope it helps.

[blues_n_cues]

oops i just reread your post (4am mod)..
braise it then stick in crockpot.

[JoeB]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. When I get around to cooking a butt again, I'll try out what was mentioned. Braising sounds like a good idea since I thought that there is a good possibility of drying out the meat by using the broiler. Man, I watch Guy's Big Bite alot, but I missed yesterday's! Would have been a good show to watch.

[RichardF]

cook it as described, pat dry and crisp as demonstrated below...















my head is spinning just reading this thread.

[JoeB]

Haha, that would definitely get the job done!