Confused watching Pork Butt Youtube videos

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

So I need help with an explanation. All of the videos I've watched on Youtube of Pork Butt cooks leave me confused. While shredding/pulling their pork I can't remember seeing any separate the fat out. I have cooked quite a few butts a variety of different ways and have no clue at all how they would it that way. I take an extensive amount of time separating the fat (now I even trim my fat cap all the way down to have less fat to separate). If I eat a sandwich and taste a lump of fat it's disgusting. So do they edit out that part of the process or do some of you do it the same exact way?

[Pappy Q]

Properly cooked, the fat will melt like butter and provide great flavor

[SirPorkaLot]

Pork when properly done has a very small (less than 1/2 cup) amount of fat left unrendered, it gets chopped into the rest at my house.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

The fat should fully render and melt if you do a good trim. However the internal membranes WILL NOT melt out during cooking and I take my time to remove all of those when I'm pulling the meat. You can get around this by trimming off all the membranes prior to cooking (which is what I do for a competition pork butt), yet I don't do this when I'm cooking 16 butts at a time.

YouTube vides are great but not all people in them are honest all the time. In some videos it's OBVIOUS that the meat is dry, chewy, and tough but the host will still talk about how it's "fall apart tender." They'll take a big bite and chew on it like it's a pencil eraser and still tell the camera how much flavor it has and how it "melts in your mouth."

A lot of these people will edit out certain parts or flat out not even eat their own product. Not everyone cleans their pork properly and most people are used to getting those bits of membrane in with their chopped pork. I take the extra minute or 2 and remove all of that while I'm pulling the meat apart and I think my customers appreciate it.

[thirdeye]

Agree that there won't be much internal fat that gets tossed, but I might have some external fat which I sacrificed as a heat shield that I remove. When breaking down a butt I do watch out for veins (pretty rare), bone slivers, and glands (very rare). That said the last butt I prepped for grinding had 2 vein pieces about 1" long and some blade bone chips.

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Originally Posted by thirdeye

Agree that there won't be much internal fat that gets tossed, but I might have some external fat which I sacrificed as a heat shield that I remove. When breaking down a butt I do watch out for veins (pretty rare), bone slivers, and glands (very rare). That said the last butt I prepped for grinding had 2 vein pieces about 1" long and some blade bone chips.

Yeah and there's that little piece of gristle that I discard!

[ronbrad62]

I will pretty much pre-trim most of the junk out prior to cooking to keep from having to go back and remove it after cooking. About the only real amount of fat I will leave on is the bottom cap, but that's mostly because I love to eat the strands of lean that run through it.

[Hawklaw]

I can't imagine life without delicious pork fat.

Just another perspective.

[mcyork28]

Same here. I don't trim much off of a pork butt but I do pay very close attention when pulling it and end up with a decent amount of fat to throw away. A bite of fat is just gross.

Originally Posted by SweetHeatBBQnSC

So I need help with an explanation. All of the videos I've watched on Youtube of Pork Butt cooks leave me confused. While shredding/pulling their pork I can't remember seeing any separate the fat out. I have cooked quite a few butts a variety of different ways and have no clue at all how they would it that way. I take an extensive amount of time separating the fat (now I even trim my fat cap all the way down to have less fat to separate). If I eat a sandwich and taste a lump of fat it's disgusting. So do they edit out that part of the process or do some of you do it the same exact way?

[16Adams]

I’m cooking my last Creekstone Duroc Pork Shoulder in the next day or two. I shall pay closer attention. It was from an order of 4 many months ago.

[jzadski]

I am with you. I am pretty anal about picking out any junk while pulling. I do know some who just chop most of that in with their final product . I used to do a heavy precook trim now I just do it while pulling. Just seems faster to me and have gotten zero negative feedback

[Shiz-Nit]

The fat should melt away and will help enhance the flavor of the meat while also helping add in moist meat.

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

I am guessing I may just be a little pickier about the fat in pork. I don't compare it to brisket fat at all. I love brisket fat, but at the same time I don't like too much fat on my brisket slices either. Maybe it's just the difference in my preference.

It's like cooking whole hog. I've seen people who cook whole hog and won't debone it in advance, they won't pull fat or anything out. So I guess different strokes different folks.

[Raider18]

I never trim pork butts and never have issues with fat. If I see a hunk while pulling it, I just throw it to the side. In my YouTube videos I never talk about this as I just assumed that is what folks would do if they came across a piece of fat they don't want. Maybe I should address that in my next video.

I'm also honest in my videos, if I stink it up you will know. My favorite hunting show is Meateater because he too will film a full episode and not shoot a thing. I like the honesty, more real that way.

[jasonjax]

I ALWAYS remove excessive fat when I pull/shred. I'm especially careful with globs of fat when cooking competitions. There will be excessive internal fat in spots even with a properly cooked and rendered butt IMHO.