Grilling Tutorial: 10 Steps to a Perfect Pork Butt

I posted this super fun grilling tutorial over on Endless Simmer last week & thought it deserved a share over here on my own blog!

I followed my boyfriend's step-by-step process in creating the most flavorful, juicy pork butt and documented it.  And you know what?  Grilling is not that intimidating, after all!

You, yes you, can create a perfect pork butt (or any other type of large meat) with just 10 easy steps!  Try it out and impress your friends for the upcoming July 4th holiday.

(I believe this technique would work well with a pork shoulder or a beef brisket, as well.)

Step 1: Buy a butt

Look for a butt for however many guests you are feeding.   I think ours was 8 lbs and it fed approximately 15  people.  You want some fat on the butt, but not a huge sheet of fat, because then it will be super greasy tasting.

Step 2: Make a rub

We made a rub using this recipe.  It tenderized the meat and gave it amazing flavor.

You can even make a shaker out of a mason jar!

Step 3: Make an injection

An injection keeps the meat moist throughout the long cook time.  We used this recipe here, featuring apple juice!

You can find injectors in lots of stores, in a variety of sizes and materials.  We like this stainless steel one found on Amazon.

Step 4: Prep your butt the night before

To prep the butt, you squirt some spicy mustard all over the meat and put a healthy amount of rub on all surfaces of the meat, rubbing it in slightly.

Then, inject the meat in several different places with the injection recipe.

Wrap it in foil twice and put it in a plastic bag (to safeguard against any leaks) overnight in the refrigerator.

Step 5: Light your coals, set up your grill

Fill a chimney starter with coals and newspaper and light it up.  Get those coals smoking and then put them on one side of your grill.  On the other side of your grill, you should have a drip pan filled with 2 cups of water.

Optional—you can also add foil packs of soaked wood chips into the coal side, periodically, throughout the grilling process.

Step 6: Mind your temperature

Try to keep your grill temp at around 225 – 250F degrees.  To maintain the heat, you can adjust the chimney stack thingy on your grill (to make it cooler) or add more hot coals (to make it hotter).  You’ll most likely have to add more coals at least three times to keep a steady temperature.

Step 7: Make a mop sauce & baste the butt

A mop sauce adds additional moisture to your pork as it cooks.  So you have a double whammy, the internal moisture from the injection plus the mop sauce basting the outside of the meat.  Can’t go wrong with that!

Here’s our recipe for mop sauce:

1 cup of apple juice

1 cup of water

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients together and baste the pork butt with a grilling mop about once an hour.

Step 8: Make your own BBQ sauce

Store bought BBQ sauce is okay, but making your own sauce really seals the deal and adds your own unique, fresh flavors to the meat.

We used an award-winning recipe, found here (except that we omitted the apricot preserves).  Highly recommended if you like a tangy hint of sweetness followed by a kick of heat.

Step 9: Check your internal temperature

The internal temperature for pork is 200 degrees.  Use a meat thermometer, like this digital one, for accuracy.

Almost there!

Cook time varies by the size of your butt.  Ours cooked for 8 hours before it reached 200F degrees.

We placed the meat fat side up, so it basted the meat throughout the entire cook time.  We did not flip or rotate the meat.  It needed to do its own thing.

Step 10: Wrap your butt & give it a rest

Once your butt is within 5 degrees of 200, remove it from the grill (careful!  It’s hot!) and wrap in aluminum foil to rest for about an hour.  This will keep the meat very juicy and enhance all the flavors.

Check out that smoke ring!

After, that, shred your meat with a fork and serve.

And bask in the glow of your grilling victory!  Also, you may commence with the butt jokes.

Have a safe & fun Forth of July, everyone!

WIAW: Grilled Philly-ish Chicken

Well, hello and Happy Wednesday!  It's that time again for me to share my food stuff.  I realize I'm severely lacking in creativity lately, but I think it's the weather.
Hot weather makes me want grilled stuff.  So forgive me if my dinners look exactly the same for the next 3-4 months ;)

source

Breakfast: Waffles & Fruit

You know how you eat with your eyes and all that jazz?  I think that is particularly true when you have a fruity flower formation on your Nutrigrain low fat waffles.  Eating breakfast was even more joyful than usual ;)  Coffee (with way too much creamer?) X 2 on the side.

 Snack: Cherries

Hello, my name is Renee and I'm addicted to cherries.  It's becoming a problem.  These ranier cherries were 5 bucks this week.  I need to quit spending a chunk of my grocery budget on these little gems of happiness.

Anyways, ate half of this container around 10:30 and forced myself to stop ;)

Right before lunch time I had another snack...

 Another Snack: Protein Bar

I knew lunch was going to be late today, because my guy (and the pups) and I had decided we were going to walk the whole lake (pictured above), which basically takes the whole lunch hour.  I like this new Fiber One bar.  It almost tastes like a Little Debbie Star Crunch, which is like my favorite LD treat!  It's obviously much healthier for you, though.

Lunch: Taco-ish Salad

I got back to the office and assembled my salad.  In the mix, chopped romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, leftover BBQ meat, black beans, corn, salsa, avocado, sour cream and cilantro.
Um, yum.  That's all I gotta say.

Some people pack their salads all together, but I like to assemble it right before eating.  Here's how I pack mine.

Snack: Nectarine

Before heading to my boot camp workout, I noshed on a nectarine.  So tasty!
BTW, I was texting my mom the other day (because I'm cool, alright?) and she said something and I said, "Yay!" or I tried to say it, and my phone changed it to "Tasty!"  Weird, right?

Randomness.

Ok, so boot camp was tough.  Can only move my fingers to type right now because I have obtained what is known in professional circles as the "spaghetti arms."  I'm working through it.

Dinner: Grilled Philly Chicken & Veggies

My boyfriend is off work this week (he works at night) and it was so awesome grilling dinner with him!  He makes a killer grilled chicken.
So, I topped the grilled chicken with sauteed green peppers & onions and a slice of provolone cheese to make it "Philly-ish."  He charred some corn on the grill as well, while I made asparagus in the grill pan (it was too skinny for the grill).  At the last minute, I microwaved some little golden potatoes, then cut them in half and seared them in the pan I had sauteed the peppers/onions in.  Best decision ever.  I realize it looks like alot of potatoes on above pictured plate, but it's probably the size of a small fist, just cut in half.

You know I had some froyo for dessert!

A scoop of my favorite cookies and cream topped with (probably unnecessary?) chocolate sprinkles.

Here's my brand:

Well, have a great week everyone.  Here's a picture of Bizzy the dog with sunglasses on, to bring some sunshine to your day!

WIAW: Brick Chicken & Photo Recap

source

Good Morning!  It's the first What I Ate Wednesday for March!

I never know what the theme is going to be for the first WIAW post of the month until that day.  And since I take my pics a day ahead of time (on Tuesday), my recap might not look so "green."  Oh well...

Breakfast #1: PB English Muffin

Before 5 a.m. boot camp workout I had the last of the crunchy peanut butter on half of a whole grain English muffin.  Always a delicious choice!

Breakfast #2: Shake 

I continued the peanut butter love by including some smooth pb in my shake.  Shake included: 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup almond milk, 5 strawberries, a handful of blueberries, 1 frozen banana and a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter.

Coffee on the side x 2!

 Snack: Bar & Yogurt

I was really hungry this morning, so I had Greek yogurt and a Kind bar.  It was very helpful in taming the hungry beast within.

 Lunch: Smoky Chicken Chili

Last week I made this Smoky White Bean Chili and it was so so so yummy!  I had the last of it for lunch alongside some light rye Wasa crackers, a cheese wedge and carrots.

Coffee for dessert!

That's a tall skinny cinnamon dolce latte made with soy & and added shot of espresso.

Too busy busy for an afternoon snack, so I was quite starving for dinner.  Which was a winner.  That was an unintentional rhyme, but I'll go with it (winner winner chicken dinner!).

 Dinner: Brick Chicken, Sauteed Cabbage, Smashed Potatoes & Brocolli

This chicken turned out so yummy!  We took the bones out (which you can find instructions for here), added olive oil and spice rub and grilled the chicken under two aluminum foil wrapped bricks.  It was awesome.  I'll make one during the day sometime so I can take better pictures and do a recipe down the road to share.

On the side I made sauteed cabbage with olive oil, garlic and a touch of soy sauce.  I had never done this before, but will definitely do it again--delish!

I made smashed potatoes by microwaving potatoes til fork tender then smashing them down with a masher, drizzling with olive oil, spices and cheese then baking for 25 minutes in a 425 degree oven.

I also microwaved broccoli for some more green.

Here's a quick recap of my Photo an Hour Challenge I gave myself on Friday.

All pictures were taken from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (one an hour) on Saturday, March 2nd.

You can see larger pics in order with explanation of each on my Instagram page.

You do not need to have an Instagram account to view them.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!!!