ht01us
New member
Based on my perusal of this website, it seems I am in a minority for brining my Boston Butts for pulled pork. So, with more than 20 people coming over for dinner this weekend for a birthday bash and celebration of 2 engagements I thought I'd apply the optometrist test. I prepared 2 Boston Butts; one my traditional brine and one with just a rub. "Which do you like better? 'A' or 'B'"?
The Classic
Friday night I put a 7 lb pork shoulder in a brine of 2 quarts water, 9 oz pickling salt, and 3/4 cup molasses. Got it all jammed in a 6 qt container and into the refrigerator. Saturday night it came out of the brine, I pat dried it and applied a rub of paprika, cumin, corriander, and what-not. No sugar or salt in the rub
The Contender
This was another 7 lb pork shoulder. Friday evening I applied a then film of vegetable oil followed by a rub of paprika, spices, sugar and salt.
The Cook
The went on the Mak 2 Start at 8:30 PM Saturday night and cooked all night. The main probe went into the brined butt. 225* until an IT of 145; bump the heat to 255* until IT of 195. Temps got down to the low 30's overnight. It was my first overnight cook; and that was fun. In the morning, I foiled, and placed in a cooler with towels where they stayed warm for 4 hours. After shredding we refrigerated for a bit; then splashed them with apple juice and warmed in the oven for about an hour at 200
The Results
As my son and I shredded the two shoulders we took a couple of tastes and we both clearly had a favorite.
I didn't tell the guests what the difference was. I marked one as "B" and one as "N". I asked everyone to try a bit of both and vote.
Twenty two people were at the house; one was a vegan, resulting in 21 voters. The results were in and the choice was clear: people liked the brined butt much more. The final tally was 16-5; a more than 3-to-1 preference for the brined butt. They said it was tastier and juicier. The 5 who voted for the unbrined butt noted that it tasted smokier.
For me it wasn't even close. As soon as I tasted the sample of the unbrined butt I just didn't like it as much.
So, for me; I'll be brining my pork butts.
The Classic
Friday night I put a 7 lb pork shoulder in a brine of 2 quarts water, 9 oz pickling salt, and 3/4 cup molasses. Got it all jammed in a 6 qt container and into the refrigerator. Saturday night it came out of the brine, I pat dried it and applied a rub of paprika, cumin, corriander, and what-not. No sugar or salt in the rub
The Contender
This was another 7 lb pork shoulder. Friday evening I applied a then film of vegetable oil followed by a rub of paprika, spices, sugar and salt.
The Cook
The went on the Mak 2 Start at 8:30 PM Saturday night and cooked all night. The main probe went into the brined butt. 225* until an IT of 145; bump the heat to 255* until IT of 195. Temps got down to the low 30's overnight. It was my first overnight cook; and that was fun. In the morning, I foiled, and placed in a cooler with towels where they stayed warm for 4 hours. After shredding we refrigerated for a bit; then splashed them with apple juice and warmed in the oven for about an hour at 200
The Results
As my son and I shredded the two shoulders we took a couple of tastes and we both clearly had a favorite.
I didn't tell the guests what the difference was. I marked one as "B" and one as "N". I asked everyone to try a bit of both and vote.
Twenty two people were at the house; one was a vegan, resulting in 21 voters. The results were in and the choice was clear: people liked the brined butt much more. The final tally was 16-5; a more than 3-to-1 preference for the brined butt. They said it was tastier and juicier. The 5 who voted for the unbrined butt noted that it tasted smokier.
For me it wasn't even close. As soon as I tasted the sample of the unbrined butt I just didn't like it as much.
So, for me; I'll be brining my pork butts.