1st Pellet Smoke Underway: Boston Butts

[Pappymn]

Silver skin for sure remove. That stuff will not render. I wouldn't worry too much about the other fat

Ok. It'll be easier with a sharper knife. Didn't realize how poor my knives were until I was trimming the butts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I sharpened all my knives today. They were overdue. Almost cut myself because of a dull knife. That gave the project greater urgency.

[tomcrete1]

Congrats on a successful cook! looks great from here! 

[Roget]

Silver skin for sure remove. That stuff will not render. I wouldn't worry too much about the other fat

I agree with Pappy.
I'm no expert, but for me a lot of fat is not a problem on butts.
For clarification, I do mean pork butts.

[Jaxon]

I smoked a butt today in the offset.  I don't usually worry about that silverskin thing because the meat pulls away from it very easily after the cook.

I almost always take 'em to 165 - 175 before wrapping - seems to get heavier bark at that temp.  Keep in mind that I'm just a backyard jack and take all advice with a grain of rub.

B T W, the finished product looks great!!

[Cajunate]

I see nothing wrong with what you did there. EXCEPT for maybe bark. You'll learn something every time you do something. Great job!

[akruckus]

Pretty darn good for your first cook!

[teesquare]

Silver skin for sure remove. That stuff will not render. I wouldn't worry too much about the other fat

I agree with Pappy.
I'm no expert, but for me a lot of fat is not a problem on butts.
For clarification, I do mean pork butts.

  ( Good one! )

Just an idea about silverskin and fat:
 The fat will become less of a problem if you ramp up your cook temps to 275F - after you have hit the "stall". The reason is that the slightly higher temp. will help to melt away more of the fat. The meat will not suffer. It will not be dry. ( In fact I have often cranked up the temp. to 350F for a few hours to "set the bark" - then back down the temp to finish the pork.)

About the silverskin: -  time can help - and even make it go away - as in dissolve - when using sous vide. Not that you would do that to a pork butt When I have cooked various roasts that will have silverskin between muscle groups using Sous Vide - then finish them on the grill ( and often pre-cold smoke them before the sous vide part...really nice mellow smoke profile is easily achieved ) the time at lower temps really allows the silverskin to virtually melt. It either disappears - or almost disappears - situation dependent.