Boston Butt

Way back when, I posted a recipe to make cajun gunpowder, the only really required spice on either a low country boil or a boston butt. I prepared two boston butts for the funeral last week. They were first scored across the top and bottom with a sharp knife, then anointed and rubbed with a "fair amount" of extra virgin olive oil. After the oil had a moment to soak in, then each piece of meat was rubbed with about a third of a cup of cajun gunpowder, top, bottom and sides. There is quite a bit of salt in the cajun gunpowder, but I like to grind some fresh sea salt and fresh ground pepper on the surface as well. The final rub is with a couple of tablespoons of Tone's Italian Seasoning.

After all the rubbing and anointing, each butt is placed in its own pan and shifted to the oven. I start with a cold oven, set the oven on bake, about 500 degrees for half an hour. I then turn the oven down between two hundred and two hundred twentyfive degrees and let the stuff roast on low heat for about twelve hours (generally overnight, eight to eight is a good time. If I plan to slice the meat I may (I did this time) take it out about an hour early and let it set on the cupboard for one to one and one half hours. If it is to be "pulled" like barbecue, I leave it for the full time, or even a little more, so that it falls easily off the bone. This one is "cut" with two forks, shredded or pulled. The remains are then chopped with a cleaver.

Below are the pictures of the two butts, just out of the oven. The one on the right gets pulled, the one on the left (which has cooled for about an hour) gets sliced. Actually, my ineptitude in posting blogger pictures has resulted in the sliced pork on top, the two butts in the middle and the pulled pork (with Georgia barbecue sauce on the bottom. The pulled pork is served with a container of barbecue sauce handy and sliced bread beside it. The sliced pork is used however one likes it.