Yeah, I know, everyone likes big butts, but it turns out that there is something to be said for small butts as well. Yesterday I cooked for a small (around 25) gathering to celebrate Bob’s (he of the delicate palate) 40th birthday. What I thought were going to be two enormous pork shoulders in the cryovac package turned out to be five much smaller cuts. The majority of the fat had been removed and what was left were five very dense hunks of nice looking butts.
This did create a bit of an issue; I was concerned (rightfully so, as it turned out) about the smaller cuts cooking faster so I ended up putting them on the WSM much later than I had originally planned to. The butts were prepared in the usual fashion and put on the WSM about 23:00 Friday night.
By 07:30 the next morning, they were already registering over 170°F internally, so I lowered the WSM temperature and sopped them a few times over the next hour until they were ready to come off. As you can see by comparing the pictures, they shrunk a bit, but not a lot.
Now this by itself was probably enough to feed the crowd we were expecting, but when did I ever go to one of these events with only one tray of food? Pulled chicken was on the menu as well. Gotta have some thighs to go with that butt…
I should probably apologize for all the shadows in that picture, but my skills with a camera are average at best. Bob will attest to that; he is a very skilled photographer and I hear he is relaunching his website in the very near future (shameless plug here in return for some link love). One of these days I ought to drag him over here and have him take pictures of the food so I can concentrate on the cooking. Oh, and actually get a hot meal as soon as it hits the plate instead of standing around messing with a camera while my family shakes their head and looks at me funny.
At any rate, I took over a big batch of pulled pork…
And a not-quite-as-big batch of pulled chicken…
And some hot dogs that jumped on to the WSM when I wasn’t looking…
The guests all seemed pleased with the results, and it appears I’ll be joining LizBob for dinner later this week to help them deal with the leftovers. I believe Bubba Ho-Keg may be making a roadtrip and that pizza will be served. Who knows, there might even be homemade artisan dough for these…
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Great post, I like butts of all sizes and yours look like a great size!
You don’t think these pictures make my butt look big? (Sorry, couldn’t resist…)
That is crazy! I have had the kind of surprise where the twin pack of cryo wrapped butts has two drastically different sizes but NEVER like that. I’ve never even heard of someone having that happen. Somewhere Sir-Mix-Alot is shedding a tear.
It seems like you pulled it off though. Did any of the labeling suggest any reason for the packaging?
The label simply said “pork shoulder”. Same as you, I’ve had the experience of two very different sizes, but this was a first. It turned out fine, but it certainly was a surprise.
Weird! Maybe they were just really small pigs so they threw a few in the pack to meet the weight?
Looks great in any case.
I’m sure there were some butchers standing around at the end of their shift going “what should we do with all these leftover small butts?” and then some wise guy came up with the idea to mess with my head. And give me something to write about…
I think it is deflation rearing it’s ugly head!
Hey, did you just call me an ugly butt head? I resemble that remark!
Although in retrospect, I probably ought to be more concerned about that deflation comment…
Deflation;
cash is king and debt is too be shunned. It gets more complicated than that but we are talking BBQ here!
My philosophy exactly. Served us well when the real estate and finance markets fell apart. There is good debt and bad debt, and just plain stupid debt. Fortunately for us, we had neither of the last two. And we are talking BBQ here…
The pulled chicken made great chicken quesadillas for dinner tonight! We’re figuring out a good night for the pizza’s with Pigdog and family.
Fabulous feast!!! I could not think of a better 40th birthday gift (well, maybe I could…) Anyhow, you did a great job of keeping the spiciness under control and I cannot believe how fortunate I am to have the pleasure of getting to keep your leftovers for this week’s meals! Let me know the next time you’re cooking and I’ll grab my camera.
It would have been bad form to light you on fire on your birthday. You already had enough of that going on with the candles on the cake…
And from the looks of it, I will be cooking every night for the next 3 weeks. Unless I decide to take a night off and go out.
I personally like small butts as they are much easier to deal with, especially on a hot summer day. How about adding some nice breasts with those thighs next time ? We are talking about pork and chicken, right ? Hmmmmm
And people wonder how you got your name…
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