Many people mistakenly think pork butts come from the butt of the pig. They couldn’t be more wrong. The cut actually comes from the front shoulder of the pig. Many years ago, a major pork processing plant in Boston was well known for a cut known as a Boston Blade Roast. They packed these roasts in small casks called “butts.” Put pork in a butt and you have a pork but. This is also why what we now commonly call a pork butt looks just like a Boston Blade Roast; they’re the same cut.
Ingredients:
Pork:
7-10 Pound Pork Butt (or picnic roast)
Tar River Seasonings Central North Carolina Seasoning
20 oz Bottle Iced Tea
Wood Chips (hickory for strong smoke flavor, fruitwood for
a milder smoke flavor)
Mop Sauce:
1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbl Tar River Seasonings Central North Carolina Seasoning
1 Cup Apple Juice
1 Cup Additional Liquid such as Beer, Cola, or Tea
Directions:
1. Trim the fat-cap on the roast to about 1/4 inch thick and remove
excess fat from other areas of the roast.
2. Generously coat the top, bottom, ends, and sides of the roast with our
seasoning. Doing this in a deep baking pan helps contain the mess
and reduces wasted seasoning
3. Prepare smoker,filling the drip pan with the iced tea and an equal
amount of water.
4. Adjust the smoker temperature for 200-225 degrees and place the roast
in the smoker.
5. Combine the vinegar and seasoning for the mop sauce and heat until
the sugars in the seasoning dissolve. Stir in remaining ingredients.
6. After two hours, start apply a little mop sauce every hour.
7. Continue smoking the meat until it reaches an internal temperature of
140 degrees. Above this temperature the meat stops absorbing the
smoke.
8. Remove the roast from the smoker to a deep roasting pan and add the
remaining mop sauce to the pan.
9. Tightly cover the pan and roast with heavy foil.
10. At this point, you can return the roast to the smoker or save smoker
fuel and finish the cooking in an oven. It makes no difference in flavor.
11. Continue cooking the roast at 300-325 degrees until it reaches
195 degrees.
12. Remove the roast from the smoker or oven and without removing the
foil, allow the meat to rest for 15-20 minutes.
13. Carefully remove the foil and remove the meat to a cutting board,
reserving one cup of the cooking liquid, skimming off the grease
from the liquid.
14. Break the meat into chunks, pull it, chop it, or do all three.
15. Mix the reserved cooking liquid with the meat.
16. If desired, stir in 1-3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes to taste.