OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.

How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
lower temperature?

My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on timings,
temperatures, etc.

Thanks for any advice.

-S-

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:36:47 -0500, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
> butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
> it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
> How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
> lower temperature?
>
> My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
> near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on timings,
> temperatures, etc.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
Put it in a covered Dutch oven and slow cook at 200-250° until done.
You have plenty of time and it won't take as long as you think. Start
checking the internal temperature at two hours.... it never takes as
long as the internet leads you to believe (if my oven temp is off,
it's too low - not too high). I don't bother to preheat the oven
either.

$5 lb from Whole Foods is a fantastic price, btw. Thanks, I may get
one too.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:13:41 -0500, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> Thanks - seems to be doing nicely, will report back on the final
> results. My wife wrapped it in foil but is also making it in a clay
> "oven" that she has used to make brisket in the past, another 'low temp
> for a while' thing. I'm not sure both foil wrap and the clay oven are
> necessary ...
>
Those clay bakers are fantastic - if it's the kind you soak first and
start in a cold oven. The foil certainly isn't necessary because it's
just going to steam your pork, but I don't see how a clay baker would
hurt it. I make the most fantastic, crispy chicken in mine but I
haven't used it in practically forever (since I learned to roast them
vertically in the oven). You're inspiring me to drag it out!

Please post about how everything turns out.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:36:47 -0500, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

>OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
>butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
>it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
>How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
>lower temperature?
>
>My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
>near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on timings,
>temperatures, etc.
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>-S-
>

It also verrrry good in a crock pot with a bag of fresh cranberries,
beer, honey, orange zest and spices. Works for turkey breast too.

On 11/23/2012 4:57 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:38:39 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>> $5 lb from Whole Foods is a fantastic price, btw. Thanks, I may get
>> one too.
>
> $5/lb for pork butt? Somebody must have bumped their widdle head.
> That even seems like $1 more then their regular high prices.
>
> -sw
>
Not everyone is lucky to have an HEB in their neighborhood, Steve :-)

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Steve Freides > wrote:

>OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
>butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
>it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
>How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
>lower temperature?

Using a braising method, try three hours at a steady 300F in a dutch oven
placed in the oven. (So I was told several years ago by Steve Wertz and
this method has always worked perfectly for me.)

An oven thermometer is a good idea.

Steve

On 2012-11-24, Steve Pope > wrote:
>
> Using a braising method, try three hours at a steady 300F in a dutch oven
> placed in the oven.

Yep.

I cook carnitas in a dutch oven at 350F. I also bake bone-in
pull-pork at 350F. A pork butt has sooo much fat, the meat will not
come even close to drying out. When the bone turns, it's done. All
that low/slow nonsense may be cool for brisket, but I ain't got 13 hrs
to babysit a lump o' swine.

nb



--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:06:06 -0600, Janet Wilder
> wrote:

> On 11/23/2012 4:57 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> > On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:38:39 -0800, sf wrote:
> >
> >> $5 lb from Whole Foods is a fantastic price, btw. Thanks, I may get
> >> one too.
> >
> > $5/lb for pork butt? Somebody must have bumped their widdle head.
> > That even seems like $1 more then their regular high prices.
> >
> > -sw
> >
> Not everyone is lucky to have an HEB in their neighborhood, Steve :-)

I was talking about hormone free, high quality pork that Steve F
bought at WF - not the sh*t SW buys, takes a crappy picture of and
then shoves down his flabby gullet.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

Steve Freides wrote:
> OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of
> pork butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some
> spices on it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
> How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
> lower temperature?
>
> My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
> near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on
> timings, temperatures, etc.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> -S-

Oh, my goodness, was it tasty. My wife is going to head over to Fairway
Market, a bit less expensive than Whole Foods, this morning and we're
going to try a bigger one. Last night's went quickly, even with lots of
tasty side dishes, because both boys (ages 20 and 15) were home.

-S-

sf wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 19:06:06 -0600, Janet Wilder
> > wrote:
>
>> On 11/23/2012 4:57 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:38:39 -0800, sf wrote:
>>>
>>>> $5 lb from Whole Foods is a fantastic price, btw. Thanks, I may
>>>> get one too.
>>>
>>> $5/lb for pork butt? Somebody must have bumped their widdle head.
>>> That even seems like $1 more then their regular high prices.
>>>
>>> -sw
>>>
>> Not everyone is lucky to have an HEB in their neighborhood, Steve :-)
>
> I was talking about hormone free, high quality pork that Steve F
> bought at WF - not the sh*t SW buys, takes a crappy picture of and
> then shoves down his flabby gullet.

To each his own, folks. We live a couple of blocks from the
shopping/downtown district of our town which has three grocery stores in
it, a Stop 'N' Shop, a Kings, and a Whole Foods. Part of why I shop at
WF is that it's the perfect walk for me, about a mile each way, and I go
grocery shopping often enough that I get what I need into a small
backpack most of the time. It's a "lifestyle" choice as well as a
grocery store choice. I go to TJ's when I'm already out in the car,
usually after taking my son to school first thing in the morning. We've
belonged to Price Club (Costco) and BJ's in the past - it's just not my
thing at this point in my life. If that's where you like to shop, more
power to you, and if you invite me over, I'll be glad to eat whatever
you're serving, wherever it came from.

And, that said, I have confidence in what I buy from Whole Foods and
that's priceless. Everything there is more expensive and I don't buy
everything there, but they are my go-to place for deli meat and fresh
meat, poultry, and fish. We could argue endless about what's a better
grocery store, what's a better value, what's worth it and what's not
worth it, etc. I'm not wealthy but I'm happy with my buying choices,
otherwise I'd change them.

We now return you to your previous program, already in progress.

-S-

Steve Freides wrote:
> Steve Freides wrote:
>> OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of
>> pork butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some
>> spices on it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>>
>> How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
>> lower temperature?
>>
>> My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
>> near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on
>> timings, temperatures, etc.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice.
>>
>> -S-
>
> Oh, my goodness, was it tasty. My wife is going to head over to
> Fairway Market, a bit less expensive than Whole Foods, this morning
> and we're going to try a bigger one. Last night's went quickly, even
> with lots of tasty side dishes, because both boys (ages 20 and 15)
> were home.
> -S-

Take 2! My wife went to Fairways. They had pork butt - only bone-in
and prepackaged but it was only $1.69 per pound. She got the biggest
one they had, which was 8 lbs. Fairways is another market I trust. (We
used to call it the poor man's Zabar's - both NYC references and my
apologies if they're lost on people not familiar with either store.)

My wife says she didn't love having to remove the skin but, other than
that, it's been dry-rubbed, put in a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes, and
it now cooking the rest of the way at 225. It's what's for dinner
tonight again.

-S-

On 23/11/2012 12:36 PM, Steve Freides wrote:
> OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
> butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
> it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
> How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
> lower temperature?
>
> My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
> near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on timings,
> temperatures, etc.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>


The times I cooked pork butt I used a dry rub with salt, pepper, sugar
and about half the spices in my collection and sat for 12 hours and was
then cooked in a covered pot for 6 hours.

On 11/23/2012 7:36 AM, Steve Freides wrote:
> OK, we went to Whole Foods this morning and bought a 3 lb. piece of pork
> butt. My wife wants to have it tonight so she dry-rubbed some spices on
> it and we put it in the oven at 500 F. $5/lb.
>
> How long to leave at 500F? How long to cook after that and at what
> lower temperature?
>
> My wife is doing this - I'm busy roasting coffee which takes
> near-constant attention - and says she can find no guidance on timings,
> temperatures, etc.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> -S-
>
>

It's not critical at all. I'll roast my butt between 5 to 8 hours @ 200.
I think the last time I cooked one it was 10 hours! I just put it in a
covered pot in the morning and forget it for the rest of the day. You
can add liquid to the pot but the butts these days seem to be injected
with fluids and I get copious amount of liquid in the pan which makes it
very easy to make a pot of tasty gravy. The oven temperature is so low
that I can grab the pot bare handed. :-)

What I do is shred or chunk the butt and fry it in a pan with a good
amount of oil. For extra fun squirt on some vinegar while it's frying. I
love doing that.

I've never bought a butt @ $5.00/lb. That would probably kill me.