Having trouble deciding which Grilla Grill you should get? While you’re at it, are you interested in learning how to barbecue a pork butt? We put the Grilla and the Silverbac to the test in a Pork Butt Throwdown. Even if you’re a Grilla Grill pitmaster, you can still up your game with some insider tips from the video. We used only salt for each pork butt to keep the test as close as possible. Which one looks best to you?
How to Choose Great Pork Butt for the Pellet Smoker
To make award-winning grilled pork butt, the best place to start is selecting high-quality pork butt from the local grocery. New to picking our pork butt? No worries. This is what we recommend after years of grilling Boston butt on the grill:
Look for slabs of meat that have a nice, even flesh and bright white fat. A yellowish tint indicates that the pork butt may have sat out for too long.
Look for a pork butt that has a tight plastic wrap surrounding the entire slab. If it has several air pockets, the Boston butt’s freshness may have been jeopardized.
Pork Butt or Boston Butt?
If you’ve ever asked what the difference is between pork butt and Boston butt, you’re not alone. Pork butt, or Boston butt, is the term for a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the hog’s shoulder. The term “Boston butt” comes from the way it was historically shipped. Boston butt is another name for a barrel and in the past, Boston butts were routinely shipped in barrels.
Boston butt is a popular cut of meat used for pulled pork, an American staple of barbecue. Due to all the connective tissue and fat inside the butt, this type of meat is best slow-smoked until the internal temperature reaches 195 to make pulled pork. If you’d like to serve pork butt as a roast, you can cook this cut to a slightly lower internal temperature of 165.
If you’re a veteran griller, you’re probably aware that pork shoulder cuts are large, rectangular pieces of meat that have the skin removed. It’s also almost always full of connective tissue and juicy marbled fat.
Don’t confuse pork or Boston butt for pork shoulder. They’re slightly different and some recipes call specifically for one or the other. In fact, mistaking pork butt for pork shoulder is a common misconception. Pork shoulder, or picnic ham, is a smaller cut of the hog that’s taken just below the Boston butt. Usually, the skin on this part of the pig is still attached.
Boston Butt on the Grill
Ready to be called pitmaster extraordinaire? Use the Grilla Grill wood pellet smoker grill for this easy pork butt recipe and become a star in your backyard.