The Pork Butt Experiment

Porn.

Happy birthday to my buddy, A! After 20-some-odd years of friendship, one might think gift options have become scarce. Not so.

To celebrate her big 3-1, I launched a weekend-long project that began, last Friday, with a backpack full of pork, and ended on Sunday night with 10 lbs of oozingly tender shredded bliss. I am the best friend ever.

Now, a heap of pork may not look nice in a big red bow, but cooking does keep gift-giving interesting. Keep it in mind for the carnivores in your life.

Here are the details. (The recipe comes from a widely read New York Times piece, and a related recipe, about Momofuku's coveted Bo Ssam.)

From nytimes.com

Step one: find a good butcher.  Depending on the number of people you expect to feed, and what other food will be around (is it a pot luck dinner, or is your pork the star of the show?), you'll need a good-sized cut of meat. I bought a 10-lb slab for about 15 people (it was too much). But you get the idea.

Ask for a "pork butt", which is really the shoulder, with the bone in. Not every store will have this big cut laying around, so finding a real butcher is important. (I went to the old school Simchick's in Midtown East.) Ask the dude to trim away some of the fat, but to leave a thick cap on top. This will melt down into the meat as you cook it.  


Step two: cure some meat:  Combine one cup of white sugar and one cup of kosher salt, then rub your pork generously with the mixture until evenly coated. Wrap tightly in seran wrap and refrigerate overnight.


Step three: cook low and slow:  The Times recipe calls for cooking your pork butt at 300 degrees for 6 hours, but Chowhounders insist that 1 hour per pound at 325 is the way to go. I found that this cut is incredibly forgiving. As long as you keep the heat relatively low and cook at least 6-7 hours, you'll achieve the desired tender results.

Allow the meat to rest up to one hour.

 
Step four: caramelize the "bark":  Combine a handful of brown sugar with a scant tablespoon of salt, then rub over the top of your slightly cooled meat. Blast in the oven at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until a delectable brown crust, or "bark", forms.

The shoulder is ready to shred and serve. (The Times recipe includes ideas for sauces and other accoutrements. I made a simple soy-based sauce of ginger and scallions, then sprinkled it onto a few tablespoons of pork and wrapped the whole mess in lettuce leaves.)

Enjoy!