Pork Butt..... YES!!! it takes 8 hours!!!!!

My middle daughter Jessica wanted to cook a pork butt for her carnita's tacos.  She called and asked me how to prepare and cook it and so I gave her all the instructions over the phone.  Which took me way back in time to the many phone call conversations I used to have with my Mom, Grandmother and Aunt when I was learning to cook as a newlywed.

The last pork butt we cooked for a gathering here at the house, I wanted to put the pork butt in the oven to cook all night, knowing it needed to cook for 8 hours on 275.  Joe disagreed with me, he was going to smoke the cooked butt afterwards and felt it would be over cooked if I cooked it 8 hours.  I argued that it did indeed take a full 8 hours to cook, but.......  he insisted it would be over cooked.  Here is the problem...... I'm a Chef, Joe is a career 'Meat Man'..... sometimes we disagree on how things should be 'properly' cooked.  He was so insistent, so I only cooked it 5 hours like he suggested.  Well.......  because the meat had not cooked long enough in the oven, it took twice as long on the grill to smoke it and complete the cooking, and still.... it just wasn't as tender as it should have been.  Lesson learned..... we both now agree it does take a full 8 hours to cook.  Yep..... I REALLY wanted to gloat with "I told you so"..... but just let my sly smile do my talking!  LOL LOL

After the above experience, I know you just can't rush pork butt.  So when Jessica called wanting cooking instructions, I told her she needed to cook it in the oven 275 for 8 hours.  She says...."I planned on putting it in the crockpot and it says to cook only 6 hours".......I say "I think it should still cook for at least 8 hours on high in the crockpot or 8 hours in a 275 oven, preferably in the oven".  Jessica is sure this is going to over cook it and dry it out and I keep telling her to use the oven vs the crockpot.... but...... she wanted it to be perfect and therefore thought trusting the crockpot would be her best option.

After it had cooked in the crockpot for 6 hours, I got another phone call..... "Oh my gosh Mom, it is burnt and over cooked.... what do I do?"  I'm thinking..... really!?!  it's over cooked?????  HUMMMM!  She begged me to stop over and look at it and help her figure out what to do.  I would love to just crack up at this point, but.... having been a newlywed myself and not knowing about roasting meats at that time.... I just smile with fond memories of my own roasting woes!  When I got there, the pork butt was NOT burnt, in fact.... it was barely cooked at all.  By this time she is near tears until I told her.... "honey, it's not ruined, it's just not done yet".  I told her it would take at least another 2-4 hours to finish cooking and she again would not believe me.  So..... I stayed with her for the next 3 hours it did take to finish cooking, and when it was done, it was absolutely perfect!

I helped her take it from the crockpot to the oven and set the timer for 45 min.  We played backgammon, chatted and had a nice visit while we waited.  Both Joe and Winston were working late on this particular evening and she really wanted to have the roast ready for when Winston got home.  Did I mention that it was 7:00 pm when we started the oven roasting!?  When the buzzer dinged after the first 45 min, we went to check the meat.  It was starting to cook, but still needed another couple of hours, so we set the timer for 30 minute intervals and checked the meat every 30 minutes.  I showed her what it should look like and how it should feel.  And at 10:00 pm the pork was finally finished cooking and was pure perfection.  She was soooo relieved and soooo proud!  Winston literally walked in the door just as we removed the meat from the oven and had started shredding it.  Jessica made him a piping hot fresh taco and handed it to him just as he came into the room.  The timing really couldn't have been more perfect.

I kinda felt like Julia teaching a pupil how to see, smell, feel and taste when meat is done.  Jessica now knows when she checks on meat cooking, just how long it still needs to cook just by feeling it with a fork.  The reason she thought the meat was burnt was because when she tried to put her fork into it, it was really firm and the fork couldn't pierce into it.  It actually was quite fun to stick and feel the pork with a fork every 30 minutes to feel the texture changes that the meat goes through as it cooks.

Conclusion........ it takes 8 full hours to cook pork butt...... don't rush the pork butt!!!!  Now that I have not one, but two incidences to reflect back on that I am right on how long it takes to cook a pork butt...... I'm saying........ I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!  nana nana boo boo!!!!!   LOL LOL LOL