What Most Pitmasters Don’t Know About Smoking Pork Butt in Massachusetts
June 21, 2025
Cambridge, VA: Fat does not melt down into the meat.
I’ve smoked food for over 20 years and won several competitions. Over the years I’ve heard Pitmasters suggest smoking meat fat side up. They claim the fat melts into the meat. While smoking fat side up is good, it’s not because the fat melts into the meat. The real benefit is that it keeps the meat from drying out. In this article, I’ll explain this idea further and cover other useful tips.
Here are the 5 things most Pitmasters don’t know about smoking Pork Butt.
- Premium Pork is Pointless
- The Problem With Hot & Fast
- The Step Most Pitmasters Miss
- The Truth About Fat
- Better Binder Than Mustard
Premium Pork is Pointless
Unlike beef, meat quality doesn’t matter much when smoking pork butt. All pork butts have plenty of fat and connective tissue, regardless of quality. If you cook it slowly at low heat for enough time, you’ll always get tender, juicy meat. The only important choice is getting a bone in cut. The bone helps keep the juices in the meat, which prevents it from drying out
The quality of the pork only matters with the following cuts:
- Pork Chops
- Pork Tenderloin/Loin
- Bacon
The Problem With Hot & Fast
Some meats cook well using “hot and fast” methods, but pork butt definitely isn’t one of them. There are two main reasons why:
- Fat Rendering: Slow cooking lets the fat melt properly, keeping the meat juicy.
- Collagen Breakdown: Collagen needs time to turn into soft gelatin. Without this step, the meat stays tough, even if fully cooked.
Rushing this process won’t give you good results. Properly cooked pork butt easily pulls apart and stays juicy for hours. Rushed pork feels dry and chewy. You’ll know you’ve cooked it correctly if your grease drain shows a layer of fat on top, with a jelly-like brown substance underneath. That substance is the collagen that’s broken down.
The Step Most Pitmasters Miss
The step most BBQ experts miss is scoring the fat before adding seasoning. Scoring means using a sharp knife to make shallow cuts in a crisscross or diamond pattern on the fatty surface of pork. Your cuts should go through the fat layer but stop before cutting into the meat below.
Below is a picture of how it should look.
Scoring the fat on your pork butt has 4 main benefits:
- Better Bark formation
- Deeper seasoning penetration
- Improved fat melting
- Enhanced smoke flavor
Fat Side Down or Up?
Despite popular belief, fat doesn’t melt and soak into meat. Meat is mostly water. Fat is mostly oil. Oil and water don’t mix. However, rendered fat will run down the surface of the meat. The fat helps by forming a protective coating that locks in moisture. But the juiciness in properly cooked pork butt comes from internal fat and collagen breaking down during slow cooking. Not from the fat melting into the meat as many think.
Better Binder Than Mustard
Here’s a BBQ secret: Mayo works better than mustard as a binder for 3 key reasons:
- Better Bark: Mayo’s oil and egg yolks create deeper browning and a crispier, richer crust than mustard.
- Better Rub Adhesion: Mayo’s thick, oily texture helps spices stick firmly to the meat, especially in score marks on the fat cap.
- Better Moisture: Unlike water-based mustard, mayo’s fat creates a protective coating that helps lock in moisture during long cooking.
These are the exact tips I use for my award-winning pork butt. Now, here’s my recipe:
Ingredients
• Pork Butt
• Apple Cider Vinegar Solution (50/50 mix of vinegar and water)
• Bald Buck Seasoning
• Heavy-duty Aluminum Foil (for wrapping)
Recipe
Prepare & Start Smoking
- Preheat your smoker to 250°F and maintain this temperature throughout cooking.
- Score the fat cap in a crisscross pattern with a sharp knife, then season generously with Bald Buck Seasoning (use it like salt).
- Place the seasoned pork butt directly on the smoker grate and let it smoke undisturbed for 3-4 hours.
During the smoke
- After the initial 3-4 hours spray the pork with a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water every 30-45 minutes, avoiding direct spraying on the fat cap.
- Around 5-6 hours in, check if the pork has reached about 170°F internally and if your finger easily sinks into the fat. If so, it’s ready to wrap; if not, continue smoking and checking periodically.
Finishing & Resting
- When ready, wrap the pork tightly in two layers of heavy-duty aluminium foil and return it to the smoker (or place in a 250°F oven)
- After about 2 hours wrapped, check if the internal temperature has reached 203- 204°F and a meat probe slides in easily like butter.
- Let the wrapped pork rest for at least 1 hour before unwrapping, removing the bone, and shredding, just before serving to keep it juicy.
Hope these tips help and enjoy!!
Pro Tips:
- Bone In: Many pitmasters will tell you to buy bone-in meat because the bone adds more flavor. This is scientifically wrong. The bone’s main role is structural. It helps hold the meat together during cooking. It doesn’t add extra flavor.
- Spraying Pork: I’ve heard pitmasters say spraying pork butt keeps it out moist. This is false. Did you want? Spraying mainly helps develop bark. The moisture inside pork butt actually comes from collagen breaking down during cooking, not from external spraying.
- Bald Buck Seasoning: This seasoning is one of my best-kept secrets. It creates a flavor profile everyone loves but can’t quite put their finger on. I use this in place of salt for all my meat. There are a lot of YouTube reviews about but below is my favorite.