So the other week I made some pretty amazing Canadian bacon. This time I'm doing cured Boston butt (also called buckboard bacon). I'm using the same proportions of sugar, salt, and cure #1, but changing up the spices (both have garlic and onion powder and were covered in cracked black pepper before applying the cure; the CB had coriander, cloves, and allspice for a Christmas ham flavor, the butt has cayenne and Hungarian hot paprika).
I got a 5lb bone-in butt, removed the bone (I want the option to slice it) and trimmed all big chunks of fat.
I have a couple options that I can see, please chime in if you see another!
- smoke to 140 internal and slice, will need to be cooked/pan fried before eating (most like bacon)
- smoke to 160-180 internal, will be sliced like deli ham (ready to eat, does not need additional cooking)
- smoke to pulled pork temp at 195-205, make "pulled butt ham" (saw this on the interweb)
Wondering if anyone has done anything similar. Also looking for what exactly happens to a pork but at different temps - I've only made pulled pork so not quite sure the ideal temps for each of the above scenarios.
I'm leaning towards a higher temp that won't pull but can be sliced, the plan being that I get most of the fat rendered and I have a moist product that is perfect for sandwiches. For those asking why I didn't just do a leg if I want ham, I'm working my way up in meat size and a full leg might show up around the holidays
Appreciate any feedback.