Do You Cook Pork Butt Fat up or Down?

When it comes to cooking, you need to keep a lot of things in mind other than safety, how to cook it, and the before-cooking process.

Concerning how you cook food, there are certain ways you have to cook food at times otherwise, you could end up ruining it in the long run.

Meat is a type of food that you especially need to cook in a certain way, or you could be at risk of ruining it.

One meat that falls under this category is pork butt, and in this article, you will learn whether or not to cook it with the fat facing up or down.

What Is Pork Butt?

Before we go into whether or not you should cook pork butt with the fat facing up or down, you should first know what pork butt is. Despite the obvious name, it is not always so clear what pork butt is.

Instead of coming from the rear, pork butt comes from a part of the pig’s shoulder.

It comes from an area where there is a lot of muscle, so this cut of meat is very chewy and tough if it is not cooked to be made tender.

However, despite this, pork butt is an inexpensive cut of meat, so if you are low on money, consider it.

Best Way To Cook Pork Butt: Fat up or Down?

When it comes to cooking pork butt, some may wonder if you should cook it with the fat side up or down.

You’ll be surprised to know that it doesn’t matter how you cook pork butt. Both methods come with their benefits.

The pork butt comes with a fat cap that covers one side of the cut. If you leave the fat cap on, you can cook it with the fat cap on the bottom.

The reason for this is that it can help keep your pork butt moist and make sure it doesn’t dry out. So, if you go with this reason, it’s easy to argue that pork butt should be cooked with the fat side down.

Keep in mind, however, that the fat could lead to the temperature heating up more because of fat drippings. This could lead to your pork butt drying out anyway or getting burnt/overdone.

It’s just best to go with what you feel will work with your cooking equipment.

If you feel that you have a decent grill, stove, etc., then leave the fat cap on the pork butt so the meat isn’t at risk of losing moisture.

How To Cook Pork Butt

Luckily for you, there are a few ways you can cook pork butt, and we’ve narrowed down the best methods to do so. To learn about them, read on.

• Braising pork butt means you are first cooking them in some oil or some other type of liquid on the stovetop. You stop once it’s lightly browned, and then you can continue and cook it either in the oven, grill, etc. It’s a great idea to braise pork butt because this will make the meat very, very tender. Once it’s done, it will practically fall apart in your mouth!
• Stewing pork butt is another thing you can do. To do this, you first need to dice or cut your pork butt into chunks and then cook it in a stew. Once pork butt is cooked long enough, it falls apart so stewing it is a great way to prepare it.
• Finally, the last method sees you baking your pork butt. This is usually done in the oven. Once you prepare the pork butt, preheat the oven and then cook it until it’s done. Simple but amazingly effective in the long run.

These are the top three ways to cook your pork butt. Just go with whatever feels right in the end because they all come with their strong and low points!

Benefits of Eating Pork Butt

As long as you are eating pork in moderation, then you can gain a few benefits from eating this type of meat. The benefits include:

• Protein can help increase the healing process, build muscle, curb hunger, and reduce muscle loss. It might be hard to believe, but all of these come with eating food that is high in protein, which includes pork butt or pork in general.
• B vitamins help with your metabolism and keep your skin and hair healthy. We admit that some of these benefits can seem a little vain, but who doesn’t want great hair and skin?
• Zinc is another benefit of eating pork. The reason you want to get zinc into your system is that it helps with wound healing, the immune system, and cell division, just to name a few benefits of consuming this mineral.
• Selenium is the last benefit on our list, but please do not count it out just because it’s last! The great thing about selenium is that it helps with your immune system, keeps your thyroid healthy, and can even help keep hair and nails healthy. Pretty good for just one mineral in question!

Remember, you get these benefits as long as you are eating pork butt in moderation.

If you are eating excessive amounts of pork butt, then you could be putting your health at risk. It sucks, but food does need to be consumed in moderation.

Final Thoughts

And there you go, all you pork butt lovers out there. Not only did we figure out if you can cook pork butt with the fat side up or down, but we also touched on the benefits of pork butt and the top three ways to cook it.

It doesn’t matter how you cook the pork butt. It’s more about preference, so if you prefer pork butt say with the fat cap on, then you should end up cooking it with that side facing down.

The same goes if you prefer it the other way around.

You might also be interested in the following:

• Do You Cook Salmon Skin up or Down?
• Do You Cook Turkey Breast up or Down?
• Pork Shoulder Fat up or Down?
• Corned Beef Fat Side up or Down?
• Brisket Fat Side up or Down?
• Do You Use Aluminum Foil Shiny Side up or Down?

William Thomas

I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.