Tender baked boston butt is my favorite dish to make for my family. I like to prepare them using my convection oven at a temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit. I have experimented with many temperature but i find this is the best temperature that gives me tender meat with a slightly crispy crust. Cooking timing is a key here. So how long to cook boston butt in oven at 325 degrees? This post gets you covered for boston butt in oven. Read on to learn how to make a homemade baked boston butt that melts in your mouth.
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It takes 40 minutes to cook boston butt per pound in the oven at 325 degrees. That is to say a 5 lb boston butt will take 3 hr 20 min to reach edible condition. The reward for waiting so long will be an amazingly tender meat with juices running out when you cut it.
Boston butt is flexible when it comes to cooking temperatures. You can roast it to 400 degrees to reduce the waiting time. Each pound will require 30 minutes of baking. To be more explicit, a 5 pound boston butt will reach perfect doneness in 2 and a half hours. If you choose 400 degrees, the meat will turn out with a firm crust and a pink center. At 350 degree F, boston butt bakes for 33-35 minutes per pound and comes out uniformly cooked and golden.
We are also big fans of slow cooking boston butt at 250 degrees F. We usually do it when we have plenty of time to spend around in the kitchen, as at 250 the meat cooks the longest at 1 hour per pound. But the result is worth every second you and your family wait, as you get an exceptionally delicate and succulent meat that simply melts in your mouth.
If best temperature means the one providing the best balance between juiciness, tenderness and crispiness, 350 reigns supreme. You will get a bit of all worlds. We would also mention 250 degrees as a suitable temperature for boston butt. Its main drawbacks, though, are minimal crisp and long cooking time. But if you have all the time in the world and adore non-crust meat, you should go for it.
Here’s the recipe to cook boston butt in the oven.
A trick that helps you to reduce a bit the bake time of boston butt is to wrap it in aluminum foil. You have to do it, though, after 2/3 of the bake time has passed. If you wrap the meat in foil from the very beginning, it will impede the appearance of crust and make the pork too moist. You can also rely on the convection fan to help boston butt to cook up faster.
Side dishes play an important role for a boston butt dinner. You want something that would enrich the boston butt taste-wise and flavor-wise, but not overpower it. A good companion for this dish is a green salad that adds a twist of freshness to the rich and filling meat. You can also just dress the plate with fresh vegetables without spending time on prepping and mixing ingredients for the salad.
A creamy mushroom soup will go a long way in balancing out the savory flavors and crispy texture of boston butt while ensuring you and your guests get filled up after such a hearty meal. Other side dishes for boston butt you will never go wrong with include baked beans, pilaf, steamed broccoli, mac and cheese and roasted potatoes.
It takes 60 minutes to cook boston butt per pound in the oven at 250 degrees. That is to say a 7 lb boston butt will take 7 hr to achieve a tender and juicy meat that melts in your mouth.
It takes 45 minutes to cook boston butt per pound in the oven at 300 degrees.
Boston butt will reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit when fully done.
The boston butt is also known as the pork butt. This meat cut is the top part of the pig’s shoulder close to the pig head.
Both are from the pig shoulder. The difference is that boston butt is the top part of the shoulder closer to the pig head while pork shoulder is the lower part of the shoulder. Boston butt also have more intramuscles and fat that the pork shoulder.
Here are the cooking times for cooking boston butt in oven per pound.