Saucy Rossy BBQ
Pork

Smoked Pork Money Muscle

A pork money muscle smoked over sugar maple, butter-wrapped, and sliced into juicy medallions finished with candied cranberry hot sauce.

TimeLow & slow Prep15 min YieldServes 4–6 CategoryPork Watch5:09
Smoked Pork Money Muscle — watch on YouTube

Watch the full cook on YouTube

Method

  1. 1Season the money muscle generously with Unreal Pepper and Garden Herb rubs.Two rubs layered gives depth — pepper for backbone and bark structure, herbs for a savoury background. Season every face; the money muscle is a small cylinder and it takes seasoning well.
  2. 2Smoke on an offset over sugar maple until 170°F internal, spritzing with apple cider vinegar every 45 minutes.Sugar maple is mild and suits pork. Wait an hour or two before the first spritz so the rub bonds — spraying early washes it off. After that the spritz keeps the surface tacky so smoke keeps adhering.
  3. 3Wrap tightly in foil with knobs of butter and Super Sauce, then return to the smoker to braise until 203°F internal.Wrapping at 170°F pushes through the stall and turns the last phase into a braise. Butter and sauce season the braising liquid rather than leaving it plain.
  4. 4Rest, slice into thick medallions, and finish with Candied Cranberry Hot Sauce.203°F gives the pull-apart texture, but this cut is usually served sliced into medallions rather than pulled — so probe for tenderness and stop as soon as it gives. The candied cranberry sauce goes on off the heat; it is sugar-heavy and would scorch.

Watch it on YouTube

What each ingredient is doing

Pork money muscle
The tubular muscle at the end of a pork butt, near the bone — so named because competition cooks turn it in for the money. It is the most marbled, most tender part of the shoulder and it slices into neat medallions rather than pulling like the rest.
Unreal Pepper rub
Pepper-forward. Coarse pepper contributes to bark structure as much as flavour, which matters on a small cut with a lot of surface relative to its mass.
Garden Herb rub
The savoury background layer under the pepper. Herbs hold up over hours where fresh ones would blacken.
Apple cider vinegar spritz
Keeps the surface tacky so smoke adheres and slows the bark setting. Wait until the rub has bonded before the first spray.
Candied cranberry hot sauce
Sweet, tart and hot, applied off the heat at the end. Cranberry and pork is an old pairing and the acidity is what stops a rich cut feeling heavy.

Temperature guide

StageTempWhat it means
Wrap point170°F / 77°CBark set. Foil with butter and sauce.
Probe tender~203°F / 95°CStop as soon as it gives — this is served sliced, not pulled.
Finish sauceOff the heatA candied sauce is sugar and would scorch on the smoker.
Rest20–30 minutesBefore slicing into medallions.

Pitmaster tips

  • The money muscle is the tube at the end of a pork butt nearest the bone. Ask a butcher for it, or separate it yourself from a whole shoulder — it follows a natural seam.
  • Wait an hour or two before the first spritz. Spraying early washes the rub off before it has bonded to the meat.
  • Slice into medallions rather than pulling. This cut is prized for its texture and grain, which pulling destroys.
  • Stop as soon as the probe gives. Because it is served sliced, going well past tender loses the structure that makes it worth cooking separately.
  • Add the finishing sauce off the heat. A candied sauce is essentially sugar and will scorch on a hot rack.
  • Season every face generously — it is a small cylinder with a lot of surface relative to its mass.
  • Butter in the wrap does real work on a cut this size, which has less fat reserve than a whole shoulder.
  • Rest a full 20–30 minutes. Slicing early loses the juices you spent six hours protecting.
  • Sugar maple under a pepper-forward rub is a deliberate balance — a strong wood would fight it.
  • If you are cooking a whole butt anyway, separating the money muscle and finishing it differently gives you two dishes from one cut.

If it goes wrong

It fell apart when I sliced it
Taken too far past tender. Because it is served in medallions, stop as soon as the probe gives rather than pushing for pulled-pork texture.
It is tough
Undercooked. Wrap it again and give it another 30 minutes — it needs the collagen to convert like any shoulder muscle.
The rub washed off
Spritzed too early. Leave it alone for the first hour or two so the rub bonds.
The finishing sauce burnt
It went on while the meat was still on the smoker. Add it after it comes off, off the heat.
I cannot find money muscle at my butcher
Buy a whole bone-in pork butt and separate it yourself. It is the tubular muscle at the end nearest the bone and it lifts out along a natural seam with very little knife work.

Ways to change it up

Cook it with the whole butt
Leave it attached, cook the shoulder as normal, and separate the money muscle before pulling the rest. Two dishes from one cut.
Slice at 195°F
Pull slightly earlier for firmer medallions with more structure. Competition cooks often aim for this rather than full pull-apart.
Different finishing sauce
Apple, peach or a hot honey. Fruit and pork is the principle; cranberry is simply the sharpest option.
No wrap
Run unwrapped for better bark. Given the cut's size, expect a drier result.
Pellet or kettle
Any smoker holding 225–250°F. The wrap point and probe test are unchanged.

What to serve it with

  • Sliced into thick medallions so the grain shows.
  • Candied cranberry hot sauce spooned over.
  • Roast or mashed potatoes.
  • Something green and sharp against a rich cut.
  • A cold cider or a light red.

Storage & reheating

Store the money muscle whole and unsliced with any juices from the wrap — a small cut dries out fast once sliced. It keeps 3–4 days refrigerated.

Reheat wrapped in foil at 250°F with a splash of stock or apple juice until warmed through. Because it is a shoulder muscle it reheats better than a lean cut, but a hard fast reheat still drives out the fat that took six hours to render.

It freezes for about three months. Freeze it whole rather than sliced, vacuum-sealed if possible, and thaw overnight in the fridge. Leftover money muscle chopped into a hash or a sandwich is excellent, and the finishing sauce keeps a week refrigerated.

FAQ

What is the money muscle?

The tubular muscle at the end of a pork butt nearest the bone. Competition cooks named it because it is the piece they turn in to the judges — it is the most marbled and most tender part of the shoulder, and it slices into neat medallions rather than pulling apart like the rest of the butt.

Where do I buy money muscle?

Most butchers do not sell it separately, so the usual route is buying a whole bone-in pork butt and separating it yourself. It lifts out along a natural seam at the end nearest the bone with very little knife work — and you still have the rest of the shoulder for pulled pork.

Should it be sliced or pulled?

Sliced, into thick medallions. That is the whole point of separating it — its grain and marbling give a texture the rest of the shoulder does not have, and pulling it destroys exactly what makes it worth cooking on its own.

What temperature should it reach?

Around 203°F, but stop as soon as the probe slides in with no resistance. Because it is served sliced rather than pulled, going well past tender loses the structure — competition cooks often pull slightly earlier, around 195°F, for firmer medallions.

What does spritzing actually do?

It keeps the surface moist and tacky, which helps smoke keep adhering, and it slows the bark setting so it develops more evenly. It does not meaningfully add moisture to the meat. Wait an hour or two before the first spritz so the rub has bonded, or you will simply wash it off.

Why cranberry sauce with pork?

Acidity and sweetness against fat. It is the same logic as apple sauce with pork or cranberry with turkey — a rich, fatty cut needs something sharp to keep it from feeling heavy, and fruit does that while adding sweetness that complements the meat.

Know your cook

More information, cause recipe back stories are stupid

No 500-word life story — just the good-to-know stuff on what’s actually in this cook. Here’s the rundown on every real ingredient, health and nutrition wise.

Pork
Pork is a protein-rich meat that's especially high in thiamine (vitamin B1) — more than most other meats — plus B6, niacin, and selenium. Tenderloin and loin are lean; shoulder and belly are richer, so portion the fattier cuts.
Apple
Apples add natural sweetness, fibre, and vitamin C. In a brine or alongside pork they balance salt and smoke; on their own they're a low-calorie, gut-friendly fruit.
Butter
Butter adds richness and helps carry sauce into the meat, but it's high in saturated fat and calories, so it works best as a finishing touch rather than by the cupful.

General nutrition info only, not medical or dietary advice — portions, brands and add-ons change the numbers.

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