Well it starts with how it feels when you are cooking it. The areas that I want to use need to feel probe tender. So how the resistance is on the thermopen. One thing is, is that you cannot get the entire butt uniformly tender. There are going to be parts of the butt that you just have to let go and not sacrifice the ENTIRE butt to get one part perfect. So it boils down to cooking the zones you use to probe tender and not worrying about the rest. Next, when I go to pull the butts, you are going to want to put your cotton gloves on with nitrile gloves over those, and feel the butt all over to figure out which butt is the correct tenderness, so you start with that one first. Then go to the best areas and start testing what the texture and taste are in those zones. Only put the best stuff in the box.