Saw this at another forum where a guy split the butt to shorten the cook time. Any thoughts?
http://www.smoked-meat.com/for...hp?p=362979#poststop
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A smaller piece of meat would cook faster, and get more smoke and rub on the surface area.
It will also take up more room in the smoker.
RandyE
It will also take up more room in the smoker.
RandyE
Interesting link and method...his theory makes sense. Might try it next time around.
Altho the butt must be cooked as one piece in comps,some folks will open it up and cook it for more bark and exposure to smoke. Typically ,if cooking three large butts, they will open one up and leave the other two whole.
I'm no expert,but lots of old cooks preach that the longer you can hold in the plateau,the better you break down collagen and the better you render fat.
I notice from the forum that posted this, that the cooks had mostly done one,or none as to their experience cooking butts.
His thoughts that there was "lots of crap" to remove after cooking and liquid /drippings..and lots of time and aggravation. Most experienced cooks find that cooking low and slow breaks down the collagen and renders the fat,which does away with "much crap" and lots of excess liquid and pulls with great ease.
Yep,you do save a little time-if that was a criteria.
Remember,there is not a straight line for temp /size/time when determining tenderness. I've heard that taking a power saw and cutting an inch thick slice all the way across the shoulder/butt, heating your skillet to med high,coating all sides of the pork with heavy rub and frying for 15 mins on each side will make the pork safe and "done".
I'm not sure that gets rid of "lots of crap",but it will cause a tougher outside surface.
I'm not sure it will pull with ease and produce a great taste and tenderness.
Oh well,just my $0.02 worth and as long as it suits the cook and their diners,that is what is important.
I'm no expert,but lots of old cooks preach that the longer you can hold in the plateau,the better you break down collagen and the better you render fat.
I notice from the forum that posted this, that the cooks had mostly done one,or none as to their experience cooking butts.
His thoughts that there was "lots of crap" to remove after cooking and liquid /drippings..and lots of time and aggravation. Most experienced cooks find that cooking low and slow breaks down the collagen and renders the fat,which does away with "much crap" and lots of excess liquid and pulls with great ease.
Yep,you do save a little time-if that was a criteria.
Remember,there is not a straight line for temp /size/time when determining tenderness. I've heard that taking a power saw and cutting an inch thick slice all the way across the shoulder/butt, heating your skillet to med high,coating all sides of the pork with heavy rub and frying for 15 mins on each side will make the pork safe and "done".
I'm not sure that gets rid of "lots of crap",but it will cause a tougher outside surface.
I'm not sure it will pull with ease and produce a great taste and tenderness.
Oh well,just my $0.02 worth and as long as it suits the cook and their diners,that is what is important.
Back when I was using a charcoal water smoker, and before I bought my Cookshack, and before I discovered this great "taste-saving" Forum, I split a pork butt, took out the fat and put rub on those pieces, and blindly smoked away. Last time I ever did that mistake.... I have since found the long low & slow method using one big piece of meat is the best way to go. Yes I do now sometimes trim up a bit of the fat to expose more of the meat, or to get rid of a big chunk that won't completely melt away. I sometimes will also take butchers string and tie the boneless ones back together after rubbing when the processor has laid one open too much. I just like the results that a bigger 'single' piece of meat produces verses what smaller pieces do. So what if it takes longer to get done - just put it on sooner.
Preparing and smoking it so it's how you like is one of the basic principals of this Forum. So choose your own method to suit your tastes, and enjoy!
Preparing and smoking it so it's how you like is one of the basic principals of this Forum. So choose your own method to suit your tastes, and enjoy!
Tom, Nodrog...more sound advice and commentary.
I have no problem with "lots of crap" aspect related to whole butts...I've smoked hundreds of em. For me, nothing beats the flavor of crusty Mr. Brown.
Like I said, I'll probably give it a try... won't cost more than $15 to run the experiment. I'll report back with my findings.
I have no problem with "lots of crap" aspect related to whole butts...I've smoked hundreds of em. For me, nothing beats the flavor of crusty Mr. Brown.
Like I said, I'll probably give it a try... won't cost more than $15 to run the experiment. I'll report back with my findings.
Yesterday I tried the split butt method using an 8.5 lb butt. Injected with Chris Lilly's pork injection substituting pineapple juice for AJ.
The flavor was very good. As you would expect, the time was cut almost by half. Started at noon, finished at 6:00 pm. The two pieces of PB were almost sized the same; the blade bone section being a bit smaller but they finished together. Finding the seam for separation was fairly easy.
If you're pressed on time, this is a good way to go.
The flavor was very good. As you would expect, the time was cut almost by half. Started at noon, finished at 6:00 pm. The two pieces of PB were almost sized the same; the blade bone section being a bit smaller but they finished together. Finding the seam for separation was fairly easy.
If you're pressed on time, this is a good way to go.
So Max,
How was the quality, same as normal?
How was the quality, same as normal?
Max would know and account for timing and changing from a flavor injection to a tenderizing injection.
While many cooks use injections for many hours,or overnight in beef etc,typically pork is usually done a couple or three hrs with AJ.
Folks that use pineapple,or another tenderizer and leave it overnight may find that they get "mushy".
The Slabs out in KCMO are big into pineapple and do well with their technique.
Splitting used to be done back when the goal was a comp box with half bark and loaded down.As Max knows ,now that the "money muscle" approach is used by many cooks,the bottom half of the butt is discarded to get the money muscle,cone,and tubes into the box.
While many cooks use injections for many hours,or overnight in beef etc,typically pork is usually done a couple or three hrs with AJ.
Folks that use pineapple,or another tenderizer and leave it overnight may find that they get "mushy".
The Slabs out in KCMO are big into pineapple and do well with their technique.
Splitting used to be done back when the goal was a comp box with half bark and loaded down.As Max knows ,now that the "money muscle" approach is used by many cooks,the bottom half of the butt is discarded to get the money muscle,cone,and tubes into the box.
Actually, maybe better.
The meat is very moist, great flavor and a higher profile of rub & Mr Brown from the additional external surface exposure.
If I were pressed for a down side, it might be a lack of crunchy crisp on the bark, but the Mr Brown that formed up was very tasty. Given the fact that it all gets mixed together anyway; no biggie.
What are you up to these days? Stuart said you were pretty busy with retirement
The meat is very moist, great flavor and a higher profile of rub & Mr Brown from the additional external surface exposure.
If I were pressed for a down side, it might be a lack of crunchy crisp on the bark, but the Mr Brown that formed up was very tasty. Given the fact that it all gets mixed together anyway; no biggie.
What are you up to these days? Stuart said you were pretty busy with retirement
quote:Originally posted by Tom:
Folks that use pineapple,or another tenderizer and leave it overnight may find that they get "mushy".
As this was my 1st time using pineapple juice, I gave consideration to the increased acidity and injected 30 minutes before loading the FEC. IMHO the pineapple adds a "bright" note of complimentary flavor to the pork.
Max,here is an approach from Steph and Kyle to their pork butts.They have been pretty successful with it.
Drbbq got us into it a little bit,a long time ago.He probably picked it up from hanging out with the Slabs a couple decades ago.
Slabs Pineapple Pork Butt
Drbbq got us into it a little bit,a long time ago.He probably picked it up from hanging out with the Slabs a couple decades ago.
Slabs Pineapple Pork Butt
Interesting. My 1st thought was, "wow...lotta acid between the cider vinegar and pineapple concentrate". Coming from you though, I'm sure it's ok
Pineapple concentrate...since donning my chef's toque back in '75, I've never run across it. Can you suggest an appropriate substitute?
Pineapple concentrate...since donning my chef's toque back in '75, I've never run across it. Can you suggest an appropriate substitute?
We found it in Publix in the Florida area.I don't remember saying that we had great results. 
Of course,as we always say,it is difficult to try to steal a portion of someone's techniques and not replicate the total process.
As I remember,we bought four portions of the concentrate.Used three and it didn't fit our profile.I think the 4th swelled and leaked in the pantry.
At that time folks in KCMO were brining/pickling butts.Cooking more to 185º.
They presented the butt with six large slices and a little pulled pork as trim.Eddy even taught us that approach.
In the South,pork country,we did a lot more pulled/chunked like Memphis in May.
Maybe it just didn't agree with us.
Remember,Coach will tell you they can't give away a pork sandwich in TX.
Of course,as we always say,it is difficult to try to steal a portion of someone's techniques and not replicate the total process.As I remember,we bought four portions of the concentrate.Used three and it didn't fit our profile.I think the 4th swelled and leaked in the pantry.
At that time folks in KCMO were brining/pickling butts.Cooking more to 185º.
They presented the butt with six large slices and a little pulled pork as trim.Eddy even taught us that approach.
In the South,pork country,we did a lot more pulled/chunked like Memphis in May.
Maybe it just didn't agree with us.
Remember,Coach will tell you they can't give away a pork sandwich in TX.
To tag onto the part of this thread wanting to "speed up" cooking time,today we were reminded of a technique by Steve,a vendor/caterer out in KCMO.
A decade ago he was sharing his technique to get volumes of pork ready to feed to the public on a tight schedule.
Many of us have been to large fairs,rodeos,etc where there are large coolers loaded with hot briskets,tri-tips,pork butts,etc.They reach in and pull hot meats out as needed and they are still steaming hot.
Steve isn't involved in smoke levels, ,injections for flavor,etc.
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Re: Pork Butt Question (10/3/2003 12:27:52 PM by Steve in KC)
you could always score it instead of cutting in half...
on one side, make cuts 1/3 the way through the butt about 1 1/2" to 2" apart. Turn the butt 90º and repeat. Flip the butt over to the other side and repeat.
What you're left with is a bunch of 'cubes' of meat all connected to the middle 1/3 of the butt. This allows more surface area for rub (and bark) but also allows the heat to reach the middle of the meat where you need it to speed up the cooking time.
Apply your rub to all the cuts and put on the cooker.
When the internal temp reaches 150, wrap the entire butt in plastic wrap heavily so it's sealed. Then wrap entirely in foil and roll down the edges to seal.
Put it back in the cooker and in no time it will blow through the 160-170 plateau and you'll have a fully cooked and extremely juicy product in much less time.
I've done this to several hundred butts and have experienced cook times of as little as 5-6 hrs vs. 10-15.
You can pull them once they hit 200 and put in a dry empty cooler where they'll continue to cook for a while and stay warm.
When done, unwrap the foil and then cut the now sealed plastic pouch of meat and juice open while retaining all the juice in your pan. The bone should then fall out and the meat will shred effortlessly.
To quote the rainmaker... 'easy peasy'.
Back in the day when stores were selling "country style ribs" as loss leaders,much cheaper than butts[butts could only be found in full cases by special order in some areas], we would buy twenty-five lbs,or so.They ,as we know,are butts with the meat saw run thru them to look like ribs and have some of the fat trimmed out of the original butts.We'd take our butchers' twine ,do 3-4 wraps around 6-7 lbs and have a sloppy looking butt.
We could get more rub into all the crevices and a fast cooking "butt" with double the bark.
As we always say,"find something and go cook it" if we want to learn.
A decade ago he was sharing his technique to get volumes of pork ready to feed to the public on a tight schedule.
Many of us have been to large fairs,rodeos,etc where there are large coolers loaded with hot briskets,tri-tips,pork butts,etc.They reach in and pull hot meats out as needed and they are still steaming hot.
Steve isn't involved in smoke levels, ,injections for flavor,etc.
BBQ Search - Search Engine v1.1
Re: Pork Butt Question (10/3/2003 12:27:52 PM by Steve in KC)
you could always score it instead of cutting in half...
on one side, make cuts 1/3 the way through the butt about 1 1/2" to 2" apart. Turn the butt 90º and repeat. Flip the butt over to the other side and repeat.
What you're left with is a bunch of 'cubes' of meat all connected to the middle 1/3 of the butt. This allows more surface area for rub (and bark) but also allows the heat to reach the middle of the meat where you need it to speed up the cooking time.
Apply your rub to all the cuts and put on the cooker.
When the internal temp reaches 150, wrap the entire butt in plastic wrap heavily so it's sealed. Then wrap entirely in foil and roll down the edges to seal.
Put it back in the cooker and in no time it will blow through the 160-170 plateau and you'll have a fully cooked and extremely juicy product in much less time.
I've done this to several hundred butts and have experienced cook times of as little as 5-6 hrs vs. 10-15.
You can pull them once they hit 200 and put in a dry empty cooler where they'll continue to cook for a while and stay warm.
When done, unwrap the foil and then cut the now sealed plastic pouch of meat and juice open while retaining all the juice in your pan. The bone should then fall out and the meat will shred effortlessly.
To quote the rainmaker... 'easy peasy'.
Back in the day when stores were selling "country style ribs" as loss leaders,much cheaper than butts[butts could only be found in full cases by special order in some areas], we would buy twenty-five lbs,or so.They ,as we know,are butts with the meat saw run thru them to look like ribs and have some of the fat trimmed out of the original butts.We'd take our butchers' twine ,do 3-4 wraps around 6-7 lbs and have a sloppy looking butt.
We could get more rub into all the crevices and a fast cooking "butt" with double the bark.As we always say,"find something and go cook it" if we want to learn.
quote:Originally posted by MaxQ:
Pineapple concentrate...since donning my chef's toque back in '75, I've never run across it. Can you suggest an appropriate substitute?
Try frozen pineapple juice just don't add any water. Works with most any of the frozen juices., just don't reconstitute
Why didn't I think of that?
Great tip, thanks!
Great tip, thanks!
Sounds like a tip from a" Tequila Cowboy"
.Toss a pint can of frozen margarita concentrate and a pint of Gold into saddlebag.Ride until an early lunch .Pour both mostly melted pints into your empty canteen and shake well.
Use to chase four ounces of beef jerky.
Ride happily onto dinner at the chuckwagon.
.Toss a pint can of frozen margarita concentrate and a pint of Gold into saddlebag.Ride until an early lunch .Pour both mostly melted pints into your empty canteen and shake well.
Use to chase four ounces of beef jerky.
Ride happily onto dinner at the chuckwagon.