The Mysterious Pork Butt Gland

Any idea what temp it was taken to? Also, was it a Smokette? Looks great. thx

Good job Smokin...I never realized that there might be that much junk associated with the 'gland'

Yuk!!! You mean I've been eating that!!!!!
I'll be sure to ask the butcher next time.

thanks for the pics......that butt looks good!!! he he he he

Yup folks, you been eating it. Something left out of Pork Butt 101, didn't have any good photos, but now I do.

Next butt I know everyone will be carving them up looking for them.

I can't let the wife see this!!! We'd never again smoke a butt!!! Finished product looks fantastic. I'm hungry!

My wife was like that, she saw it over my shoulder as I posted it, and I told her not to worry, I always take it out.

Her comment, "does everyone know to take it out?"

Of course, I said everyone knows....now

Actually, I have never seen that in my area. I guess they get taken out before we get them.

That's because you live around Philly. We people from there know better than to eat weird things from butt you have paid for!

Being from Philly I can attest to the fact we wouldn't eat stuff like that....... unless you ground it up and stuck it in scrapple with the snouts, ears and other "prime" pig parts...LOL!!

I like scrapple!! and corn meal mush, some buttered bread with apple butter on it. I bring some home (frozen) every time I am in Florida. Of course the grocery checkers always ask" What's that?" It's better not to explain. I tell them it's a Board game involving words.

We just had some pan fried Rapa scrapple this past week with eggs over easy and home fries... yummy. You just can't read the label!!

Okay, so speaking of pork butt.

You probably do have it in your pork butts, it's not normally removed. It's just not in every one of them.

I am going to think positively and say they have all been removed from any pork I ate. I get the hint to start a new topic if I want to talk about smoking scrapple

So, how do you locate the gland without slicing up the whole butt? The one I found was in the end opposite the bone. Is that where it's normally found? Only found it 'cause I was slicing it up to make some pork sausage. Seems like maybe if you squared of that end of the butt you'd be rid of it. Assuming it's always in about that same place. Man, I don't want to eat one of those things. YUK!!!

Can't tell you how to find it any better than the pictures above. You can see the bone in the photos for reference.

wow! i been waiting for smokin to post these pics, in a different thread. i guess i should have looked around, huh. hey smokin, just so you know, my name is mike, not don...heehee
i sent you all but the first photo. now heres my take on the gland, which is yet to be identified by a scientific name:
well, its pretty darn yuckie, to say the least. and yes, 9 out of ten butts that consumer (you and me) buys from the butcher, sams, or major distributor, will have that gland hidden inside, just waiting to be eaten! what i do is timely, and costly(as just yesterday i got a major finger cut from doing it in a hurry), but the final product is free from that particularly unpleasant odor that makes certain folks want to smother a butt in vinegar to disguise. if you find this gland, cut it open and smell. its like a quart jar full of hog sweat sitting around in a stink room for a week....
actually, i was just probably exaggerating a bit. most people dont recognize the flavor, and those that do, think its normal for pork to taste that way.
ok, (whew! time for decaff)
usually the gland can be found inside the fat cap, around the end of the bone on what i would call the low side of the butt. there is, as you can see, a ton of crappy stuff in this area too. simply remove any obstruction that prevents you from seeing pure meat. usually this will render the gland from its hidding place. sometimes, i have to cut out part of the fat cap to find it. the good news is that once you have cut away all this stuff, you cook time will be reduced by an hour or two as there are less obstructions for the heat.
anybody want to see first hand, come by my restaurant and i will show ya...heehe

Thanks Don, uh, I mean Mike

Just TRY to keep all the emails and names straight is a challenge.

And I'm old and forgetful. That's my story.

Sorry Mike

Mike,

From your description and the photos, I'm confused.

I know it's hard to describe without a movie and charts to show, but looking at the photos, I think when you say Fat Cap, to me that means the false fat cap on the top.

Maybe we can come up with a descripion for sure.

To me, on the opposite side of the false fat cap (the hard rather stringy looking fat that looks like it has meat running through it) turn it over.

Towards the bone end, there is a "vein of fat" that usually runs the width of the butt. That's where I find it.

And as for your offer to open it and cut it, uh, no thanks.

Russ