"Wet Aging Pork"?

Mr T - Thanks for sharing. That's very interesting.

Kind of debunks another myth, or at least a commonly held belief. Makes me think of all the folks use a term along the lines of "They say it can't/shouldn't be done". My first reaction is always "Why not". My second reaction is who are "They", and what are their qualifications or credentials that puts them in such a position of authority.

The last 2 sentences of the report pretty much sums it up for me. "Therefore independent of chilling method, aging improved quality of pork loins. Moreover aging had greater effect on tenderness, while breed had greater effect on flavor which may be related to differences in intramuscular fat content."

I think I'll definitely be aging a fresh pork butt soon.

It seems this report talks about pork loins and I couldn't find any other reports on their sight about enhancing pork butts?

Any thoughts on how long the window is for wet aging pork?

If you do a google search on "wet aging pork" you'll find less than 10 entries. (make sure to put the quote marks in, so you search for the exact phrase; it's just not a common topic" The only one of any specificity is the one T gave us above.

If it works for you great.

I've tried it and pork doesn't age, it spoils. I've asked butchers in the past why the difference, that beef can and pork can't age. They say it's because of the different makeup of the Pork Protein.

You may be the new guy on this Mr. T. Keep going and let us know how it goes.

For me, fresh pork is the best.

Smokin, thanks for your input. As one who enjoys experimenting, I am doing this pork butt at 200°. It has been in the A/Q now for 36 hours and the temp is 174°. The only time I opened the door was at 18 hours when the temp was 159°. It looked good and the juices flowed when I took temp with therm. I like many on the forum normally take butts to the 200-205° range for pulling. My initial thought on this one was to take it to 190 - 195° range. Do you think that due to the extended cook time, it might pull at a lower temp? Heck I may end up with a brick of jerky. Whatever happens, I will share the info with the others.

Thanks

Here's a little more info on pork aging. It appears to be more directed to producers and processors rather than individual consumers.

MrT

To tag on ,until Smokin' gets back,and having cooked from the days when large volumes of big meats were cooked slow for 24 hrs in moist cookers and then coolered until the crowds could be served-yes, sometimes slow cooking for longer periods could have butts/shoulders falling apart as they cross the 190* point.

No grand scientific reasoning,just the observation of a few tractor trailer loads ,over several decades.

dls, Thanks for the additional input. Now I have to figure how to incorporate a generator into my smoking arsenal.

Tom, Thanks for your input also your knowledge is greatly appreciated. At 41 hours the temp is 178. I will remove from smoker at 6 this evening (45 hours) and see what I have. Been smelling it for two days now and am beginning to weaken.

Maybe,some research is still around from an old friend of Smokin' and mine from northern Indiana.

Kevin Taylor[Stogie] was a longtime moderator for Recipe Goldmine.

Recipe goldmine

He experimented alot with many foods,with bbq as his favorite.You might look around for his posts/recipes/experiments,if you are interested.

He has cooked comps with KCBS,MIM,and some of the Tx groups.

He cooked alot on Weber Smokey Mountain cookers and loved to maintain fire control.

Seems like he wrote up the experiments of cooking at 200* and holding up around 30 hrs.

Have fun.

"Maybe,some research is still around from an old friend of Smokin' and mine from northern Indiana."

Maybe it's the water as I'm originally from N. Indiana myself.

Thanks again Tom for the info. Working on my report at this time.