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Findin' Yer (Pork) Butt
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 18:04
by jscarbo
Topic Was Split By CW On 031614@11:46 From The Following Link: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?p=25330#25330
I'm not surprised that I'm paying more for better cuts of pork than in the US since we don't have the massive corn and soya production industry here and all of the prime materials for livestock feed have to be imported. Pigs here eat a lot of bananas, yucca (cassava), and other locally available feed, although most are also fed imported, commercial corn and soya feed as well.
For the most part, the pork I buy from local butchers is farm-raised, hormone-free, organic pork and is higher quality and better tasting than most pork in the US and it's really nice to be able to buy back fat, jowls, and all of the less desirable cuts at very reasonable prices.
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 19:39
by sawhorseray
I sort of take exception to that. How is a pig that eats bananas and soy feed going to taste as good as one that eats good old USA home-grown corn? I buy these whole pork butts on sale for 99≠lb and can get then every day for $1.29lb, whole pork loin for $2.39lb. RAY
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 21:44
by redzed
Aha, Ray, now I know what you you were talking about in an earlier post about buying 17 or 18lb pork butts. There are two of then in each package.
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 02:19
by Carpster
Everyone needs to buy up the pork ASAP. There is a piglet virus in Mo. Killing 80% of them!!!
It seems to have started in Joplin
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 05:13
by sawhorseray
redzed wrote:Aha, Ray, now I know what you you were talking about in an earlier post about buying 17 or 18lb pork butts. There are two of then in each package.
The bones in each half are different shaped which leads me to believe they join together as one shoulder butt.
I realize this wasn't one of my better photography efforts, but this is what I typically get from the packages of pork butt that come whole in the bag, one fairly flat bone, the other a goofy hard-to-get-out shape. I understand that the competition BBQ guys have to get that bone out and leave the butt pretty much in tact. With as many wild hogs as I've killed and processed I'd be happy to do some blade work for them in exchange for a plate of their finished product. I've got a couple of friends that want me to team up and enter some competitions but that's just not my kind of thing, too much like work. RAY
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 20:08
by redzed
Nah, it's the same bone and you are buying two butts in a bag. The average weight of a trimmed butt off a market size hog (180lbs dressed) is 8lbs. Many butts end up weighing only 5 - 7 lbs. The butt forms about half of the pork shoulder. The other half is the picnic cut.
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 20:40
by Bob K
Ray Chris is right-
The bottom part of the shoulder is the picnic. The processing plants are not too careful in how they are hacked apart (with a band saw)...its sometimes hard to get much of a coppa muscle out of a butt.
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 20:43
by Carpster
Just curious as to what the labeling says. Is it the whole pork shoulder or two pork butts?
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 22:27
by Bob K
It will usually say pork butts or Boston butts in the grocery store.
Click on the link Ross posted above and look at fabrication videos on the shoulder portion..it will give you a better idea of the size of a (shoulder)
butt.
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 22:37
by sawhorseray
It certainly isn't two identical hunks of meat, the bones are completely different.
I bought a couple of picnics a few months back and smoked them for split pea soup and I remember that bone being very unlike either of those pictured above. The picnic ham was so fatty and difficult to debone I swore I wouldn't be getting another. Every 2-pack I've ever bought had two distinctly different bones come out of the meat. I'll thaw this pack in the fridge right now and make some sausage to smoke from it in a few days.
I'll post the pics of the bones when I make the sausage, maybe some veterinary orthopedic surgeon will have a opinion.
RAY
PS: I picked up five packs like this, the price was just right!
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 09:36
by Chuckwagon
Ray ol' bud,
Is that 0.99 per pound?
Holy Cow! I haven't seen that in quite some time.
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:18
by sawhorseray
Chuckwagon wrote:Ray ol' bud,
Is that 0.99 per pound?
Holy Cow! I haven't seen that in quite some time.
Indeed it is Fearless Leader, I wait and find that price every year in December it seems. I'm up a hour early so the loins will have four hours on the second pan of chips rather than five, I just raised the smoker temp up to 175°, and no alarm went off to awaken my wife. I'm wondering if I should pull the loins at 144°- 145° and just let them sit so as to not wash off the black pepper they were rolled in, or if the pepper will stick even in the ice water bath? I think 148° and back into my cooler full of frozen juice jugs will have to do, just to be safe. RAY
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:35
by Chuckwagon
Sounds good ol' pard. You don't want to wash off the pepper. The "carryover effect" will raise the temperature enough to constitute being "prep-cooked". Stopping at 145°F sounds just right. Good luck with your smoke.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 15:38
by el Ducko
I was sort-of wondering the same thing, because I have trouble with my Masterbuilt smoker, trying to achieve an IMT of 154 degF. I don't dare go above 170 stack temperature or I'll melt the fat. The problem is, the Masterbuilt has about a 15 degree temperature swing.
170 - 15 = 155, so I'll take FOREVER to get there! ...so, lately I've taken to bringing the sausages in and finishing 'em in the oven, where control is better, but I still have problems getting above about 148 without staying up all night. I'm looking for that article that shows various times at various temperatures that pork should be held, to kill trichinae. (...anyone have the link handy?)
Here's an article
http://www.pork.org/News/1208/NewUSDAGu ... yBuNM5BGSo that says 145 is okay. The research was done by the National Pork Board, so if you trust lobbyists, go ahead. (...but note what I highlighted, below.) It says, in part,
New cooking guidelines from the nation's food-safety agency confirm Pork Checkoff research that shows pork can be consumed safely when cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, followed by a three-minute rest time. The guidelines were announced today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS).
The new recommended temperature is a significant 15 degrees less than what was previously recommended and typically will yield a finished product that is pinker in color than most home cooks are accustomed to.
"Our consumer research has consistently shown that Americans have a tendency to overcook common cuts of pork, resulting in a less-than-optimal eating experience," said Dianne Bettin, a pork producer from Truman, Minn., and chair of the Checkoff's Domestic Marketing Committee. "The new guidelines will help consumers enjoy pork at its most flavorful, juicy - and safe - temperature."
The revised recommendation applies to pork whole-muscle cuts, such as loin, chops and roasts. Ground pork, like all ground meat, should be cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless of cut or cooking method, both the USDA and National Pork Board recommend using a digital cooking thermometer to ensure an accurate final temperature.
...and if you trust lobbyists, I'll be right over, with my hand held out. I need money to research the tastiness of pork sausages under various spicing conditions, which is vital to National Defense (or something like that).
Duk
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 19:18
by sawhorseray
One thermometer read 146°, the other 145.6°, so off they came after exactly 19 hours in the Pro 100. I let them sit on the kitchen counter for three hours, now in the fridge till tomorrow. I've got plenty of eggs, thinking of picking up some English muffins and Hollandaise sauce. RAY
