Who's smoking meat this weekend?

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Is there any benefit to keeping a butt whole? So I have a whole pork butt (8lbs or so). Is there a reason why I would want to keep it a whole butt? Or would there be an issue cutting it in half so it's 2, 4 lb pieces? My thought is that the 4lb pieces will cook faster and will have more bark. Am I missing something as to why that would be a no go?
 
I think you may have answered your own question. They will cook faster and the magic happens low n slow. They won’t retain as much moisture either.
Same reason why blade roast is preferred to picnic
 
kev211 said:
Is there any benefit to keeping a butt whole? So I have a whole pork butt (8lbs or so). Is there a reason why I would want to keep it a whole butt? Or would there be an issue cutting it in half so it's 2, 4 lb pieces? My thought is that the 4lb pieces will cook faster and will have more bark. Am I missing something as to why that would be a no go?
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You can definitely do that. If you go to the grocery store often you'll get partial butts in the 4# range, and they cook up nicely.

That said I agree with jammin above that you might end up sacrificing a little moisture. You're giving it a higher surface area to volume ratio, which means more bark but also means more surface area for moisture to escape.

But I don't think that's a big deal if you take an 8# butt and cut it in half, if you're pressed for cook time. If you tried to go more extreme, like cutting it into 4x 2# pieces, I think at that point the downside would outweigh the shorter cook time.

However, note one thing: cook time isn't based on weight so much as it's based on shape. As Amazingribs says:

four-roast-cooking-time2.jpg


So you might find that you end up cutting it in half and the cook time stays pretty well constant, in which case you've done absolutely nothing of a favor for yourself by cutting. I.e. in the example above, if you had the 4" diameter 10" long piece of meat and you cut it into two 5" lengths, you really haven't changed cooking time. Given the shape of a typical butt, if you cut it crosswise rather than lengthwise, I think you wouldn't really change cooking time.

The one other thing I'd say is that if you have a boneless butt, cutting it is difficult because the way it's cut to remove the bone means that one end of it is already kinda hacked up. And if you have a bone-in butt, cutting it in half without a band saw might be difficult lol.
 
Thanks for the pointers guys. I think in this case I'm not super concerned about losing a little moisture since I'm gonna be using the meat to make tamales for Xmas.
 
I did a turkey breast on the Weber yesterday. I usually wet brine turkeys but I dry brined this one. It was really good. My son said it was the best that we have had. I think I am sold on dry brining. So much less of a hassle and it was really good and extremely moist.

turkey.jpg
 
bwarbiany said:
You can definitely do that. If you go to the grocery store often you'll get partial butts in the 4# range, and they cook up nicely.

That said I agree with jammin above that you might end up sacrificing a little moisture. You're giving it a higher surface area to volume ratio, which means more bark but also means more surface area for moisture to escape.

But I don't think that's a big deal if you take an 8# butt and cut it in half, if you're pressed for cook time. If you tried to go more extreme, like cutting it into 4x 2# pieces, I think at that point the downside would outweigh the shorter cook time.

However, note one thing: cook time isn't based on weight so much as it's based on shape. As Amazingribs says:

four-roast-cooking-time2.jpg


So you might find that you end up cutting it in half and the cook time stays pretty well constant, in which case you've done absolutely nothing of a favor for yourself by cutting. I.e. in the example above, if you had the 4" diameter 10" long piece of meat and you cut it into two 5" lengths, you really haven't changed cooking time. Given the shape of a typical butt, if you cut it crosswise rather than lengthwise, I think you wouldn't really change cooking time.

The one other thing I'd say is that if you have a boneless butt, cutting it is difficult because the way it's cut to remove the bone means that one end of it is already kinda hacked up. And if you have a bone-in butt, cutting it in half without a band saw might be difficult lol.
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I need to remember this....
 
CGVT said:
I did a turkey breast on the Weber yesterday. I usually wet brine turkeys but I dry brined this one. It was really good. My son said it was the best that we have had. I think I am sold on dry brining. So much less of a hassle and it was really good and extremely moist.

View attachment 551070
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Is that an upside down rib rack? If so,great idea.
 
Arghh, no picture yet but smoked a ny top loin, I think its called. Took a long time to smoke for its size and was awesome, I loved it. Will upload pics tomorrow. The usual, cherry and hickory. The cherry was particularly nice with this meat.
 
brewerJase said:
Is that an upside down rib rack? If so,great idea.
Click to expand...

No, it's a rack from a roaster pan. A low quality pan with a rack is really cheap.

This one is twenty bucks on Amazon. (Of course, you can buy a rack without the pan for about the same price)

8147e57JotL._SX425_.jpg
 
Nothing on the WSM right now but I did receive as a gift a Flame Boss 300 controller. I can tell already this thing is gonna be awesome - it connects to a phone or computer by WiFi and I can monitor the pit and food temp AND control the pit temperature remotely. Pretty sweet.
 
Just finished some ribs and some poor mans burnt ends. I will never smoke meat again when it is this cold outside what a pain keeping temps
 
Getting ready to make some beef snack sticks. Might be smoking in the garage since it’s a whopping 3 F degrees in PA.
 
Brown sugar bourbon bacon recipe...

75 grams of kosher salt. This is more than others might use. I prefer my bacon a little saltier. you could easily start w/ 50-60 grams

12 grams of pink curing salt

1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar or any dark sugar. You'll have to experiment with the amount to suit your taste. I've used upwards of 2 cups in the past especially when I increase the salt beyond 75 grams.

1/2 to 1 cup of maple syrup (I have a client who's family is from Vermont area and they have a syrup farm so I get the real McCoy every now and then). Again, you'll have to experiment with amounts to suit your taste.

1/2 to 2 cups of your choice of bourbon. I personally use Jim Beam but I haven't noticed a difference in taste across other brands.

5 lb pork belly. Skin on or off doesn't matter. I use skin on bellies.

I mix everything up, brine it in a roaster pan for 7 -10 days. I flip it every day or so. After 7 days rinse it off, pat dry, leave in fridge overnight skin side down so a pellicle forms on the meat side. Hot smoke until internal temp reaches 160 degress F. Cut the skin off leaving as much fat on as you prefer and slice it up or leave it whole and slice as you need it. You can also bake it in the oven.

This recipe is based off the recipe from the book "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Mark Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. I highly suggest it. It is my go to resource.
 
IMG_6748.JPG
Have followed and drooled over this thread for a long time and now I finally get to post. For Christmas my mil went in half with me on a Weber Smokey Mountain. My first smoke was a pork butt as it seemed to be the most forgiving for first time smokers and it turned out great. Yesterday using the minion method I was able to hold 235*+-5 for 6 hours in 30 degree temperature with no problem. These are pork spare ribs 3-2-1 method.
 
JonM said:
I remember watching Julia Child and Jacques Pepin do something like this on their show and it looked really interesting. Care to share your recipe/technique?
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I found the recipe on the net,

BBQ Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

1 whole cabbage. medium size
3 slices bacon
1 cooking onion, medium dice
½ C BBQ sauce
2 tbsp butter
½ C chicken broth


1. Remove the tough outer leaves of a whole cabbage that has been washed and dried. Using a sharp knife cut the hard core out of the center of the cabbage. To do this cut a cone shape around the core, turn the cabbage upside down and give it a few taps; the core should simply drop out.

2. Fry the bacon slices until cooked and crisp. Reserve the bacon fat. Drain on paper towel and crumble into small pieces. Set aside.

3. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet on medium heat and add the diced onion. Sauté, stirring often, until the onion becomes soft and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the bacon crumbles and ¼ C of the BBQ sauce to the onions stirring to incorporate. Remove from heat. Spoon this mixture into the cavity of the cabbage.

4. Set the Grill to 225 F. Using a long piece of scrunched up tin foil create a ring that fits around the base of the stuffed cabbage. Place the ring on the bottom rack of the grill and stand the stuffed cabbage upright inside the ring. Baste the outside of the cabbage with some of the remaining BBQ sauce. Close the lid and smoke the cabbage for approximately 2 hours basting with BBQ sauce every ½ hour. Being careful, slip the cabbage off the grill and onto a pan.

5. Wrap the cabbage in heavy foil leaving an opening at the top. Melt the butter and combine with the chicken broth. Pour this mixture over the top of the cabbage then seal the foil to fully enclose the cabbage. Place the foil wrapped cabbage back on the grill, close the lid and turn the temperature control up to 350 F. Continue baking the cabbage until it becomes soft and starts to lose its shape. Test with a skewer to make sure the cabbage is cooked all the way through before removing from the grill. Depending on the size of your cabbage, this could take from 2 ½ - 4 hours.

6. Spoon the stuffing into a bowl, chop the cabbage into bite-sized pieces and toss with the onion/bacon stuffing. Add some extra BBQ sauce (that’s been heated) if desired. Serve immediately.
 
Don't know if anyone has had to deal with masterbuilts customer service, but they are GREAT. Just thought y'all might want to know since I know there are a few mes users here. Part of the plastic faceplate on my mes I think snagged on the cover as I was taking it off and it cracked. I emailed them asking about buying a replacement. After a few emails back and forth about serial number, yadda yadda and they warrantied the part. Professional and easy to work with.
 
Smoked a few pounds of chicken thighs today to make chicken sandwiches with golden carolina bbq sauce and hand cut, deep fried french fries. One of our favorite Sunday meals.
 
BBQ Bretheren,

Can I get your thoughts on some brisket I got this weekend:

I went to a local BBQ chain & ordered 1lb. Server was pushing chopped but I asked for sliced. The slices were thick, falling apart & a bit on the dry side. I said to him that it appears over cooked. I was then told “it’s called bark” and that they smoke their meat. At this point I just shut up and took my order.
I’m no expert on smoking brisket but are those not the tell tale signs of when it’s over cooked?

Here is a shot of the slices I was served. Mind you I had not touched them yet - this is how the slices were cut in front of me & served:
HPb6fS7.jpg
 
Yeah, I don't argue with uninformed BBQ workers anymore. A place opened in a little town I used to live in and they sliced their brisket wrong! I tried to educate that they were slicing with rather than across the grain and that it was making their meat seem tougher than it actually was. Zero Fs given.
That said, I'd rather get something that is a little dry but otherwise tasty than sopping wet (BBQ trailer near work kept their meat in a steam tray. Disgusting wet mess) or full of fat. I'd toss a little sauce on it and keep looking. Explains why they were pushing the chop! I've had a couple places that didn't know what a chopped brisket sandwich even was...SMH! That's why I just cook my own most of the time!
 

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