# Question about Smithfield Boston Butt Pork Roast's "self basting" brine...



## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

I just bought a Smithfield Boston Butt Pork Roast from Walmart a few minutes ago.  It is cryovac'ed in a 8% solution (see pics).  I just got finished reading online to stay away from these types of "enhanced," pre-brined butts (no pun intended lol).  *My question is, should I take it back to the store?*  Does the brine in there make the butt taste that bad?  I'm planning on smoking it in a weber kettle low and slow this weekend and was going to dry brine for 24 hours then rub for 12 hours but I guess that step isn't necessary now.  I also have an unbrined picnic in the fridge ready to be dry brined.













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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

That butt is already brined. No need to dry brine. I don't brine butts anyway as I can't see the benefit of it. Pork shoulder is moist by nature and the only reason they brine is to add weight to the package for higher profit margin. If you are smoking it low and slow there is no reason to brine it as it will be basted in it's own fat. 

rub it down and wrap it up overnight. Smoke the next day. It will be great. Unless of course you are making Ham. That's a whole different deal though.


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## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

timberjet said:


> That butt is already brined. No need to dry brine. I don't brine butts anyway as I can't see the benefit of it. Pork shoulder is moist by nature and the only reason they brine is to add weight to the package for higher profit margin. If you are smoking it low and slow there is no reason to brine it as it will be basted in it's own fat.
> 
> rub it down and wrap it up overnight. Smoke the next day. It will be great.


Thank you for the fast reply!  I will dry rub and wrap the butt and put the picnic in the freezer.


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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

Downrange said:


> Thank you for the fast reply!  I will dry rub and wrap the butt and put the picnic in the freezer.


I bet if you smoked both of them it would be hard to tell them apart at the end anyway. If you even could.


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## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

timberjet said:


> I bet if you smoked both of them it would be hard to tell them apart at the end anyway. If you even could.


This is my first time smoking either of them, so you are probably right :-)  I had some pulled pork for the first time in my life from a local joint yesterday and said I've gotta make some myself.  I have always just had ribs lol.


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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/140055/boston-butt-pulled-pork-step-by-step This is the perfect plan to follow for your first time. Very popular on this website as you can see. I use this all the time. Plus, Bear's a great guy.


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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

If I were you I would follow this recipe to the letter for your first time. It is well respected and always turns out awesome PP. Remember at low and slow temps of 225-250 degrees you are looking at 2 hours per pound with a 2 hour rest for planning purposes. First timers almost always don't allow enough time and plan some big dinner only to have to pull it early or order pizza. Just saying. Don't get caught in that trap.I encourage you to document your first butt smoke and share it with us in real time with pictures and stuff so we can help you along in case you run into any snags.


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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

Sorry to keep bothering you on this but I saw on one of your previous discussions how you were talking about the skin on pork shoulder. This is what I do. Pretty self explanatory. 













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## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

timberjet said:


> Sorry to keep bothering you on this but I saw on one of your previous discussions how you were talking about the skin on pork shoulder. This is what I do. Pretty self explanatory.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh no you're not bothering me at all!  Thank you for all the info!  Holy smokes that looks good!  I'll cook the picnic next weekend and score the skin like you did.  Can't wait!


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## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

Hey @timberjet, I went to trim the butt and it ended up like this (see pics).  I did not make any cuts into the meat for it to look like this.  It basically looks like it fell apart.  Is this normal?  As you can see, I rubbed it with Memphis Dust I made two days ago and just folded it over and wrapped with saran wrap and put back in fridge.  

My question is, since it has almost taken on the shape of a rack of ribs, will cooking time be affected if I just layed it in the Weber like in the pics?  Or should I fold it over and try my best to make it have the shape it had before I trimmed the fat?  I really want the bark to turn out guud. 













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## bmaddox (Mar 5, 2015)

You need to use some butcher twine to tie it into a evenly shaped "log. It looks like a boneless butt that someone hacked apart getting the bone out. It will still be fine but you need it to be a consistent size throughout so it will smoke evenly.

timber is on point with the brine comments. Just rub it the night before and you will be good.


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## bmaddox (Mar 5, 2015)

And as for tasting "hammy", it looks like there isn't cure in the brine and the cure is what gives ham it taste.


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## downrange (Mar 5, 2015)

You guys are awesome, thanks for the advice and tips!  It does still have the bone in.  When I took it out of the cryovac package, it basically fell apart like that.  I'm going to Walmart in a bit to look for butcher's twine.  Hopefully they have some.  If not, i'll locate some tomorrow.


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## timberjet (Mar 5, 2015)

They will have it in the spice aisle or ask the meat counter for some. This is why I hate those smithfield butts. I always try to go for a Picnic shoulder roast like the one I pictured. I have had Hormel butts that look like they got in a knife fight with a midget too. Weird that it looks like that and is bone in. I would ask the butcher about it while you are at the store. I couldn't see by the label what size that is. I bet with it being hacked up like that it will cook pretty darn fast. Does not seem to be much fat either so you might for sure want to foil it and forego trying to get a ton of bark on that baby.


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## downrange (Mar 7, 2015)

Updates:  Woke up to 8 degree weather (South, NJ) and did not feel like fighting with grill temps all morning.  I really wanted the smoke flavor so I put the butt in the pan raised on a rack and put two cups of water in the pan and one tablespoon of hickory liquid smoke then covered the pan tightly with foil for the first 5 hours.  Just took foil off (uncovered for the rest of the cook) and probed it for the first time and internal temp is 162.  I also turned the oven up to 275 (got that from youtube) I guess now the stall will happen?  We don't plan on eating till about 7pm this evening.  

 













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## timberjet (Mar 7, 2015)

Liquid smoke? Geez.


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## downrange (Mar 7, 2015)

timberjet said:


> Liquid smoke? Geez.


I know lol, when I do the picnic, its going on the Weber!


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## downrange (Mar 7, 2015)

Sitting at 180 internal, shes chuggin along and smells great!  Whipped up some deli style coleslaw (thanks Meathead for the recipe!).













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## downrange (Mar 8, 2015)

The final product turned out ok, not spectacular, just ok.  I don't think i'll ever buy another Smithfield butt again.  There was no salt taste at all so I had to use table salt after I pulled it all.   Everyone loved it especially my oldest daughter, but I think it would have turned out much better had I dry brined with salt in conjunction with the Memphis dust.  The picnic I have will be getting dry brined, injected and put on the GRILL lol.  Thats getting done next weekend.













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