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Butt Bacon July 21st, 2009

jsummers

I bought a case of boston butts for this weekend to make a batch of pulled pork. I got to looking around and noticed we were out of bacon so I decided to make up one of our favorites, Butt Bacon. To make this product I de-bone the butt, take the fat side and cut about a 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick slab. I then square this miniature slab up nice and dry rub it with a pre-mixed cure but it can be soaked in a brine if you prefer. For the dry rub I use 1/2 oz of Golden Brown Sugar Cure per pound of raw meat. It doesn’t look like alot when its on the meat but its enough. Rub and stack the slabs in a non-reactive container, maybe a ziploc bag if you’re just doing one. Cover and put in a 38-40 deg cooler. Overhaul after one day (bottom slab to the top) and again on the second day. After 3 days the slabs will be ready.

For a brine cure use the same 1/2 ounce per pound but weigh and count the water.

Example:

5 pounds water + 2 pounds meat = 7 pounds.

7 pounds x 1/2 ounce = 3.5 ounces cure.

Make sure all the slabs are covered and place in a 38-40 deg cooler. 3 days in the brine will do it.

Take the slabs out, rinse them lightly and hang in the cooler to surface dry for a day or more. I’ve had these cured slabs hang for a week in cold weather or in a cooler with no problem.

The slabs are now ready for the smokehouse. Process through the smokehouse with your favorite hardwood, smoking for from 2-4 hours or whatever your taste prefers. Keep the house temperature low. I prefer not to exceed 120 deg. when doing bacons of any kind. When finished smoking I like to let the bacon hang in the cooler for another 4-5 days before slicing. This period allows the flavor to develop and lets the slab dry further giving a stiffer, easier to slice slab. Slice and enjoy as you would any bacon!

Cut the slab:

Square it up:

Rub with cure:

Allow to cure.
Process through the smokehouse.

The finished product:

The finished product

Sliced:

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Boston Butts July 11th, 2009

jsummers

Pork Shoulder Butts, also known as Boston Butts are one of the most readily available and versatile sub primal cuts of fresh pork. The pork shoulder butt or simply “butt” is the top half, of the pork shoulder primal located between the upper neck and loin. It contains some of the lower neck and the shoulder blade bone. Retail ready pork shoulder butts have the neck and chine bones removed and usually weigh in at 6-9 pounds each, yield over 95% after de-boning and average around 80% lean.

Whole butts can be pot roasted, bone in or boneless, hot smoked, BBQ’d and made into pulled pork in sauce. Cut up sliced into pork steaks, chunked for stews, skewered for kabobs or made into carnitas. Cuts can be fried, broiled, braised, smoked, grilled, or steamed. They can be breaded, encrusted, glazed, or sauced.

Whole boneless butts cured, tied, and cold smoked are a great variation creating a well marbled ham-like product.

Butts can also be ground for pork burgers or seasoned and made into sausage. I use them for country pan sausage, bratwurst, smoked polish sausage, and many more varieties.

One of my favorite products made from butts is Butt Bacon. I will share directions on how to make this delicious bacon in an upcoming post.

De-boning butts is not difficult since the small blade bone, or scapula is all that needs removed. For the benefit of those who may not have the experience I’ll try and walk you through it here.

I start with the fat side down and the cut edge of the bone facing me. This leaves the flat side of the scapula up.

First inspect the surface of the butt for small bone fragments and remove. Then, using the point of your sharp boning knife make your intital cut in this area.