Help - Tainted pork butt??


 
M

Marty T.

TVWBB Member
I've been cooking pork butts for an upcoming Cub Scout picnic for the last 24 hours, 2 batches of 4 butts each.

I'm not sur,e but it seems to me that there's something wrong with the meat -- it has a strong, mildly "off" smell to it; not what I"d call truly "rancid" but very unpleasant just the same. There's also a bit of green-ish ooze near where the shoulder bone was. Green, I'm sure, isn't a good sign...

I've only cooked pork butt twice before, and I'm quite certain it didn't smell or look like that in the past, and since this meat is intended to feed about 100 people, I *really* need to make sure that it's not bad.

The meat came from Sam's Club, a full 8-butt case in the cryovac, and I noticed the "packed on" date on the case label was June 8, which seems like a long time ago. (Didn't notice that until the meat was cooked, of course.) It didn't have any foul smell when I opened the cryovac and prepared it last night.

On the first batch, I used a different recipe than I've used previously, so attributed some of the strange smell to the ingredients in that rub. But on the second batch, I went back to using a slightly modified Renowned Mr. Brown I've used before with success, combined with a foil-wrapped "quick cook" to save some time.

The smell isn't thoroughly foul as I mentioned - but it's not pleasant, and certainly isn't smokey at all like the last batch was. I've tasted several pieces, and while it's nothing to write home about, it's not bad. Just smelly.

I realize none of you are here to smell and/or taste this stuff, but I'm interested in past experiences and any inclination you might have as to whether this meat is safe to distribute to a whorde of people. If there's any doubt, I'm going to throw it out and start over.

I'm going to finish pulling the meat and get it cooled off ASAP, and then can decide what to do with it. To make matters more difficult, my wife is gone all day and can't give me a "second nose"...

Thanks for any information the collective wisdom can offer!
 
full disclosure I have cooked 2 pork butts all time and the wife calls me "particular" when it comes to food that looks/smells "funny".

From your description I wouldn't eat it. I think you have to err on the conservative side on this one and get some different meat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by benji whitehead:
sounds a lot like what happened to me recently.
read this:
http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m...390079594#2390079594

K Kruger explains it all to me in that thread. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow. That sounds *very* familiar - there wasn't any smell when prepping the meat, only after cooking.

My wife got home a few minutes ago and asked what the smell was. So I guess that answers the question - she agrees that it doesn't smell rancid, just very unpleasant.

I do note that the meat was a lot more gray-ish in color and the gray meat was mushy as you described.

I've also finished pulling all 8 butts. The odor and texture were essentially the same in all of them; one or two seemed a bit less offensive but all had "that smell" to them.

I also talked to a buddy who runs a BBQ joint, his advice was to go ahead and serve the meat; he says it would have been quite obvious if the problem was truly rancid meat.

Really not sure what to do now. The money isn't an issue, but trying to figure out how I'm going to get 8 more butts smoked between now and next Saturday *is* -- even though I have a Stoker for my WSM and it does a great job of controlling temps, I can't really fire it in the morning and just forget about it till I get home.

And at this point, I have no confidence that 8 more randomly-chosen butts would be any less likely to exhibit this problem...
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I have less experience than anyone who has already posted; now that's out of the way, the meat probably won't kill anyone but it probably won't be a hit either. Funny smelling, grey, mushy meat does seem to turn up from time to time but I don't think that's what Sams intended to sell you either.

Print this thread out and take it back to the store with you
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I'd go for a replacement/refund and reschedule a new cook session. Here's my thinking:

One thing to get out of the way: pathogenic bacteria--those that are responsible for food-borne illnesses--are odorless.

The odor(s) due to the presence of spoilage bacteria (and the spoilage they cause), or rancidity (the action of oxygen and/or light on fats), or boar taint (described in my post at the link Benji noted), cause quality issues--but not ones of food safety. People are not likely to become ill from the presence any one of these problems.

At the temps the butts were likely cooked, and the temps the butts likely reached before being removed from the cooker, pathogenic bacteria, if present, were reduced to safe levels, i.e., the meat was pasteurized.

[There is a chance that pathogenic bacteria can be introduced post-cooking by cross-contamination or, especially in the case of butts or other items that are handled after cooking, by skin contact (or a cough or sneeze). The big deal here is Staph. aureus. As long as the meat is cooled relatively quickly after handling and is either served cold (as one would do with chicken roasted for chicken salad, say), or reheated and then served hot (and kept hot) and consumed in a relatively short period of time (less than 4 hours), S. aureus isn't a concern.]

However--and this is the big deal for me--there are two issues that give me pause: The first, perhaps less important, is that I do not like to serve poor quality food--even if I am sure it is safe--to anyone, but especially to people who I don't know; the second and of more importance, is that in this situation--a large group of people, a substantial number of whom are children (who are far more susceptible to food-borne illness), and participating in a what is essentially a 'pot luck', meaning that I did not cook, nor do I have responsibility for, all the food, opens a door I don't want open.

Though I might be confident in the safety of the food I offer, should a problem arise caused by food other people offer (or caused by cross-contamination by the numerous hands touching the food during serving or selection--many of which might not be adequately washed first), then 'perception' becomes paramount. Though my food was safe, if the off-quality was noticeable--especially in terms of taste or smell--then the likelihood that my food (and me) will be blamed rises substantially--because people erroneously link bad taste or bad smell with food-borne illness.

I certainly could defend myself and my food, but given the context of the type of gathering it is, and given that people are predisposed to misassociate as noted, it is not a position I would want to put myself given a choice.
 
Thanks for the reply, Kevin - I like your reasoning: Doesn't matter if the meat is safe to eat or not - it still smells and tastes "off" so why would I take a chance on serving it.

I called Sam's Club this morning and it'll be no problem getting a refund. I talked to the manager of the meat department and he was going to check his supply to make sure there was nothing unusual going on.

Since there's not enough time for me to re-cook, we'll just be buying meat from a restaurant instead...
 
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