Breaking Down a Pork Butt (buckboard bacon update)


 
Very nice instuction. Thank you. I would like to duplicate after smoking. Would make presentation nice.

Mark
 
Wow, very nice post/tutorial. That actually even helps with processing a butt after smoking it whole. To understand the landmarks and where each piece of meat is located is pretty interesting.

Would really like to hear about the bacon. It's my next project.

Russ
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> As it spins around, I'll see chops over cooking, belly that needs curing and smoking, hams, ribs, jowls, sausage all turning into pulled pork. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

lol, that's exactly how I was when my buddy did a whole pig. I was like "Man, wasting those beautiful ribs..."
 
After accumulating 4 butt's worth of my "mock belly" in the freezer, I thawed and cured them. Two were a basic bacon cure with black pepper and two were given a tasso cure. I smoked them today over a mix of cherry and hickory.


After all was said and done, this stuff comes out pretty much just like bacon. You'd have to be pretty picky to find any difference. Considering this costs less than half as much as cheap belly at the Asian market, its doubtful I'll be sending any of it to the grinder anytime soon, it's too much fun to play with.

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Wow! I'd like to take a stab at this -- I've been thinking of breaking down a butt, BBQing the money muscle, and pickling the rest for buckboard. Unfortunately, all I can find lately are picnic shoulders. Any reason not to try something similar with meat from the other end? I'm not a fan of pulling shoulders.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">What was the average weight of one mock belly? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

dunno, but I'd guess they ran between 8 and 12 oz.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Get out of my head J, I just finished smoking some tasso and buckboard bacon I took out of a butt after reading this thread... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

spooky eh?

what tasso recipe did you follow?

and what did you think of the parts?
 
I used the basic tasso recipe from Charcuterie, to which i added a bit of coriander and celery seed. The thing with Ruhlman's tasso recipe is that finishing rub flavors are pretty close to authentic (imo) but the interior of the meat takes on no flavor beyond the basic cured pork flavor. I think adding some aromatics to the first cure would be in order. Using a basic dry rub for the curing stage seems to leave some flavor on the table, as it were.

The parts came out great. I already knew how to break down the money muscle, and I have it set aside vacuum sealed for sous vide treatment. I liked getting the lean under blade meat out, and the mock belly is pretty sweet as well. Also, removing the leaner muscles whole leaves one with fattier trim which is definitely beneficial for sausage making. I think the buckboard bacon cure (commercial product) is OK, but I used a finishing rub of brown sugar and black pepper so my mock belly took on more of a canadian bacon quality than I was looking for. Still good, though.
 
I don't have my Charcuterie copy with me in Vegas so don't know the prep but there shouldn't really be much in the way of 'interior'. The butt should be cut so it is no more than an inch thick, 2" wide, 4" long. Highly seasoned, interior should be indistinguishable from exterior as the distance, if you will, between the two is negligible.
 
Kevin, I hear you on that. Mine wasn't too thick but there were a couple "interior" chunks. I probably should've separated the two muscles I used. Pic forthcoming.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The thing with Ruhlman's tasso recipe is that finishing rub flavors are pretty close to authentic </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

whoops! I made a dry cure out of his brine recipe and never looked back at the book when it came time to smoke it. I knew it was kind of flat.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I already knew how to break down the money muscle, and I have it set aside vacuum sealed for sous vide treatment. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did another one today. I tried grilling one after thawing and already cooked one. The thing fell apart on the grill and I made a mess of it but man, if it isn't the best pork ever, I don't know what is.
 
I just got up to speed with this add-on post Jeff. Gee, the quality of your pics just get better and better. More importantly, that "mock belly" bacon is the best thing I've seen in a long time. Absolutely mouth watering.
 
I'm going to do this on Saturday. I wasn't clear from the picture how you got the round money muscle out of that chunk on the end but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I'm guessing if you tried to do any of the chunks like tenderloin (sear and bake) they might be too tough. but I like the idea of smoking them and getting some pulled pork with a lot of bark in a much shorter time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I wasn't clear from the picture how you got the round money muscle out of that chunk on the end but I'm sure I'll figure it out. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I trim it. remember I'm doing this as an aside while I'm grinding the butt for sausage, so I trim and trim to make sure I get 5 lbs of ground.
 
I'm going to try this with a boneless butt next time I pick up a couple at C*** & Carry---
Looks great and I am going to use some Buckboard Bacon cure on the mock bacon piece. Good photos, Thanks---
 
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