Enhanced Meat


 
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Eric Hartnell

TVWBB Member
Greetings-

My Mother-In-Law works for a company that produces pork products and she gave me 6 racks of enhanced BB ribs in cryo. Gotta love a Mother-In-Law that supports the WSM cause.

Anyways, obviously I will not turn down the ribs because they are enhanced, but it raises the question about enhanced meat. I've read Chris' article about enhanced meat but just want some thoughts and comments about it from the forum. What are your thoughts and experiences with enhanced meat?

Thanks!
 
I've inadvertently bought enhanced pork in the past. Tends to be really salty so don't add any more. OTOH enhanced poultry makes sense if you wee going to brine it anyway.
 
I've tried some Hormel enhanced ribs before (they were on sale) and they turned out great, just don't use as much rub IMO.
 
What's the percentage of salt solution?

I've heard enough horror stories about enhanced meat being inedible to put me off from buying it.
 
The label said "addition of up to 12% of a solution of water, potassium lactate, dextrose, sodium phosphates and salt".

Not sure what the potassium lactate and sodium phosphates contribute or do. Any inputs?

I smoked a rack a couple of weeks ago with some Smokin' Guns Mild Rub and it was a tad salty but still very good. I had my mother-in-law order me some unenhanced spares. I'll see if there is a difference.
 
I'd make up a batch of rub that has no salt in it at all. You can loosely follow the BRITU rub, but eliminate the salt altogether. The salt in the "enhancing" solution should be more than enough.
 
I think that ribs are best when they are not enhanced. I have tried enhanced ribs a few times now and to me they arent near as tasty as UNhanced. lol either way you are going to pay top $ for them so go with your favorite.
DP
 
We used the Hormel enhanced "extra meaty" baby backs from the local Hy-Vee last weekend, and they were fairly salty (I didn't really back off on the rub, but I don't consider Cowtown's Sqeal rub to be that salty...my mistake!) - where I really noticed the difference was how quickly those things got tender...almost TOO tender. They were VERY thick, much like really good spares, but some were literally falling off the bone after 5 hours...which I wouldn't expect for racks that approached 2.5 pounds per slab. These things were MEATY.

I don't really notice any kind of "off" flavor from the pork, but I'd recommend being less liberal with rub and being careful not to overcook (unless you're into falling-off-the-bone ribs, which are fine for home, but I couldn't turn those in at a contest).
 
Bought some spares that were not "enhanced". I'll try them and see if there is a difference. Might be difficult to determine flavor as I used enhanced baby backs last time.
 
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