awful butt, was meat bad or was it me?


 
B

Benji Whitehead

TVWBB Member
father's day cookout near disaster....

this was my 5th butt and it turned out horrible. it didn't smell funny or look weird when i was trimming and rubbing it. it didn't smell funny on the smoker. when i started pulling it my wife walked in the kitchen and said it smelled like "something retched in there". we finally determined it was the pork butt i was pulling (i couldn't smell anything). i tried a bite of the meat and instead of the wonderful pulled pork i'm used to it was tasteless mush with a bad aftertaste. thank goodness i had way too much food planned and the seven of us enjoyed three racks of ribs, which were awesome. i thought the problem might be the wood but i used the same wood for both cooks (i cut off smaller pieces to add when i put on the ribs.)

i cooked the 9lb butt for 19 hours to an internal temp of 185, foiled and let rest for 1.5 hours before trying to pull. i calibrated the thermometer during the cooking process. all i can figure is bad meat but i'm still a newbie at this. i'm just glad the ribs worked out. my grandpa had never had smoked ribs and he loved them. my dad wants a smoker now.

any ideas from the gurus out there??
 
Benji, I had a similar experience quite a few years ago. I was smoking turkey breasts for Christmas gifts. After the cook, my wife had the same reaction. It had to be bad meat. None of us would knowingly spend hours on bad meat but I believe it happens. It is rare. Only once can I remember doing it.

Good technique won't fix it either.
 
thanks, i'm glad i'm not the only one. i hope it never happens again for me. it sucks that i spent close to 24 hours on a piece of meat and it didn't amount to anything. i guess a possum or raccoon in my area enjoyed the nasty 'cue. i threw it out in the field as far away from my house as i could get. i might be done with meat from food city. we got some bad turkey there about 2 months ago.
 
Food City in Johnson City, TN. I've gotten all the other ones at the Food City in Jonesborough. I talk to the butcher in Jonesborough whenever I go in there, but I've never really seen anybody in JC. I'll stay away from that store from now on.

I need to go check out in the field and see if any critters have found the awful pork.
 
I just saw this thread.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> it didn't smell funny or look weird when i was trimming and rubbing it. it didn't smell funny on the smoker. when i started pulling it my wife walked in the kitchen and said it smelled like "something retched in there". </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
This is a classic example of what is known as 'boar taint'. It is not spoilage--which would have been recognizable during trimming/prep--and the retailer had nothing to do with it.

Boar taint occurs because of high levels of either the naturally produced steroid androstenone or the chemical compound skatole that accumulates in fat but is not noticed until the affected meat is heated/cooked; then the meat becomes malodorous.
 
I have bought gamey smelling pork before and I could clearly smell it during prep. A butcher once told me they usally castrate male hogs several months before slaughter to get the hormones out, but some get through.

Could it have been a gland though?
 
Thanks Kevin, I learned something today.
Benji, I would inform the butcher about the meat, not that he could or would do anything, just as a courtesy. I purchased some bad chicken awhile back and the meat manager was very grateful that he was informed. Perhaps he will remind his employees to be a little more considerate or careful in the future.
Cryovac packed meat can have a slightly funky smell sometimes, but usually its not too strong or goes away with a light rinse.
 
I'm with Dino: inform the manager where you purchased the meat as a courtesy.

Cryo'd meat can develop an odor due to lack of oxygen. I usually just pat the meat dry and allow it to air for a bit while I do something else. The smell dissipates in short order. Rinsing briefly is another option, as Dino notes.

Steve/Scott-- Gaminess can come from an older animal (virtually unheard of in the mass market) or from a pierced or damaged (but unremoved) gland and is noticed, usually, when the meat is removed from packaging. Boar taint is unnoticeable when the meat is removed from packaging and is not related to spoilage (premature spoilage is usually noticed before cooking as well); BT needs cooking to be noticed.

Steve's butcher is correct (though castration needs to occur before weaning) and it is those intact animals (or those semi-intact, as happens sometimes if the animal is cryptorchid) where the BT issue occurs because it is approaching sexual maturity that causes it.

Of note: Intact males put on substantially more lean muscle mass than castrated males--enough to cause a real financial incentive to figure out the problem. Research has shown that that some pig breeds are more prone to BT than others so hybridizing to eliminate the need to castrate is possible. Of course, without knowing whether the farm from which the pig in question came uses castration or cross-breeding as a control, one can't be sure if the pig totally (or partially) missed the knife
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or if he was a genetic anomaly.
 
wow,
that is all way over my head. i've never heard of that before. i would tell the butcher if i ever saw them in there, but they're never around. i'll just stick to the other food city. it was cryo'd meat so i don't really blame the butcher.
thanks for the knowledge
 
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