Butt vs Picnic


 
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Bob R

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I could not find a Boston Butt so I picked up a Picnic. It turned out a bit too salty and I was wondering... does the Picnic have a tendency to be more salty than a BB or was my rubb likely the culprit?

BR
 
It was your rub. A picnic roast is just the part of the whole shoulder closest to the leg end, where as the butt is closest to the shoulder blade. I did a picnic last weekend, skinned it, cooked it like a butt, and the only difference anyone who might have been looking could tell was the bone that came out of it.
 
Some meat packers put a solution in the cryovac
package.(salt solution) I" ve seen a lot of ribs enhanced and pork butts enhanced at Wal-Mart.
 
BR

Don't think the salty tast could relate to the cut. As stated. the picnic is from the lower portion of the shoulder that is toward the leg; the butt the upper. If you're interested take a look at the meat charts from the homepage.

Some say there's no difference but if I have a choice I choose a bone-in butt. IMO the picinic can be slightly drier, but both are very good.

Paul
 
I try to avoid 'enhanced' products if at all possible. Usually meats are 'enhanced' by injecting with saline solution (salt water), or brine, which can include other spices as well. This does two things. 1st the salt acts as a preservative to improve shelf life, and 2nd, the solution adds weight to the product...arghhhhhh. I like to stick with fresh unenhanced products. Fresh by Dept. of Agriculture definition means just that. If a product is labeled as fresh, its just as it came off the hoof.

Tony
 
Dido for me TONY. The first ribs i did were enhanced and i threw them away. WAAAY TOOO salty. I will not buy enhanced meats anymore. I get my briskets at wal-mart and butts and ribs at BJ's. Non Enhanced All the way. JMO
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Amen Doug! <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I did a picnic last weekend, skinned it, cooked it like a butt, and the only difference anyone who might have been looking could tell was the bone that came out of it.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
I think it must have been "enhanced", then I enhanced it some more. Not bad just a little salty for me. The Picnic turned out very pinkish in color(inside) sort of like ham, but it pulled nicely. The Butts I've done in the past have not been as pinkish. The Butts came straight from a butcher.

Thanks for the tips.
 
I neglected to consider that your picnic may have been enhanced. I've long since stopped buying meat from a nearby supermarket chain that offers most all their BBQ pork meats "guaranteed tender"-- that usually means "enhanced with a solution of up to X percent...". You really have to watch the fine print. If it was "hammy" tasting, that may well have been the case. The more you BBQ, the more you find a wholesale club membership worth the annual cost.
 
Br, thats a sign it was enhanced. When i got an enhanced butt one time it was pink the whole way through. And mine tatsed like ham
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Yes it should be white inside. Pork the other white meat
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Sometimes it's hard to see on the package because they try to hide it. (very small print)
 
The pinkish color and ham like taste are a dead giveaway BR. That butt had been injected with brine that contained an added preservative...sodium nitrate. Its the sodium nitrate that accounts for the pinkishness. Of course, smoking does the same thing but the affect is limited to a few tenths of an inch in penetration.

Tony
 
One Question for you. Are the butts from Sams inhanced?
IBP is the brand, I think.
I have smoked ribs from Sams and they arent as good as the ones from my local butcher. I dont know if the Sams ribs were enhanced but they wasnt as good. The thing about my local butcher is you have to give a notice on certain items and Im a last minute kinda guy.
DP
 
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