Butts and Bark


 
P

Phil R.

TVWBB All-Star
Like everyone else here, I love bark and want to increase the amount in any way I can.

Tonight I'm doing an overnighter, a picnic for the first time. It is 8lbs, a big hunk of meat. Here's the question, and this applies to both picnics and butts--what if I were to cut the hunk of meat in half? It would speed cooking time (not that everyone always wants that, but in a pinch, it could be done) and, more importantly, it would expose more surface area---meaning more bark!

I'll wait until I hear responses. I think a lot of people will say I'll lose moisture by cutting it in half, but I'm not sure about that. After all, butchers almost always slice steaks on your butts before they go on display, and they don't have any moisture problems...
 
three things. First, with the picnic, if you love bark, make sure you trim that thick skin and massive fat cap off. When I buy picnics, it usually is about 1/3-1/2 covered in a thick layer of skin and fat.

Second... I actually do think it would be slightly less moist. Only because the bark is dry. That is what makes it bark. So, by increasing the surface area for bark, you drop the total percentage of meat that is really moist. But if you love bark, then maybe that is the ratio you like more?

In general, though, I've had trouble cooking really small without having them be a little dried out. I think you have more flexibility with 6-8 pounders.

Last, cutting a picnic in two can be a pain because that means you are going to have to remove the bone. Working around that massive bone isn't easy. By the time you are done, you are going to need to do a lot of tying it up to make it a compact package. And then if you want to cut the thing in half after that, it makes it even harder. Not sure it is worth it. However, all that said, I'm really curious to hear what you decide.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by adamclyde:

Last, cutting a picnic in two can be a pain because that means you are going to have to remove the bone. Working around that massive bone isn't easy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think my band saw will have too much trouble with em'. I'll just cut er right through the bone. It'll be a new cut! I'll call the top half of the picnic an Atlanta Butt. South of Boston and a little more tough.
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Phil,
Have you ever tried slathering with mustard then applying rub? I like how it makes the bark chewy, oh yes. Since the first time I tried this method ive been hooked. You can also mix the rub with the mustard before smearing it all over the butts. I am like you, the bark rules.
 
Phil, if you were from Boston you would call your new cuts the North End and the South End :-)<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil R.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by adamclyde:

Last, cutting a picnic in two can be a pain because that means you are going to have to remove the bone. Working around that massive bone isn't easy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think my band saw will have too much trouble with em'. I'll just cut er right through the bone. It'll be a new cut! I'll call the top half of the picnic an Atlanta Butt. South of Boston and a little more tough.
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Cutting up butts to increase bark is a good way to go. I do it pretty much every time, and never had a problem with dryness. (I haven't ever done a picnic, only butts.)

See this thread for a previous discussion on this very topic.
 
I would not cut the butt for the purpose of increasing the bark. IMO one of the reasons the butts do so well is the relatively long, slow cooking time which of course renders the fats and breaks down other "stuff". I think you lose some of that process when you reduce the butt below, at a minimun, 5 or 6 lbs. JMO.

Paul
 
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