Dumb question, but I'm asking anyway

[Tommy B (TMB)]

OK here it is, if I rub mustard on a butt and leave it in the fridge for 48 hrs then add rub will it... Help the taste?
Will it make the meat mushy?
Will it ruin the meat?
I always use mustard then rub but never let just the mustard sit for that amount of time

 

[Geir Widar]

No, you won't ruin the meat. In my book mustard does not do much to the taste of smoked meat.
The same applies to paprika. It can do something with the color, but not much regarding taste.
Some people use mustard, as it can work as a "glue" for the rub.
Of course, if you go into extremes, and douse your meat with strong mustard powder, you might get more or less wanted taste of mustard, but "normal" mustard on BBQ meat equals rub glue.

 

[timothy]

Tommy, experiment and try it without the mustard one time. I used to do the same with a little whiskey added in as I always thought it helped in a better bark. Most of it slides off if ya handle the butts to much and then ya have to do a patch job. Since I bought the WSM I don't use the mustard unless I'm doing a partially frozen pc of meat than it does help as a rub glue as Geir mentioned..

Tim

 

[George Curtis]

no question is dumb or stupid or whatever.i'm not sure about 48 hours. i use mustard cuz i like the crust it leaves. but i rarely leave it on more than 12 hours.

 

[Russ Sylvester]

I've used mustard slather in competitions and have done pretty well with it. We don't have the time available to let meat marinate or soak flavors very much.

That said, why 48 hours? Is your idea that the mustard flavor will get further into the meat somehow? I'll contend that it's sort of like the same thing as soaking wood in water, it will only go so far and then essentially stop. More time really won't help much more with flavor and might even dry out from the fridge air and grow it's own crust.

Also, most of the different areas of a pork butt are encased in a thin membrane that a slather or rub won't penetrate anyway.

If you really want that flavor profile deep in the meat then why not just come up with a mustard based injection sauce and inject it into the meat directly?

Maybe I'm missing something.

Russ

 

[Tommy B (TMB)]

The reason for the question is this. I use mustard in comps and for smoking around the house, but now I have been asked to smoke 8 butts for the church and was thinking if I could rub with mustard before hand then rub my rub on them it would save time. I do like the bark I get from mustard but did know if there was a time limit on how long it could be done in advance

 

[Jim H.]

Hey Tommy!

Ray Lampe, a.k.a. Dr. BBQ, says to make what he calls a "schmear" of dry rub mixed with just enough liquid like apple juice or broth to make the dry rub pasty, then apply that to the meat. Maybe you could mix your dry rub with mustard or AJ, then rub that mixture onto the butts to save time.