Is my butt too flat?

[Mike U]

I'm getting ready for my maiden run tomorrow with my WSM. I picked up a 5 pound bone-in butt and started to trim some of the larger fat when I noticed that the butt started to look kind of mishapen.

In all of the pictures I've seen they always look nice and round and uniform. Mine's starting to look like one sections pulling away from rest.

If I lay it out so there's no loose sections laying on top of each other, it looks kind of flat - not real bad, but not as round as it looked in the cryovac. It wasn't tied or anything like some beef roasts but I'm wondering if its normal for a butt to look this way.

Will it affect my cooking time at all?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Chris Allingham]

Most of the ones I've cooked hold together pretty well, but I've had butts like that where there's a natural separation between two large muscles. I'd tie some kitchen twine around it, just to make handling it easier while applying rub, putting it into the cooker, etc. However, as the meat shrinks, that twine will get loose and it may fall apart anyway.

Don't worry, just cook it and enjoy!

Regards,
Chris

 

[Mike Chavez]

Hay Mike.
I personally like to keep all the fat on a butt. The cooking process seems to take care of most of it. The meat just melts in your mouth.

 

[Jim Piesik]

My butt isnt flat and Ive never been able to trim enough fat off it.....Oh-were talking about pork.


/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif With a subject line like that I couldnt resist!
Jim

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Mike....

Welcome!

Most of the butts I buy have a rectangular shape. Mine are always 7-8 lbs. when in cryo. Are you sure yours wan't trimmed or cut prior to you buying.....5lbs. sounds awful small for a whole butt.

This actually comes in very handy because you can stand them on end. This allows for fitting 3-4 per grate.

I trim only the external fat. That gives me much more bark....spices will NOT penetrate a fat cap.....and the internal meat is laced with fat. That means no drying no matter how long they are cooked.

Hope this helps!

 

[Doug D]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kevin Taylor:
[qb]Are you sure yours wan't trimmed or cut prior to you buying.....5lbs. sounds awful small for a whole butt.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Probably a half. Many stores here sell halves, and they're usually 4.5-5 lbs.