Need a little help with a pork butt


 
Rich Dahl

Rich Dahl

R.I.P. 7/21/2024
Got a weird request, I have a nine pound Pork shoulder roast that’s been lurking in our freezer for quite some time and the reason I haven’t cooked it is its too big for just Barb and I. So what I would like to do is cut into to three roasts so I can do a couple of different cooks with it.
Here’s the weird part I have a sawzall and a new blade I can sterilize. I was thinking of doing a partial thaw and cutting it into three pieces and refreeze two of the three and doing some pulled pork with the other.
I’m open to other options so let me know what you think.
 
I think your plan sounds just fine. The sawzall should work great for that. As far as splitting it up into smaller roasts, I do that frequently with the packs of pork butts I buy at Costco.
 
Rich,
If I was in your shoes, I would do one third pulled pork, then I would plan to do two different cooks with the other two sections. I recently did something completely new with a portion of a pork shoulder and I can wait to do it again. I made Filipino Style Pork Skewers and they were out of this world good.
I followed this recipe:

Filipino Barbecue Pork with Achara

Experience Chef Tom's recipe for Filipino Barbecue Pork and Achara. Fresh succulent pork is slow cooked to perfection, and paired with a tangy side of Achara.
www.atbbq.com www.atbbq.com
I had to buy the banana cutsup and the calamansi juice off Amazon but it was worth it. I have never had pork shoulder this texture before it was amazing. It was chewy, but super tender and just amazing. If you don't want to get those special ingrediencies there is a cooking with Ry version that has good substitutes.
The top two skewers and the very bottom tiny skewer are chicken, but the middle six skewers are the thinly sliced pork shoulder.
pork 5.jpg

Then I would decide on a third cook for me it would either be pork carnitas following Rich G. recent post or Tacos Al Pastor using this recipe. However a third option would be some pork steaks.

So for me it would be
1. Pulled Pork.
2. Filipino Style Pork Skewers.
3. Jump on the Pork Carnitas train with Rich and I.
4. Try to Al Pastor recipe for me so I know how it is before I get to do it.;)
5. Make some Pork Steaks.
 
I seldom cook one pork butt at a time, even if it is just for me and She Who Must Be Obeyed. It takes no more time or fuel to cook two or three 7 or 8 pound butts than one. So in a way, I always have your situation - more meat than I really need for the immediate meal. (Heck, I always end up giving a pound or more away to neighbors, daughter, Amazon delivery guys, whoever.) It is almost always turned to pulled pork. We fridge what we plan to eat and freeze the rest in one pound freezer bags. It thaws and serves just fine. But if you are wanting to keep you options open on what your butts turns into, I like the idea of several smaller cooks and making the carnitas or skewers.
 
timothy said:
You could cut some nice thick pork steaks out of one side.
I use a gallon sized Ziploc bag (with a slit cut thru) for the blade, and put that over the Sawzall.
That keeps bits of blood ,fat, etc out of the tool and dust or crap from coming out of the tool.
Click to expand...
Great Idea Tim, Thanks
 
I don't see any need to use the Sawzall. Other than you think it would be cool/fun to use it on a pork butt in a Tool Time Tim manner.

For me and the Mrs., my standard cook is a Costco boneless two-pack. Which is like 17 pounds. As mentioned above, once the WSM is fired up, it is no harder to cook more than less.

I split each one in two (Chris has A good video on the pork butt split). Sometimes I cook all four pieces on the WSM for pulled pork, with a lot going into the freezer or given to the kids.

Other times, one half goes to carnitas, which also freezes really well.
 
My plan is to do about a third each of pork steaks, 3 lbs. to grind and 3 pounds for pulled pork. If I have to trim out too much I'll skip the pulled pork and get a 3 or 4 pounder for that
 
I had a similar dilemma a while back. I bought two pork shoulders for a gathering that was cancelled. Rather than freeze the butts whole, I smoked both, shredded it all and froze into 24 to 32 oz batches. It was much easier to find room for the smaller bags, and they made for some very quick easy meals.
 
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