Overnight Pork Butts


 
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Jeff S.

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I have 3 pork butts in my freezer.
Two of them are around 6.5 lbs each and the other is around 7.5 lbs.
If I want to start smoking these this Sat. evening, when should I plan on getting them out of my freezer so they can be thawed out.
I cant remember how many days per pound it takes to thaw pork butts.
I plan on having pulled pork Mr. Brown style on Sun. afternoon.
Thanks
 
Unless they were close to spoiling when you froze them, I would take them out of the freezer now and let them thaw in the fridge.

I had a brisket, two butts, 6 slabs of ribs and two packages of chicken thighs in the freezer. Took them out on Sunday afternoon, put them in one of those new, high-efficiency coolers, and Friday at noon they were still frozen in the center.

A fridge is not as efficient as that cooler, but given no source for cooling other than the frozen meat itself, I would opt for longer controlled thawing in the fridge rather than trying to force a thaw at the last minute.

Dale
 
All 3 butts were very fresh when I brought them home from the store.
They were immediatley givin an additional wrapping of seran, and placed into a chest freezer.
I plan to do all 3 butts since I picked up a foodsaver the other day.
I figure I can freeze the leftovers and enjoy them at a later date.
 
Jeff....

Take them out NOW!! 2 lbs./day is the norm for thawing in the fridge. A lot depends on your fridge's temp. This formula is nased on 38?. Mine is quite a bit cooler than that and takes me forever to thaw.
 
I'm planning to smoke up 4-7lb butts this coming Friday night into Saturday.

I took the butts out of the freezer yesterday and have them thawing in the fridge. If it looks like it's taking too long, I'll place them in a water-bath for a few hours each evening. I'll rub them up on Thursday, and into the WSM Friday evening about 7pm, East coast time. I'm figuring the top two will be ready to come off about Noon on Saturday. I'll then move the bottom two up to the top rack for a few more hours. I have no deadline, so when they are done, they'll be done!

I'm making pulled-pork in advance for a high-school graduation party that's in June. I expect to smoke/pull/vaccum seal/freeze a majority of the pulled pork to be re-heated in about 6weeks. I'm doing them in advance, because the smoker will be in use the day of the party smoking up BB-ribs and chicken drumsticks.

So Jeff, I agree with KT, start thawing them out now.
 
Mike,
Not a good idea to do the water bath each evening. The meat that rises in temp during that bath to above 40 degrees will start growing bacteria. EAch time you do that, they will continue growing. Four hours above 40 degrees is generally considered the limit for safe food handling.

You are better off doing it for three-four hours the last night and then take your chances getting it done when you throw it on the cooker.

Besides, waiting until the last night may allow you to thaw normally and not have to use the water bath at all.

Dale
 
Understood. Thanks!

They seem to be thawing out just fine in the fridge. They are still in their original Cry-o-Vac sealed wrappers.
 
I took my 3 butts out of the freezer, they also seem to be doing fine in the fridge.
Thanks for all the advice.
 
I've also found that it helps to separate the 2 butts from out of the cryovac when thawing (put them in ziplok bags or something. If you leave them together, the part where the 2 butts touch each other takes forever to thaw.
 
I have had problems getting a complete thaw in the fridge even after 3 days in the fridge. But, if it is mostly thawed and maybe still frozen in the center you should be ok. I do 'em still frozen in the center all the time and it never really seems to affect anything.
 
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