Pork butt in fridge or freezer?


 
B

Brandon Cackowski-Schnell

TVWBB Member
Quick question here. I bought 13lb of pork butt for smoking this weekend. It was packed on the 12th and has a sell-by date of the 15th. I'm planning on putting it on the smoker on the night of the 15th for an overnight cook to finish on the 16th. Is it OK to put the butts in the fridge up until then, or should they go in the freezer? I know that I'll be putting them on the smoker on the sell-by date, but just barely. I'm planning on rubbing it the morning of the 15th, so if I put it in the freezer, most likely it'd just be for tonight, so that it has plenty of time to thaw for the morning of the 15th.

If it does need to go in the freezer, is it better to trim it prior to freezing or afterwards? Not sure what trimming and then freezing will do to the moisture content.

Thanks to everyone in advance. I haven't posted in some time, choosing to lurk instead, but I do appreciate all the info I've gotten from this site over the years.

-Brandon
 
off topic, but... if you bought a 13 pound butt, chances are that it is actually 2 butts packaged together. If it is in cryovac than the chances are even higher. At any rate, if you were to freeze all that, it would take a few days in the fridge to thaw. you wouldn't even have enough time to thaw it by your cook date. Might as well just keep it in the fridge for a few more days...
 
I also agree. Bottom shelf of the fridge is the coldest and that's where I keep my meat. Adam is right too ~ That's more than likely 2 butts in there.

Good Luck with your cook.
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Thanks for the responses. Yes, there are two butts in there. Sorry I didn't specify. Now I'm just trying to figure out whether to do it overnight Sunday night to Monday morning or all day Sunday. Looks like wind will be the biggest factor as it's supposed to be a windy weekend.

Thanks again.

-Brandon
 
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