Pork Help Quick

[Kevin Cameron]

I am going to be doing a pork and venison shoulder on the bullet tomorrow. A friend said that they had a hog butchered and would give me one of the butts to smoke. I got it home yesterday and it looked like a small country ham w/ more fat on it than I am used to seeing. And since it looked small, she also threw in a ham, which looked almost the same. They were still frozen, but I am not familar with "freshly butchered" cuts. The skin is real thick, and it just doesn't look as appetizing as the butts from Sams. Can and how can I proceed? I am thinking about stopping by Sams on the way home and picking up some butts b/c I don't like the way these look. Anyone have any advise?

 

[Al Silverman]

Hi,

I would just trim them down so that there is almost no fat left on thr surface. The outside fat doesn't add anything to the end result anyway. After that just do what you normally do with butts and enjoy !!!

Al

 

[Susan Z]

Save that fat! At least if it's as gloriously snow white as the fat from the hog MY friend's friend butchered. Ours was incredibly fatty, too, but that fat is heaven sent. You can pound it thin and use it to cover lean meats you want to cook (like that very lean venison! or other roasts or whatnot that are not fatty) and keep them from drying out. Or put some on a brisket that doesn't have enuff of a fat cap. It's awesome stuff.

If you get some pork bellies from your friend you can make the best buckboard bacon EVER..!

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Sounds like you may have a picnic which is fine. Whether or not you have a picnic or a butt, they are basically the same. Just different parts of the shoulder. Regardless of what you have, I would recommend removing the skin, it is not a must but you will not have much area for edible bark with the skin on.

 

[Kevin Cameron]

Cool, so I will press with what I have, trim the fat cap leaving about 1/4"-1/2" cover of fat, and the tie the extra on the venison. One other question, how long per lb for the venison? I think I read for the pork is 2 hr per lb, correct? And this is per piece, not total pork weight, correct? Meaning that if each one weighs around 3lbs, I would calculate for 3lbs and not 6lbs. Am I thinking correct? Sorry this seems long, just want to make it right.

 

[Chris Finney]

2hrs per lbs is a good 'guess'. But you never know with butts. Always start early for how long you think it will take and then use the cooler to hold your meat until time to serve. Your thoughts on weight calculation are also correct, unless you are doing a really large quantity of meat.
Don't know about the times for venison. But, venison is very lean and would probably cook much faster (more like a good cut of beef).

And hey, your in NC. Throw that skin on the cooker with the rest of it. Cooks better with low, direct heat, but go for it.

 

[Guest]

Kevin, little or no fat cap is required on the pork-there is plenty of internal fat. I have not done a large shoulder...7-8 lb. boneless ones take me an average of 18 hours. Plan on more ....