What Causes Green Pork Butts?


 
OliverLeveritt

OliverLeveritt

TVWBB Member
I have run across a strange thing for which I have been unable to find any answer thus far.
Two pork butts. Each one was green inside when I pulled it apart. The meat against the bone was green. There were green areas between muscles.
To reduce random guessing, here are the details:

Purchased at different stores, different times, different labels / packers.
One went directly into the freezer for 4-5 weeks, then thawed in refrigerator for three days, (Sell by date OK.) Still had IT of 34° when it went on the smoker. I will note that after thawing, it was kinda slippery, so I washed it off and dried it.
One sat in refrigerator for three days, and went on smoker several days before sell/by date. IT 36° when it went on the smoker. No issues with slippery or sticky.
Different rubs.
One was cooked in WSM 18. 4 hours at *about* 250° over B&B charcoal till stall at 160° then wrapped and put in oven at 250° till probe tender (about 4.5 hours@195°).
One was in Yoder pellet cooker -- 200° overnight till stall at 16x° then wrapped and put in oven at 250° till probe tender (about 4 hours @200°).

Both butts were rubbed and put back into refrigerator, one for a couple of hours and one overnight. I have air dried / dry brined lots of chickens and steaks in the refrigerators with no issues -- 2 hours to 2 days.

I can't give a lot of valid info regarding smell. A sinus surgery years ago did a number on my smeller. It has improved greatly over the years, but some things are still difficult to smell / identify properly. While cooking, both butts smelled pretty wonderful. I don't know if it was my imagination or just my sense of smell, but I thought that I detected a slight and tiny bit of funk after pulling the butts apart. I don't know.

Their time spent in refrigerators was in two different refrigerators and I have had no other oddities with any other food.
So, after eliminating source, handling & safe temp management, refrigeration, cooking equipment and cooking process, I'm at a loss. The only actual commonality between the two was the oven finish. I have cooked lots of stuff in that oven and nothing else ever came out green ON THE INSIDE.

What causes green pork butts? I'm tired of spending hours to smoke a butt and then throw it away, but I do not eat green eggs and ham (or butts, either).
 
I've seen it before but more grayish withj a slight tinge of green.
tvwbb.com

pulling pork shoulder

When pulling a pork shoulder what does everyone do with the meat next to the bone? It gets this greenish discoloration from either a membrane or the bone itself. It looks unappetizing, but conversely seems to be some of the tenderest meat. I've been trying to scrape off as much as greenish stuff...
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The only reason a pork butt would turn that greenish colour is the product is turning off condition , on its way out in the midst of turning wrotten .Sometimes meat departments have products like pork butts displayed in big bunkers (display cases and the product gets tossed and turned etc. and the refrigeration cycle in those counters has a defrost cycle that the temps go high for a certain length of time to defrost the coils below and can shorten the best before dates off a bit or some employee finds it on the grocery store shelf and puts it back in the meat counter thats called (temperature abuse) . The best before dates for fresh meats are generally determined for products kept in ideal condtions such as walk-in coolers ,also everyone seems to overlook this but your home fridge should be 35-38 degrees farenheit any higher than this can also shorten best before dates . If the pork butt is green around the bone and muscle , I would say thats were there is an air gap in the meat and the product which is turning off can build up a gas in these areas thus causing the green colour. Once the product is in a state liked mention above it deteriorates very quickly once exposed to the air, given a couple days in this condition generally the entire whole product would start turning green . A croyvac store bought pork butt once opened up should give off an odour right away indicating if it is off , If you have a smell problem it would be best for someone else to give it the old whiff test, before you further process it. Also sometimes when you put a product like a croyvac pork butt directly into the freezer from the store you dont know what condition the product was at time of purchase unless you opened the croyvac and this can apply to any product more so to pork and chicken ,beef is a lot more tolerent of best before dates and aging in a cryovac. On your next fresh pork purchase look for the longest best before dates possible and, just check the temp gauge in the meat case , if you notice at Costco you will see employees are constantly reading the temperature of all refrigersted cases very stringently, which I applaud them for , believe me not all stores do this.
 
Last edited:
Bill F in Ontario said:
The only reason a pork butt would turn that greenish colour is the product is turning off condition , on its way out in the midst of turning wrotten .Sometimes meat departments have products like pork butts displayed in big bunkers (display cases and the product gets tossed and turned etc. and the refrigeration cycle in those counters has a defrost cycle that the temps go high for a certain length of time to defrost the coils below and can shorten the best before dates off a bit or some employee finds it on the grocery store shelf and puts it back in the meat counter thats called (temperature abuse) . The best before dates for fresh meats are generally determined for products kept in ideal condtions such as walk-in coolers ,also everyone seems to overlook this but your home fridge should be 35-38 degrees farenheit any higher than this can also shorten best before dates . If the pork butt is green around the bone and muscle , I would say thats were there is an air gap in the meat and the product which is turning off can build up a gas in these areas thus causing the green colour. Once the product is in a state liked mention above it deteriorates very quickly once exposed to the air, given a couple days in this condition generally the entire whole product would start turning green . A croyvac store bought pork butt once opened up should give off an odour right away indicating if it is off , If you have a smell problem it would be best for someone else to give it the old whiff test, before you further process it. Also sometimes when you put a product like a croyvac pork butt directly into the freezer from the store you dont know what condition the product was at time of purchase unless you opened the croyvac and this can apply to any product more so to pork and chicken ,beef is a lot more tolerent of best before dates and aging in a cryovac. On your next fresh pork purchase look for the longest best before dates possible and, just check the temp gauge in the meat case , if you notice at Costco you will see employees are constantly reading the temperature of all refrigersted cases very stringently, which I applaud them for , believe me not all stores do this.
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I just find it interesting that I'd have two consecutive cooks with butts from two different stores at different times and both of them were bad. I'm putting another butt on the smoker in the morning. It came home from the store and went straight into the freezer. Thawed for 2 days in a 34 degree refrigerator. I rubbed it this evening and put it back into the refrigerator to air dry and dry brine. It will go on the smoker at 250° in the morning.
I'll probably start taking my Thermoworks Surface Probe to the store with me to check meat temps before buying. They might have a period that I can't register, but I'll know what the current temp is before I buy it.
 
OliverLeveritt said:
I just find it interesting that I'd have two consecutive cooks with butts from two different stores at different times and both of them were bad. I'm putting another butt on the smoker in the morning. It came home from the store and went straight into the freezer. Thawed for 2 days in a 34 degree refrigerator. I rubbed it this evening and put it back into the refrigerator to air dry and dry brine. It will go on the smoker at 250° in the morning.
I'll probably start taking my Thermoworks Surface Probe to the store with me to check meat temps before buying. They might have a period that I can't register, but I'll know what the current temp is before I buy it.
Click to expand...
Hi Oliver, hope all goes well for you on this pork butt and you have a very successful cook . One thing I forgot to mention is transporting fresh meat home from the grocery store. If I am purchasing fresh meat especially chicken or pork during the very hot summer months I will bring a cooler with me that already has an ice pack and the cooler itself has chilled somewhat . I have seen many people on a hot summer day with temps in the mid 90's throw their groceries including milk and fresh meat into a hot trunk of a car and then drive 1/2 hour home.
 
I had one instance of buying a cryovac'd pork butt and got it home to open it with a strong sour whiff - it smelled....off. The outside looked ok, but I took it back anyway.

If it don't look right or smell right - I ain't going to eat it.
 
I smoked another butt today. WSM. Salt & Pepper only. Did the S&P last night and put it back in the refrigerator. Put it on the smoker this morning -- 34° IT. Smoked to stall at 150°. Wrapped and cooked to 195°. Rested two hours. Pulled bone, no green. Pulled meat back and looked inside -- GREEN. And other dark colors. 3 for 3 now.
I went into the butt toward the end opposite the bone and pulled out some meat from about an inch deep. Chewed it and spit it out. It was harshly bitter. My mouth still tastes bitter and that was a half hour ago.
Every week or more often, I smoke a butt and throw it away. I guess I'll go empty my freezer. There has been no problem with my freezer. I put little 4 oz. Rubbermaid containers in there and freeze two ounces of water in them. Meanwhile, I have a quarter sitting on the shelf. When the water freezes hard, I open the container and throw the frozen quarter in. It doesn't stick. If the quarter ever sticks to the ice, I know there's a problem. If it sinks into the ice, I know that is really a big problem. The quarters are still loose and free.
I am disgusted and at a loss. I'll empty my freezer -- pork butts, chickens (mostly expensive organic chickens) and briskets. Throw it all away. I have already thrown 30 pounds of meat away. I'll toss another 40 or 50 pounds. I'm worn out with it.
There is nothing happening to the meat once I get it home. I know that. I just find it hard to believe that I have bought that much bad meat at different times from different stores to the point that I have had three green pork butts in a row.
 
Bill F in Ontario said:
Hi Oliver, hope all goes well for you on this pork butt and you have a very successful cook . One thing I forgot to mention is transporting fresh meat home from the grocery store. If I am purchasing fresh meat especially chicken or pork during the very hot summer months I will bring a cooler with me that already has an ice pack and the cooler itself has chilled somewhat . I have seen many people on a hot summer day with temps in the mid 90's throw their groceries including milk and fresh meat into a hot trunk of a car and then drive 1/2 hour home.
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It hasn't been that hot here and I drive 5 minutes to get home. I'm now 3 for 3 on green butts. Another one in the trash tonight.
 
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