The word barbecue is thought to have been derived from the Spanish word Barbacoa, from back when the Spaniards first observed Caribbean natives slow cooking meat over open fires on raised wooden platforms. That trial and error practice added both mild smoke flavor and tenderness to some of their otherwise low eating quality local meat. The different meat cuts from various carcass regions are… Read More »
Since this post will go against the outdoor cooking powers that be, perhaps the made up word Nerve-ana could also be considered appropriate in the title. Speaking of nerve, when propane is allowed on the BBQ contest circuit we might well start seeing the use of gas-fired, climate-controlled portable smokehouses that are manufactured by commercial food processing equipment companies. I was greatly heartened some… Read More »
A whole pork shoulder separates into butt roast and picnic roast portions; leaving most of the blade bone in the butt portion and most of the front leg bones in the picnic. Due to only containing the blade bone, pork shoulder butts lend themselves well to both retail cut fabrication and cooking whole. Because butts contain less bone than picnics and require less labor to… Read More »
In order to add economically worthwhile value to retail pork butts one has to adapt to how this fresh pork product is most often being sold now a days. So-called Natural butts are legally pumped with a saltwater containing solution. Water adds weight at meat prices and low levels of salt increases finished product moisture retention. So… Read More »
The meat processing techniques in this post are relatively non-labor intensive and the cost of retail starting raw meat (from a wholesale club store) is toward the current low price end. Further, each of the 3 end-products suggested here has a good market in at least 1 moderately large U.S. city. If you don’t benefit from… Read More »