Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.

Why?

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.
I spent about 6 hours smoking with royal oak lump and some mesquite chunks.

It turned out quite good - not too salty form the brine but you could
taste it a bit. A definite smoke ring, good flavor, and a nice juicy cut
of meat.

I'm definitely happy with this purchase!

On Mar 29, 9:33 pm, Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.
I spent about 6 hours smoking with royal oak lump and some mesquite chunks.

It turned out quite good - not too salty form the brine but you could
taste it a bit. A definite smoke ring, good flavor, and a nice juicy cut
of meat.

I'm definitely happy with this purchase!

As Dave says, why brine a pork butt?! There really is no need, and
absolutely no advantage to brining that cut of meat! Save brining for
poultry and the occasional fish!

Also, 6 hours seems like a very small amount of time to smoke a pork
butt, w/o knowing how much it weighed originally. If it weighed the
usual 9-12 or more pounds, 6 hours smoking time seems like a good
start, but not much else. How did you finish it in such a short time?!
What was the internal temp? Anything less than 190F was not enough, if
making pulled pork. Did you pull it, or slice it?
Don't sweat the responses- they are just from people who have been
there, and done that! We're not giving you a hard time- we're just
trying to save you some trouble and heartache, and trying to help you
make better bbq! Nothing personal! Good luck in your future endeavors!
Hang in there, and soon, you'll be giving "newbies" the same advice
you're getting now!

JimnGin wrote:
On Mar 29, 9:33 pm, Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.
I spent about 6 hours smoking with royal oak lump and some mesquite chunks.

It turned out quite good - not too salty form the brine but you could
taste it a bit. A definite smoke ring, good flavor, and a nice juicy cut
of meat.

I'm definitely happy with this purchase!

As Dave says, why brine a pork butt?! There really is no need, and
absolutely no advantage to brining that cut of meat! Save brining for
poultry and the occasional fish!

Also, 6 hours seems like a very small amount of time to smoke a pork
butt, w/o knowing how much it weighed originally. If it weighed the
usual 9-12 or more pounds, 6 hours smoking time seems like a good
start, but not much else. How did you finish it in such a short time?!
What was the internal temp? Anything less than 190F was not enough, if
making pulled pork. Did you pull it, or slice it?
Don't sweat the responses- they are just from people who have been
there, and done that! We're not giving you a hard time- we're just
trying to save you some trouble and heartache, and trying to help you
make better bbq! Nothing personal! Good luck in your future endeavors!
Hang in there, and soon, you'll be giving "newbies" the same advice
you're getting now!
It was 6 pounds, and the brine added some nice moisture and actually
the brown sugar and molasses penetrated it and left a dark ring in the
middle of it. overall it turned out quite well.

"Dave Bugg" wrote in message
news:bpBHj.2081$fq2.125@trndny03...
Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.

Why?

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com


Exactly my thought. The only piece of pork that may benefit from brining is
a hunk of loin. It has little fat. I don't believe I have ever brined a
piece of pork.
I don't like starting day before yesterday to cook a piece of pork.
I usually just open the package, sprinkle on my rub and cook.
--
James A. "Big Jim" Whitten

www.lazyq.com

frohe wrote:
Big Jim wrote:
I usually just open the package, sprinkle on my rub and cook.

Exactly. Doing anything more than this is simply creating work for
the sake of work which I'm totally against. And, it must work this
way since I've never had anyone walk away from my table hungry.

BTW, this is my rub.

12 parts paprika
2 parts chili powder
4 parts black pepper
2 parts garlic powder
4 parts salt
2 parts onion powder
4 parts sugar
1 part cayenne pepper

-frohe

Here's something to try in your recipe: Smoked (Spanish) Paprika. I have
seen smoked Paprika sold both with and without the "Spanish" designation. It
adds a dimension of smoke flavor to rubs and sauces, and in my opinion,
where a recipe calls for "liquid smoke", tastes much better and more
natural. Chilpotle powder, being dried and smoked jalapeno, will also give
smoke flavor but adds quite a bit of heat as well.

MartyB in KC

Walt Fles wrote:

It was 6 pounds, and the brine added some nice moisture and actually
the brown sugar and molasses penetrated it and left a dark ring in the
middle of it. overall it turned out quite well.

Well, whatever makes you happy but I'm also in the "why?"
corner. Now that you have a "control", I'd suggest just
rubbing the next one and cooking. I doubt if you'll see much
benefit to brining after that. But hey, you're cookin' it,
if it makes you happy - do it. ;-)

--
Steve

On Mar 30, 8:09*am, Steve Calvin wrote:
Walt Fles wrote:
It was 6 pounds, and the brine added some nice moisture

And you know that because you've cooked a few that weren't brined?
That cut of meat has so much excess fat and moisture that we cook it
for hours at a time getting rid of it all to make it edible.
Moisture is NOT a problem with butts.

As Calvin said though, it's your time and money. Do as you please.

Tutall wrote:
On Mar 30, 8:09 am, Steve Calvin wrote:
Walt Fles wrote:
It was 6 pounds, and the brine added some nice moisture

And you know that because you've cooked a few that weren't brined?
That cut of meat has so much excess fat and moisture that we cook it
for hours at a time getting rid of it all to make it edible.
Moisture is NOT a problem with butts.

As Calvin said though, it's your time and money. Do as you please.

I've noticed the butts I have brined had a hammy flavor. That is not to say
ham flavor is bad, but its not what I want when I barbecue pork butt.

MartyB in KC

JimnGin wrote:

On Mar 29, 9:33 pm, Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.
I spent about 6 hours smoking with royal oak lump and some mesquite chunks.

It turned out quite good - not too salty form the brine but you could
taste it a bit. A definite smoke ring, good flavor, and a nice juicy cut
of meat.

I'm definitely happy with this purchase!

As Dave says, why brine a pork butt?! There really is no need, and
absolutely no advantage to brining that cut of meat!

Try it, and you'll find you may like it. I've done several that way
and it's a nice change of pace.

Nothing wrong with that. It's not against any laws far as I know.
Not sure why everybody is against it. True, it doesn't need it, but
it can benefit from it, especially if you're tired of the some 'ol
pork.

-sw

Big Jim wrote:
"Dave Bugg" wrote in message
news:bpBHj.2081$fq2.125@trndny03...
Walt Fles wrote:
I brined a pork shoulder roast overnight to prepare for smoking.

Why?

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com


Exactly my thought. The only piece of pork that may benefit from
brining is a hunk of loin. It has little fat. I don't believe I have
ever brined a piece of pork.

Yeah. It would have to be a real lean cut, and even then I'd probably grill
it or roast it so a long cooking wouldn't dry it out.

I don't like starting day before yesterday to cook a piece of pork.
I usually just open the package, sprinkle on my rub and cook.

Amen.

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Walt Fles wrote:

It was 6 pounds, and the brine added some nice moisture and actually
the brown sugar and molasses penetrated it and left a dark ring in the
middle of it. overall it turned out quite well.

A butt has a lot of moisture which is increased with the cooking as the
collagen breaks down. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing you. I was
just trying to figure out if you knew that brining a shoulder or butt for
bbq just isn't necessary.

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

On Mar 30, 9:54*am, Sqwertz wrote:


Not sure why everybody is against it.

I don't think anyone is against it, but we're simply saying what you
said he

*True, it doesn't need it,

And letting him know that moistness is not a particularly good reason
to brine this cut o meat.

but
it can benefit from it, especially if you're tired of the some 'ol
pork.

That makes sense to me. It doesn't make as much sense to do on your
very first cook, that's all. And then think it helped keep the meat
moist.

On Mar 30, 8:37 am, "Nunya Bidnits" wrote:

Here's something to try in your recipe: Smoked (Spanish) Paprika. I have
seen smoked Paprika sold both with and without the "Spanish" designation. It
adds a dimension of smoke flavor to rubs and sauces, and in my opinion,
where a recipe calls for "liquid smoke", tastes much better and more natural.

I was visiting in Houston about a month ago, and went to Penzeys's
where they have the sample spices in large jars for you to take a
whiff. The smoke Spanish and Hungarian paprikas they had there were
beyond description they smelled so good. Nothing like the stuff in
the bottles I had that made me not like smoked paprika.

Marty, here's something to try. Next time you put a butt on, get a
couple of handfuls of jalapenos, core them, remove the ribs and the
seeds if you don't want too much heat. Smoke them with your butt
until they are almost crispy. Give them a good grind, and put that in
a shaker.

It is good for everything from baked potatoes, popcorn to soup. The
japs really take the smoke well.

Robert




Chilpotle powder, being dried and smoked jalapeno, will also give
smoke flavor but adds quite a bit of heat as well.

MartyB in KC

On Mar 31, 3:14 am, "
wrote:
On Mar 30, 8:37 am, "Nunya Bidnits" wrote:

I was visiting in Houston about a month ago, and went to Penzeys's
where they have the sample spices in large jars for you to take a
whiff. The smoke Spanish and Hungarian paprikas they had there were
beyond description they smelled so good. Nothing like the stuff in
the bottles I had that made me not like smoked paprika.


Penzey's is to spices what smokers are to meat!! I second the nod to
Penzey's! There is a new retail location that opened recently, and is
only 45 minutes to an hour from us. I am low on many of my Penzey's
items, and am looking forward to the trip to that location in the very
near future! I've used their spices, herbs, mixes, etc, for years for
baking, cooking, and smoking. Not too long ago, I made the best chili
the wife and I have ever had using several of their ground and dried
chilies!

JImnGin