Man, it finally happened to me - bad meat!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

So the other day I was planning a big cook for the employees of a nursing home I work with. It's been a tough year in nursing home care, for sure. All the residents are cooped up, no outings, no visitation, no family, etc. It's been hell. And the employees are having to pick up the slack, provide all the entertainment, extra care, all while having to wear extra protective gear like gowns and masks the WHOLE time they're at work. I'd have quit a long time ago!

Anyways, so I had The Wife pick up 2 Prime briskets and a pack of 2 pork butts at Costco about 10 days before, took 'em to the NH and had them put them in the large refrigerator there because I didn't have room for all that.

So I got home on Thursday evening after picking up the meat, pulled out the larger brisket, got it trimmed up, injected and seasoned (Black Ops rub plus S&P), got it on the smoker about 8 or 8:30.

So around 9:30 I pulled out the pork butts and cut 'em open, immediately noticed they were RANK. I mean, rancid smelling. It was a STRONG sulphur smell, like rotten eggs. DANGIT!

So I had to run to WalMart before they closed (yeah, how weird is that? Thanks 2020!) and luckily manage to find a 9lb and an 11lb. Got 'em home and managed to get 'em on the smoker about 11.

The cook came out pretty good. I had one of the guys take a few pics, but they weren't great.

So I was trying to figure out if I did something wrong... I mean, The Wife picked up the butts at Costco in Tulsa, and came straight home. It's about an hour from there to my place. Then I took 'em straight to the NH and they went in the fridge. Just an hour uncooled, I don't think that would have seriously contributed to the problem. Just burns me, probably $40-50 worth of meat I had to toss.

So anyways, here are some pics of the Employee Appreciation feast.







The small butt:

[Dewesq55]

Man that reality sux! Nice recovery, though. The finished cook looked great. Nice things you did, too.

[Ahumadora]

Food looks great.... Who knows what happened to the meat before it got packaged so just put it down to being 2020...

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I do have to say I was happy with the brisket, which is a big deal. First one I've done in over a year, probably 18 months. The Wife isn't a huge fan of brisket, and every time I mention doing one she always talks me into doing ribs or pork butt. I know that the last couple I've done didn't come out great, but without practicing, you never improve your technique!

So I watched some more videos, read up a bit on here and threw my hat in the ring and it came out pretty good. The flat was not dripping juice, but definitely didn't taste dry at all. Of course, the point was a point - what can you say???

Today I am doing another one (also Prime), it's been wet-aging a full month or so, but it is for a gathering tonight of folks from my church and it looks like there're going to be about 15 of us there. When I pulled it out I realized it was only 10 lbs, as I had gotten a small one since it was just going to be for our family (only 3 of us) and as I mentioned above, The Wife isn't excited about brisket - honestly I keep telling myself it's because I haven't done a GOOD one yet! lol Anyways, after trimming, I bet it was only 7-7½ pounds or so. So I am doing a pork butt along with it. I think we should have enough meat.

Here are pics from today - I didn't inject this brisket, I just seasoned it with Black Ops and S&P.

Briskie - about 8h at 200ºF before wrapping:




You can tell it's small:



Like a Christmas present:



Pork butt - never wrapped one of these before, but I decided to give it a try. Same 8h in at 200ºF:



Ready to put back on, temp raised to 225ºF:





Just probed 'em - brisket was 165-175ºF, butt was 180-190ºF, so I moved the butt from bottom to top and brisket from top to bottom. I'm going super low and slow because I have plenty of time. They were wrapped about 7AM, it's now 1:22 and we don't eat 'till 6PM.

So another hour or two, then a rest in the cooler and off to the get together.

I'm feeling a little better about my brisket cooking after the NH meal. It was probably one of the better ones I've done. The last couple were major disappointments, so you know, getting your confidence back is a huge factor with these big ol' hunks of meat. Pork butt is nothing, you can't hardly screw it up. Brisket, though...

[FireMan]

Good work my man! Mebbe sumthin happened at the NH? Just wonderin.

[tbob4]

Great cook. Save the receipt. I have been reimbursed by Costco for bad meat. The beauty is that unlike everything else, they don’t want bad food in the return line.

[Donw]

First, great looking food and you did a great thing cooking for the residents and staff. Second, go back to Costco and get a refund. Hell, they should have donated the meat in the first place.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Meh, I don't get to Costco but every few months. It's not worth my gas and time to make a special trip, and with COVID going on my free time is slim anyways. I didn't keep the receipt, either.

No biggie, just live and learn.

[Panhead John]

It happens occasionally and who knows why. I bought a nice pack of ribs once from Costco, got home and opened em, the smell almost knocked me out. I rewrapped em and stuck em in the fridge. Returned em the next day for a refund. Twice I got some "fresh not frozen" catfish from Walmart, whew! Same thing, stunk like hell. I just threw em out and vowed to never buy that stuff again from Walmart. But only that once I’ve had it happen to me at Costco. Within the Best Buy Date too.

[texastweeter]

How bad was it, was it maybe just cryostink?

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Noooooo.... I've had lots of meat with a little funk from the cryo, and aged brisket up to 80+ days before cooking. This was a sulfurous rank smell. Wife came in and asked, "What is that stink???" She could smell it in the next room. I tried rinsing it off good thinking it was just what you said, but no - this was not something I wanted to risk taking to 40 healthcare employees.

[lostclusters]

DogFaced PonySoldier I'll bet the fridge at the NH was on the warm side of 40. The heat sink mass of the butts never let the fridge recover.

[SheilaAnn]

Way to hustle! Good looking spread!

[Red Man]

Pork butt doesn’t wet age well. I wouldn’t keep it in the fridge for ten days. Some leaner cuts seem to keep longer refrigerated.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Yeah I'm thinking that might have been it. Shoulda just had her pick up the briskets. I'll stick to that from now on, pork I'll freeze or just buy local.

[Richard Chrz]

Man that sucks, but like said above, fantastic recovery, and thank you for serving others.

[HawkerXP]

No receipt needed at Costco. They can pull up past purchases and reimburse you on that.

[jfmorris]

I'm with not wet aging pork like I would beef, but yeah - if that fridge was on the warmer side, that wouldn't help.

Anyway - looks like you recovered and had a very succesful cook! My wife loves my pork, but I think she loves brisket and beef too, and looks at the brisket like a giant steak, so won't complain other than the fact I am cooking for 16 hours.