I do pork butts on my PBC. Does it matter if they have been frozen before I buy them? What about if they have been frozen but are thawing when I buy them? Thanks.
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I use frozen butts all the time and you can't tell the difference from using fresh. If you order a high dollar butt from Snake River Farms, they all come frozen.
I thaw them in the fridge before using, but I know some folks just throw them on frozen. I like to cut mine in half in order to increase surface area for bark development and that won't work on a frozen one
If they are thawing already, it would kind of depend on how thawed they are. If almost completely thawed, I wouldn't refreeze them. It would probably still be ok, but you will lose some "juices" every time they are frozen. Butts are pretty forgiving though, so you would still end up with a good final product. If they have only thawed a bit, I'd keep them in the freezer till you're ready to thaw and use. -
I usually buy a 2 pack at Sam's Club and end up freezing one instead of cooking way too much at once. I can't tell any difference either way. Matter of fact, most recently I went ahead and dry brined and applied rub to the extra one before freezing it. I plan to put the frozen butt directly into the smoker next time I want to cook one. I don't see how this can be anything but good for bark formation and smoke ring.Comment
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Not having done this with a frozen butt I do think you are on to something because I did do this with partially thawed pork steaks. I had bought some pork steaks over a weekend and for whatever reason - did not get to cook them so I tossed them in the freezer.Originally posted by Steve R. View Post
Thursday morning of that week, I remembered the pork steaks and took them out of the freezer and put them into the fridge that morning. That afternoon I was able to pull the three steaks apart, as they were separated by butcher plastic but each steak was still pretty much frozen.
Already had the smoker going - I shrugged and went ahead and put them in the cooking chamber.
It took a little longer to bring them to safety temp but man was I amazed! These were thick cut pork steaks mind you and the smoke ring was nearly touching when viewed after cutting a piece of steak.
Then I thought - well hell, smoke likes cold and these things were definitely cold...Comment
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I buy pork butts whenever they are on sale and freeze them. Sometimes I freeze them whole, sometimes with rub and sometimes cut up (with and without seasoning). If whole, I usually take it out and put it into the fridge about 3-4 days before I'm going to use it. I haven't noticed a difference either.
I haven't tried putting it frozen into the smoker. Sounds like a good idea though. No idea what that will do to the cook time.Comment
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Thanks All! JimComment
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I use frozen butts from a place called Tamuras which is close to me. I've made some of my best pulled pork with them, even better than the fresh butts from the market. they're very consistent in size and shape.Comment
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So a related question would be: If someone froze a cryovac'ed butt without salting it, and wanted to pull it the day or so before smoking it, would it need to be slightly thawed and then salted for dry brining the day before? Or wouldn't the salt have enough time to work to bother with (then requiring the rub to have salt added)?
I understand that the butt may not be thawed by smoking time the following day (especially if thawed in the fridge), but it sounds like that just adds some time to the session...Comment
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