SVQ Butt

[BourBonQ]

Smoking77 Not sure it matters as much with SV, at least for pulled pork. The purge ends up really salty if you plan to use it for anything. I almost never preseason anything I SV these days, except maybe some veggies.

[Smoking77]

BourBonQ I wonder if it matters when you put the salt on, whether it's before or after the bath. Meaning, does salt dissolve "better" in raw meat, or is it all the same?

[BourBonQ]

Smoking77 your question reminded me that I seasoned it with Killer Hogs rub right after the ice bath and it sat in the fridge 2 days before hitting the PBC, not just before smoking as my original post might have implied. Would be interested to see if any difference with a pre-SV dry brine, but it turned out great this way. No stall, no wrapping, no timing guesswork, and a great final product.

[Smoking77]

BourBonQ Looks great! I was going to try doing an SVQ pork butt next weekend. Question: did you dry brine the pork before you put it in the bath, or just after you took it out?

Would you do anything else different next time?

[BourBonQ]

Catmandu , both pkadare and fzxdoc nailed it. Immediately following 'SV' the bagged meat is 'shocked' in an ice water bath to rapidly cool below the danger zone. You can then finish on your own time frame. The purge is the liquid in the bag after the SV step. The butt is 100% cooked and pullable after the SV, but it still needs the 'Q' step to add the bark and smoke, whether that is by grill or smoker.

Many thanks to Potkettleblack for time and temp guidance.

[fzxdoc]

After you take it out of the sous vide bath, make sure you flash chill in a 50/50 ice/water bath until it's cold enough to put into the fridge. It's a good food safety practice to adopt. Recommended by Douglas Baldwin, the food safety/sous vide guru.

Kathryn

[pkadare]

With SV, temp is doneness and time is tenderness. 24 hours at 158 is more than long enough to be able to pull it. The purge is a reference to what collects in the bag during the SV and has nothing to do with the Q part of SVQ.

[Catmandu]

Do I understand this process correctly? Put into the SV at 158 degrees for 24 hours, then cooled for a couple days, then into the PBC to bring it up to (only) 150 degrees? Interesting that it pulled like it was cooked to 200+. How do you collect any purge when cooking in the PBC?

Interesting process which I might have to try.

[fzxdoc]

Nice job. Smoking pork butts is so much fun that I hate to cut it short with sous vide. But you make a great point about having the PB ready on time when company is coming. SVQ eliminates the ETA uncertainty so it fills a niche. I'm going to give your method a try. Thanks for posting.

Kathryn

[Sweaty Paul]

Slick slick and looks tasty too!

[BourBonQ]

Hulagn1971 I didn't officially time it, but from fridge to ~150F was less than 3 hrs. Might have been closer to 2.

[Hulagn1971]

That looks really good. How long did it take on the smoker to get to the temp you wanted?

[Mr. Bones]

Cain't see thing one wrong with alla that porcine goodness...looks like great food to me, nice job, Brother!!!

[ScottyC13]

Thanks for posting. I want to try this method as a backup when I can’t be around all day to do it.

[BourBonQ]

Who says you can't get a nice smoke ring with SVQ...?

SV: nekkid @ 158x24, chilled in ice bath and refrigerated for 2 days.
Q: Dried off and rubbed with Killer Hogs, into the PBC for bark, using hickory and cherry, pulled at internal temp of ~150.

Added a very small amount of the purge back into the final pulled product.

Excellent tenderness without being mushy, and very juicy without being greasy.

This is now my go-to method for football tailgating (Lord, please bring back football this fall ), eliminates time and temp guesswork, no matter what size the shoulder is. Works great for ribs too, and can finish everything at the same time.