Do you guys dry brine a pork butt over night before the smoke, or not? Do you notice much of a difference with this size of meat? Just curious before I put in a possible unnecessary effort in dry brining. I typically add some of the juices from the wrap, maybe a little Carolina vinegar sauce, and a little rub to the pulled pork and it always comes out fantastic.
Just wondering what you all do since I know that dry brining tri tip has taken it to another level flavor wise.
I dry brine every pork butt and for that matter all pork cuts at least overnight. It does make a difference in the moisture of the pork itself. There are articles here on the site and other sites that go into the mechanics of why it works.
Thanks! Do you trim much of the fat off or just let the salt penetrate that?
I'm aware of the articles on this site. It's actually where I learned of dry brining and how it works and ultimately changed how I prepare my tri tip.
All the other learning resources I've use for BBQ (youtube mainly) never really talk about dry brining pork. I wonder why that is.
Looks like I'll be tossing this butt in the freezer until next weekend as I was too lazy to brine it last night lol.
Answering your question with what I do, I trim most external fat down to a minimum or right off. IMHO the meat itself contains all the fat I need to produce a good product and it also doesn’t allow the salt to penetrate the meat during brining. I also don’t need to separate out big chunks of fat from the meat when I’m pulling or chopping.
I’ve never dry brined a pork butt.
Outta the fridge, dry rub it and into the grate.
Personal preference thing.
Guess the right answer depends on which side of the fence your on
Weber S-335 gas grill
Weber 26†kettle
Weber 22†kettle
Camp Chef XL Smoke Vault
Camp Chef 3 Burner cook top
Camp Chef Woodwind 36 Pellet grill with sidekick burner
PBC
Accessories:
SnS XL
SnS standard
Vortex
Weber Rotisserie for 22†Kettle
1st gen FireBoard
2nd gen FireBoard
Griddle for Camp Chef cooktop
Several Thermoworks items
Set of Grill Grates
For me, I haven’t seen a big difference in dry brining or not on large cuts of pork. As far as trimming a pork butt...I’ll trim all the thick hard fat off because it doesn’t render out as easily, but don’t worry too much about the soft fat.
Weber S-335 gas grill
Weber 26†kettle
Weber 22†kettle
Camp Chef XL Smoke Vault
Camp Chef 3 Burner cook top
Camp Chef Woodwind 36 Pellet grill with sidekick burner
PBC
Accessories:
SnS XL
SnS standard
Vortex
Weber Rotisserie for 22†Kettle
1st gen FireBoard
2nd gen FireBoard
Griddle for Camp Chef cooktop
Several Thermoworks items
Set of Grill Grates
jitsntricks I have, and on thinner pork cuts I think it makes a difference but it seems more often than not I forget to thaw my ribs in time to do a proper brine. Nobody seems to complain when they eat so I’ll assume they taste good.
I’ll dry brine beef and I’m a believer that it makes a difference, especially on steaks.
I'll dry brine a butt two days in advance if I can. I do not brine wibs. I put the rub on first thing in the morning of the cook, our rib rub has salt. so, I guess I do brine wibs.
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
Smoke = Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5"
Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
Indoor Cooking = LG Studio 30" gas range
Camp Cooking = Coleman 2 burner white gas stove
Thermometer = FireBoard FBX2 with 2 ambient and 6 meat probes
Thermapen Mk IV = Light blue
Thermapen Mk IV = Black
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Auber 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 1 fan)
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Fireboard 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 2 fan)
Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
Favorite wine = whatever is currently in the wine rack
Favorite beer = Sam Adams Boston Lager or Shiner Bock
Favorite whisky = Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 16 year old single malt
Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
No matter what sort of cut of meat I'm prepping to grill or smoke, I always do several things IF POSSIBLE. Time constraints may cause issues, especially with dry brining. I have, at times, literally picked up a pork butt at the store, hit it with some salt and rub, and then gone straight onto the smoker.
- Dry brine with 1/2 tsp kosher salt per pound for at least 1 hour. Preferably 24 hours. On large cuts of meat (Pork butt, for example) if I can't go 24 hours, I don't bother with the dry brine.
- Trim fat and silverskin aggressively. I get all of that off the surface that I can. It interferes with dry brine, rub, and bark formation. In addition, most people trim the surface fat off their serving. So, you basically lose the rub and bark you spent so much time on. I have never noticed that surface fat does some miraculous basting or something, so I just trim it right down to the meat.
- Keep the meat as cold as possible right until it goes on the grill/smoker. I basically take it from the fridge to the counter, hit it with my rub/seasoning, and then straight to the cooker. You get far more/better smoke flavor in my experience doing this. Letting it sit on the counter and warm up just means you are putting the meat into the danger zone for bacteria formation, without any significant impact on cooking that I have ever found.
Thanks. looks like the consensus is in favor of dry brining. Looks like I'll be doing a lot more of that. Also, do you wrap in plastic or just stick it uncovered in the fridge?
jitsntricks stick it in the fridge uncovered. Put it on a cookie rack in a cookie tray if you can. Let’s air circulate around the meat. Works better IMHO
I find myself always applying a rub, which contains a lower salt content to all my meats the night before, providing no time constraints get in the way. I can see where the liquid working its way back into the meat on a big piece like a Butt may not get all that deep, but for ribs, steaks and just about anything else, a rub the night before is my usual game plan. I will place the meat on a cooling rack on a baking sheet and let rest naked in the fridge.
Comment