May-31-09- Kroger Butts Will Be 99 Cents
- Thread starter graybeard
- Start date
-
Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
big game cook
Smoking Fanatic
dacfan
Smoke Blower
In Eastern Ky Kroger is more expensive on BBQ items than anyone else. There brisket is around six dollars a pound pork butt isn't cheap either.
Checked their ad in Fort Worth and they don't list pork butts, but discovered they're featuring Spareribs for .99 lb... know what we're smoking for dinner tonight!
peebee
Newbie
Dillon's is owned by Kroger, so it might be worth watching the Lawrence store.
Chuck roasts are on sale at Price Chopper for $1.66/lb until the 2nd of June. They're in family packs, so you get two to a pack, and the roasts are about 4lbs each.
I smoked up a couple of those this weekend, along with a ham and two slabs of Costco spare ribs. Absolutely delicious, every last bit of it. I've got enough sliced chuck to last all week for lunch.
Whoa whoa whoa... sliced chuck? Aren't you supposed to go until 200-205, then pull it just like you would pork shoulder?
Listen friends, as the Reverend PB preaches the gospel of sliced chuck roast.
Pull the chuck out at 180-185 (for every beer you lose 1/2 a degree of reaction time... I pulled mine at 185). Throw it on the slicer, and you've got a great alternative to brisket, in half the time. This was as tender and flavorful as the best brisket I've eaten, albeit a bit fattier.
Can I get a hallelujah?
Chuck roasts are on sale at Price Chopper for $1.66/lb until the 2nd of June. They're in family packs, so you get two to a pack, and the roasts are about 4lbs each.
I smoked up a couple of those this weekend, along with a ham and two slabs of Costco spare ribs. Absolutely delicious, every last bit of it. I've got enough sliced chuck to last all week for lunch.
Whoa whoa whoa... sliced chuck? Aren't you supposed to go until 200-205, then pull it just like you would pork shoulder?
Listen friends, as the Reverend PB preaches the gospel of sliced chuck roast.
Pull the chuck out at 180-185 (for every beer you lose 1/2 a degree of reaction time... I pulled mine at 185). Throw it on the slicer, and you've got a great alternative to brisket, in half the time. This was as tender and flavorful as the best brisket I've eaten, albeit a bit fattier.
Can I get a hallelujah?
Thank you, Graybeard, for this thread that got me to look at Kroger's Ad online and discover spareribs on sale for 99¢ lb.! We did go there, did a bunch of shopping and picked up a pair of the ribs; one to freeze and one to eat tonight. Both were pretty stiff, about ¾ frozen, but 1 hour of shopping (wife's in their drive-around wheelchair, and it was slow!) and then on the open bed of my truck for a half hour ride home and they were pretty slacked out! Once we got home and everything put away, tho, it was already 4:45. I got the smoker a'smoking and split the rack in half, liberally applied some rub (Robinson's) and on the smoker they went! Forget the 3-2-1, it woulda been almost midnight before we ate. I smoked them for 2 hours, pulled them off and wrapped in foil with a heavy spritzing of apple juice and tossed them into the oven at 425° degrees to braise for an hour - ½ the time at twice the temp! Took out of foil and basted one side with Stubb's BBQ sauce (regular) and baked naked for ½ hr, then flipped and basted and cooked for the last half hour. Meanwhile, peeled potatoes and chopped up some onion and made foil potatoes (5 med. potatoes peeled and sliced med/thin, 2 big onion slices diced, roll out 3 ft of heavy duty aluminum foil, coat with butter, toss on potato slices and onions and some granulated garlic plus a couple shakes of Italian Seasoning, then two big pats of butter on the top, roll 'em up and cook on grill, 12 min. on bottom grate over hottest flame, then 12 min. on upper rack. Delicious!), then cooked some corn - Dinner's Ready!
Here's some pics how they turned out - only thing was they didn't get much smoke ring, but I pushed them too. Flavor and tenderness was wonderful and they were moist and the bones rolled off the meat! Thanks again Graybeard! You made our day, and there's another rack in the freezer to do up next time (and do it right maybe, too!).
Whole rack split in half:
Briskets cut off:
Another overhead shot of briskets off:
Ribs cut individually:
Thanks for looking!
Here's some pics how they turned out - only thing was they didn't get much smoke ring, but I pushed them too. Flavor and tenderness was wonderful and they were moist and the bones rolled off the meat! Thanks again Graybeard! You made our day, and there's another rack in the freezer to do up next time (and do it right maybe, too!).
Whole rack split in half:
Briskets cut off:
Another overhead shot of briskets off:
Ribs cut individually:
Thanks for looking!
gruelurks
Smoking Fanatic
I got one of those butts last week and the quality of the meat was horrible. I smoked it low and slow to 170, then foiled and coolered it for a couple hours. No luck, it pulled apart like rubber. I'm still a newb at smoking with maybe 20 experience pts to my name, but I'm telling ya, I got a bum butt.
peebee
Newbie
Simply put, it pulled apart like rubber because it didn't have enough time at the proper temperature to break down the connective tissues. If you're smoking at 225-250F, that cut of meat needed to get to a bare minimum of 190F before being foiled, but 200F would have given it even more love.
Now, to get a bit more complicated...
When you smoke meat, you're braising it. No, you're not surrounding it by liquid, tossing it in the oven with some vegetables, and making a stew...but you're still braising, by even the most technical definition.
When muscle tissue like pork shoulder reaches 130F, the myocin molecules that make up the long stringy strands of the meat start to wind up, like a rubber band on a toy airplane. Since they're full of water, they start to release it into the rest of the tissue structure as they wring themselves out like a sponge. This is a slow process that is just barely starting at 130F, and the hotter you take the meat, the faster that water comes out.
When that water is released, it starts braising the meat from the inside. Water transfers heat more quickly than air, so this water begins to act more quickly on the collagen molecules, which are responsible partially for holding the muscle tissue together, and primarily for connecting it to tendons and cartilage. At 150F, the collagen molecules begin to slowly change from a fiber into gelatin. That gelatin absorbs fat and water, and accounts for meat that is pullable, or "fall off the bone" tender.
Taking the pork shoulder slowly to 200F means it stays in the "Zone" for the appropriate amount of time for all of these changes to occur. Collagen conversion happens between 150F and 200F, with faster conversion happening at higher temperatures. Above 200F, the ribose in the meat begins to brown, starting the Maillard reaction. You want this on the outside, but not on the inside. Maillard reaction + slight pyrolization = bark.
Resist the urge to remove the shoulder from the smoker until its internal temperature reaches 200F, and you will be rewarded with delicious, easy-to-pull pork.
Now, to get a bit more complicated...
When you smoke meat, you're braising it. No, you're not surrounding it by liquid, tossing it in the oven with some vegetables, and making a stew...but you're still braising, by even the most technical definition.
When muscle tissue like pork shoulder reaches 130F, the myocin molecules that make up the long stringy strands of the meat start to wind up, like a rubber band on a toy airplane. Since they're full of water, they start to release it into the rest of the tissue structure as they wring themselves out like a sponge. This is a slow process that is just barely starting at 130F, and the hotter you take the meat, the faster that water comes out.
When that water is released, it starts braising the meat from the inside. Water transfers heat more quickly than air, so this water begins to act more quickly on the collagen molecules, which are responsible partially for holding the muscle tissue together, and primarily for connecting it to tendons and cartilage. At 150F, the collagen molecules begin to slowly change from a fiber into gelatin. That gelatin absorbs fat and water, and accounts for meat that is pullable, or "fall off the bone" tender.
Taking the pork shoulder slowly to 200F means it stays in the "Zone" for the appropriate amount of time for all of these changes to occur. Collagen conversion happens between 150F and 200F, with faster conversion happening at higher temperatures. Above 200F, the ribose in the meat begins to brown, starting the Maillard reaction. You want this on the outside, but not on the inside. Maillard reaction + slight pyrolization = bark.
Resist the urge to remove the shoulder from the smoker until its internal temperature reaches 200F, and you will be rewarded with delicious, easy-to-pull pork.
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Similar threads
Hot Threads
-
Spammer PMs, Anybody Else?
- Started by chilerelleno
- Replies: 65
- Blowing Smoke Around the Smoker.
-
Lost my dad yesterday
- Started by normanaj
- Replies: 40
- Blowing Smoke Around the Smoker.
-
On the Edge of Trying Sausage Making
- Started by BrianGSDTexoma
- Replies: 35
- Sausage
-
Took a stroll this afternoon
- Started by Buckeyedude
- Replies: 33
- Field and Stream
