Cutting butt in half safety question.

[rickypro]

I have a 10 lb butt that I plan on cutting in half in order to get done a little quicker.  My question is should I wait to cut the butt in half until I am ready to put it in smoker or will it be ok to cut it the night before, rub and wrap the two pieces in fridge?  I realize I need to get it to 140 degrees in 4 hours since it is cut but is it safe to cut and wrap the night before?  This is a frozen butt that is thawing in my fridge right now if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Rick, Handle the Halved Butt just as if it was whole and proceed as usual. While the cutting may introduce bacteria to the newly cut surface the bacteria is still only on the outer surface so for all intensive purposes you have Two intact pieces of Pork rather than one. It is only Deboning and Injecting that introduces bacteria to the inside and makes cook time more critical...JJ

 

[rickypro]

Thanks for the quick response!  This will only be my second attempt at smoking a butt. (First one turned out great!)  I think I am going to foil one and leave one alone to see which way I like the best.
 

 

[rickypro]

This may sound dumb but you don't know unless you ask!

When I cut this butt in half, do I turn it on its side so the bone will be in the lower half after the cut or cut it from fat cap to bottom and just work around the bone the best I can?

Thanks.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Doesn't make much difference. Since you are going to have smaller pieces and if you can handle a knife, you can even bone it out and tie it back up with butchers twine. Do what is easiest your you...JJ

 

[jarjarchef]

I would not cut it in half. I would cook at 250-275 till you get to 180 then foil and turn up the heat to push through the stall. I have attached a link to my shoulder cook that should have taken 14-18 hrs to do. I had it done cooking, pulled and packed up in about 8hrs. I only used the oven for the foil part, so i could do some thigh/leg quarters. The bone is going to help get some of that pork flavor as well and help keep it moist. Think of chicken you eat. Is the one off the bone moister or is the one on the bone? Same concept with the pork butt....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/125208/3-shoulder-picnic-ham-smoke-w-q-view

 

[chef jimmyj]

I agree the Bone contributes, I just offered an option since Rick is in a hurry and Bone being a horrible heat conductor slows things down. The Bone-in butt I did a couple weeks ago ran long, almost 12 hours for 5.5Lb at 240*F. It got to 195*F IT and hit a second stall. I gave it a rest and pulled it. The bulk of the meat was very tender but the meat around the bone required a lot more effort to pull...Speaking of cutting up Butts, I recently saw a DDD from Hawaii that showed the cook/Chef cutting a large Butt into Softball sized chunks claiming that is how he gets the best result. I guess that's one way to get a lot of Bark and a quick cook, but I worry about moisture retension. Think I will try it some time...JJ