Having your Butcher grind your meat

[poacherjoe]

I have not seen anyone talk about this. I am planning on buying a double pak of Boston butt and having my Butcher debone it and grind the entire thing up for me. I can still get it his way at the sale price for no additional charge. It should give me about 20 pounds of ground pork and when I get it home I was planning on making Cajun and Italian stuffed in hog casings and Chorizo and Breakfast sausage for patty sausage. 5 pounds of each. I understand the various sizes of the grind but I think all of this with a 3/16 plate should be okay. Any advice for pro's and con's from the more experienced members will be appreciated ? I f I can save myself from having to clean up the grinder I think it's worth it.

 

[Coreymacc]

I buy pre-ground meat from time to time but for me, the grinding process is just part of the deal. Its really not about the cost for me either I find it relaxing. I guess if you can get a butcher to do that part of the process for no extra charge then great. Its just not a huge thing for me. It really is personal preference. If I had a hand grinder definitely but my grinder works fast so I just do it myself.

All my opinion of course.
Corey

 

[sandyut]

I would rather do it all myself. I just like to have made food from the beginning. I have a grinder for this reason. Maybe pride, control freak, dunno. Just like to do it from start to finish and know whats in there.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have not seen anyone talk about this. I am planning on buying a double pak of Boston butt and having my Butcher debone it and grind the entire thing up for me. I can still get it his way at the sale price for no additional charge. It should give me about 20 pounds of ground pork and when I get it home I was planning on making Cajun and Italian stuffed in hog casings and Chorizo and Breakfast sausage for patty sausage. 5 pounds of each. I understand the various sizes of the grind but I think all of this with a 3/16 plate should be okay. Any advice for pro's and con's from the more experienced members will be appreciated ? I f I can save myself from having to clean up the grinder I think it's worth it.

For us if you have a grinder, then do a double grind. I usually grind the first time with the large plate, then mix in the spices & run it thru the med plate. It really only takes a few minutes to clean the grinder & I really don’t mind doing it. I think you get a better mix of the spices on the second grind, than you would if you just grind it once & mix in the spices. But that is how we have always done it. With the Covid thing going on I’m looking for ways to spend my time SAFELY. So if that means cleaning the grinder it’s all good!
Al

 

[BGKYSmoker]

When we lived on the east coast of Fl i had the mexican butcher grind meat for me, very clean and each meat had its own grinder to eliminate cross contamination and the grinders were in the cold hang room.

Nothing wrog with per ground, just make sure you can see the meat in the tray or chub. stay away from the nasty stuff in the white solid marked chubs.

 

[thirdeye]

These plates ↑↑↑ are 1/2" and 5/16" which I refer to as chili or coarse grind. I use the 5/16" plate for bulk chorizo. Hamburger is usually 1/4" or 3/16". I typically use a 1/4" plate for my ground beef and pork and will step down to a double 3/16" for my hot dogs.

One option to consider is having the butcher cut off the 'money muscle end roast' aka Coppa roast. It is about the top 3" of the Boston butt and contains 4 or 5 small muscles, the striped outermost one is the money muscle. It's basically an extension of the loin muscle that terminates in the shoulder. Here is what the money muscle looks like in the package, (this is 10# butt) and what the little roast looks like. The roast will be in the 2# range.


I tie them with butchers string and smoke them using a wrapped step at the end. they are one of the best roasts on the hog. You can take them all the way to pullable, but super tender and sliced is a good way too.

 

[jbo_c]

Third,
I pulled(cut) these for the first time with the last two butts I bought. I must have cut too close because mine only ended up at just under a pound each? Did I “lose” meat that would have been tender enough to include in the roast?

It being my first time, I was afraid of ending up with 25% of my roast being too tough to eat with a much shorter cook than your typical pulled pork butt.

How long do you find these take to cook and at what kind of temp range? I’m sure technically you could get them done on higher heat in 15-20 minutes but my assumption is that much lower for much longer would be preferable. How do you do yours?

Thanks.

Jbo

 

[thirdeye]

Third,
I pulled(cut) these for the first time with the last two butts I bought. I must have cut too close because mine only ended up at just under a pound each? Did I “lose” meat that would have been tender enough to include in the roast?

It being my first time, I was afraid of ending up with 25% of my roast being too tough to eat with a much shorter cook than your typical pulled pork butt.

How long do you find these take to cook and at what kind of temp range? I’m sure technically you could get them done on higher heat in 15-20 minutes but my assumption is that much lower for much longer would be preferable. How do you do yours?

Thanks.

Jbo

Yes. Directly inboard of the money muscle are some muscles called the 'tubes'. They also cook very tender and are flavorful too. There are seams of fat you can follow, or you can cut it larger and trim and shape your way back to a smaller roast. This diagram (butt pork steaks) will show it better. The actual money muscle has a taper to it, so it's not totally uniform across the top of the butt. And by including one, two or more of the tubes gives you a uniformly shaped roast.


I use an indirect set-up on my smoker and at 275° it usually takes 2 or so hours to get some good color. The internal is 160°-ish. I either wrap with some liquid or put into a foil pan with some liquid and cover, then continue to cook it tender. This will take one to two more hours. Mine usually are sliceable around 190° internal. I do tie them (which also helps keep them uniform in shape, and sometimes will save a piece of fat to act as a heat shield.

 

[jbo_c]

Thanks. That’s longer than I would have cooked them. I knew the tubes, but did t know how they’d cook as part of this roast. Will cut it bigger next time.

Jbo