Looking for some quick guidance

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sthomasaz

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2015
9
11
I was wondering if there was an expensive cut of beef or pork you all would recommend. I'm looking for something I can smoke and shred to put in a green chili stew I would like to make for a scout camp.
 
Do you mean "inexpensive"? Catch beef chuck roast on sale and cook to pulling stage. If pork, a butt would be the way to go. I think beef would give it a better flavor than pork though, especially if you used a bit of beef base or some canned beef consumme in your liquid
 
Pork butt is best for green chili stew IMO. I like to buy the boneless ones from Costco when making green chili. Their vacuum packed two to a pack, so about 15-17 lbs per package.

Campfire, roast some Poblanos or Anaheims on the embers, peel, chop, then throw in a pot with some onions, cubed butt, spices, water or stock, and let it go over the fire until the meat starts to fall apart, about 3-4 hours depending on the simmer. DANG! I wanna be a Boy Scout again!

You can do the same thing with brisket or chuck roast and red chilies, but you pay more for the meat. Or you can buy the already dried red chilis (I like Pasilla/Ancho dried chilies). Soak the chilies in some boiling water, remove, chop, throw back in the soak water, add the cubed beef, onions, spices, more water or stock if necessary, and simmer until it falls apart.

Man oh man I'm hungry now. They'll earn their Eatin' Merit badges, that's for sure!
 
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Brisket or PP make excellent chili.
Actually my chili recipe uses PP, brisket, Andouille, & ground chuck.
Al
 
I believe pork butt/shoulder is the traditional meat in green chili. And if memory serves, it’s simmered until shreddable (though smoking would be amazing) then fried crispy in its own fat. I think it’s called c a r n i t a s.
You can also cube the meat then brown it, then add it to the chili and simmer until tender. I’ve also seen it done without browning or frying, just dumped in the stew or chili and simmered.

In any case, pork butt is cheap, readily available, and perfect for what you need.
 
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