sounds yummy

Had a major fail this weekend with pork butt. I tried to slow cook it in the oven. It still came out tough :( I've got it all shredded, but it isn't good. I am thinking of dumping it in a pot and letting it simmer in some BBQ sauce to see if that will help. Any other ideas?

Sounds good. Leave it for two or three hours on the lowest heat you can manage?


Sent by thought transference

That's my thought. I'm working from home tomorrow, so I can leave it on the stove.

How could it not?

you could also marinade some in soy sauce/ginger.whatever and then add in at the end of a stir fry

I don't think more cooking already toughened meat will make it awesome. But, you can help it... I've helped it when I cooked country style pork ribs too fast. The biggest single factor in that rescue was to cut the pork very thinly, this is easiest when cold, like refrigerated cold. Then when you re-cook/re-heat, it only has a small thickness to go through, and it makes shredding/mauling, easier.

THEN, the lesson I learned is that I don't have enough patience to prepare, cook while watching, pork butt. That is something that needs to be put on super low, then walk the hell away and do something else.
Like the olympics. or go to bed. use a crockpot. falling apart tender does not happen from getting off work to dinnertime the same night, neverever.

Doesn't mean you can't have tasty pork covered in tasty bbq sauce, it just won't be lovely shredded pork.

Cooking meat slowly at low temperatures causes the fat and connective tissue in the meat to melt and become tender -- perfect for stews, soups and pulled pork. I believe the meat was already tough before cooking, and was not cooked for long enough.

Pork butt is not a tough cut of meat, generally speaking. If the meat is cooked quickly, the proteins coil up and the same amount of meat gets smaller and tighter. Tougher. Once it's been changed this way, more cooking won't loosen it up.

But the meat might still be tough because it's undercooked, I find that unlikely. In that case, more cooking might loosen it up. Brisket is a tough cut, and takes forever at low temps to cook to tenderness. Pork butt, much less so.

Thanks. Pigs do not have "butts" in this country, so I'm not sure what pork butt is (though I agree pig meat is not usually all that tough). I lurve brisket braised in a slow cooker! :drool:

It worked out ok. I didn't think it would because it was smelly in the beginning. Like over-cooked smelly. But, I persevered and let it sit in BBQ sauce and some veggie broth. When it was done, I was able to easily shred the big pieces like I wanted to. Now, I just have to figure out how to serve it - lol.

limey - pork butt is pork shoulder. No clue why it's called a butt.

Dat be da butt, Bob.

From Wikipedia:

Thanks bbro and grav. Very interesting!


Sent by thought transference

Whose got some good chicken recipes? No plain chicken - I have plenty of seasoning and can "grill" them that way. I am looking for different things. Chicken with sauce or in sauce or something I can serve over rice, pasta, or potatoes is good. Extra points for healthy fried chicken that doesn't involve spraying the food with Pam (shudder). No beans or avocado or chunky tomatoes or olives or weird veggies. And I tend to stick to chicken breast.

Thanks for the help!