Can you leave a 4lb pork butt in the brine for 48 hrs. before smoking?

[baldbert]

Wondering if the small size makes a difference? Thanks.

[sbp]

I've been curing meats for about a year now, so I do a lot of brining when making bacon, pastrami, smoked turkey, etc.. Since the amount of time it takes for a cure to really penetrate the cut of meat varies, the brining times tend to be pretty long. Occasionally, this results in too much saltiness. The solution, if you have the time, is to give it a freshwater soak. I've brined/cured a brisket for a week, then gave it a one day soak (several changes of water) and it solved the over-salted issue.

[baldbert]

thats what i wanted to hear. now I'm going to smoke it on sunday and fresh water soak on saturday. thanks. i'll let you all know how it comes out.

[baldbert]

reporting back. to rehash: brined the pork butt for 2 days. washed it and then let it sit in fresh water before patting it dry. dry rubbed it and let it sit over night (in the fridge). smoked it the next morning. it spent 4 hours on the grill ( hickory smoke)and was done.

and the envelope please.

amazing bark
nice smoke rings
moist, moist, smoky meat
big hit all around

sbp know his/her stuff

[CocoaNut]

I'm kind of wondering why you'd brine a pork butt at all since they have such wonderful natural flavor...... Brining is usually left to dryer and/or less flavorful meats: poultry, loins, etc.

If anything, I'd just give it a liberal "rub" and not sure I'd even do that - maybe just a good douse of salt/pepper/and questionably, garlic.

Edit: There's another current topic about "smoking a pork shoulder" on a Weber. I haven't read through it, but there are currently 64 replys, none of which refer to brining - at least according to a search. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6086...

[bushwickgirl]

Yup, I prefer my pork butt marinated a bit and/or dry rubbed; don't see much sense in brining it.

[CocoaNut]

Like your avatar. Was in a store recently that had all 3 of those on their shelf.... along with wax lips, wax "soda" 6-packs, the long, wide, flat taffy wrapped in wax paper (it's shrunk) and several other of my childhood faves!

[tommy]

People brine pork butt for the same reasons they brine other meats. It doesn't step on the wonderful natural flavor.

If you go to a BBQ competition, you'll see lots of uses of injections as well. To each his own.

[CocoaNut]

Injections, yes.... brine.... uh.......

[tommy]

Yeah, if moisture and denaturing and adding salt is good for meats, then moisture and denaturing and adding salt must be bad pork butt. uh.

[CocoaNut]

Yea! You got it!!!

[kaysyrahsyrah]

All depends what you mean by smoking. Cold, hot, wood type?

[baldbert]

I put it in the brine last night and want to hot smoke it tomorrow, or even Saturday. I cut down the salt a little with that in mind. other brine ingredients are: sugar, honey, pepper, smoked paparika, garlic, bay leaves, and maybe a couple of other spices, I can't remember. I'm smoking it on a Weber w/ hickory chips

[Bryan Pepperseed]

I'm by no means a bbq expert, but I am pretty good at forgetting to "rinse after brining" and for reasons I can't explain, it makes a big difference.
The flavors in your brine sound great, but I suggest a good rinse before cooking and remembering what Tommy said above about not rubbing with salt even if you did cut back on the salt.

[John E.]

Be sure to let us know how it turns out. My first inclination would be to say it will get too salty. My second inclination is to wonder if I am correct. In other words, I don't have a clue, but I'd like to know how it turns out.

[rabaja]

No. Do a dry-brine with spices, chiles, salt, etc.
What's the reason for brining so long?
Just to be contrary.

[tommy]

Yes. Don't rub it with salt. Other than that, don't listen to anyone else who suggests contrary. They don't know what they are talking about. Plain and simple.