Today, we put the pork butt into a cooking bag and left it in the over for four + hours. About an hour before Tommy took it out of the oven, I put in two sweet potatoes. I had made cole slaw. Dinner was less than stellar. Those are sweet potatoes I hate, NOT Beauregard. The meat was so fatty. Somehow, the slaw was not quite right.
But, we ate. Tommy was thrilled with it all. Maybe my taste is off. I don't know.
He disappeared into the kitchen and took the meat off the bone and the fat off the meat. A little later, he came out. Then, he went back in. I asked him what he was doing as he passed me. He was going back into the kitchen to freeze the meat he did not put in the refrigerator. I stopped him and asked what he was going to write with. He showed me a felt marker. The Ziploc bags say to use a ball point pen. So, i had him give the marker to me and gave him a ball point pen.
This is the first time he has EVER frozen anything. Well, I have told him to put the hotdogs in the freezer, new ones I bought for much later.
Now, I have one more pork butt to cook and freeze. This one I cooked in the bag. The one I cooked in the crockpot was fine, not too fatty. I cooked it all night. It was great for pulled pork. The one I cooked today was mostly fatty meat amidst a few chunks of good meat.
Last night, the storms were terrific, loud, rainy, and destructive. But, the lights only blinked briefly for a second. Tonight should be quieter, thankfully. I did get enough sleep, even if it took me half a day. My sinus infection seems to be clearing. I think the problem may be this weather.
Do you cook pork butt? By what method?
Did you have tornado or storm damage?
I don't understand--what's the advantage to cooking the meat ahead of time, and freezing it? How does it save work/energy? I haven't been eating much pork since visiting a pig sanctuary, but I DO love pulled pork. I rub it with an herb and spice mix, then cook it low and slow in my slow cooker. We also enjoy pork and sauerkraut--also made in the slow cooker. (Pork, onions, sauerkraut, apples, apple cider and extra caraway seeds.) I have used pork butt, and find it works best for the slow cooked recipes.
ReplyDeleteMeg,
DeleteFirst, I am not going to slice off bits of an 8 pound pork butt to cook a serving at a time in the oven or slow cooker. Second, the butt would spoil before we could cook it one tiny piece at a time. Third, how many times would we have to use the oven cooking it that way? I read your question and Tommy said, " Has she never frozen anything before? Should we just leave it in the refrigerator until it becomes rancid and then throw it away?"
You cook it in a slow cooker. Do you eat it all and never freeze any? (rhetorical question)
Tommie will probably eat most of it while I eat chicken.
I rubbed mine, too. No spices, I just rubbed it for thrills...lol.
Okay, I see what you are doing-- you cook, separate, and then freeze. Do you microwave them to reheat, or cook in the oven again? If I buy, say, a whole beef tenderloin (which I do when it is on sale, but must be bought whole) I either have them cut it and wrap it, or do it at home in, say, cut it in 2 to 3 lb. roasts, or steaks, and wrap and send it to the freezer before I cook it.* As for cooked leftovers, they tend to get foraged within a day or two, or else turned into another meal--burritos, cottage or pot pies, soups or stews. With the exception of quick breads, (pumpkin, lemon, zucchini, chocolate) and loaf pound cakes,**which yield two per recipe, have never deliberately cooked a large amount of food for the purpose of freezing it for later, only to have to heat it up in the oven all over again. I guess it's a pay me now, pay me later sort of thing with the work?
Delete*Two sons enjoy this work, having watched several demonstrations by the local store's butcher. Plus, I have excellent knives.
**Pretty sure I have a few lurking somewhere, now that I think about it.
Meg,
DeleteWhen he took the meat off the bone, that is what he did--separated it. There will be no one here to forage, well, maybe I will have a bit of it. I never bake anymore. I intend to try to stand that long once again.