Smoking Meat Questions and Discussion

[tm3308]

Where is a good place to buy pork butt? Or a good brand? I bought one a Hormel one at HyVee this weekend and it was pretty trash. I'd rather pay more for a good piece of meat I'm investing half a day into.

I get all over my pork either at Walmart (the one near me carries Prairie Fresh pork, which is by far my preference among the popular consumer brands) or a local butcher shop. Smithfield pork is okay, too, but if you can get Prairie Fresh, jump on it.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Where is a good place to buy pork butt? Or a good brand? I bought one a Hormel one at HyVee this weekend and it was pretty trash. I'd rather pay more for a good piece of meat I'm investing half a day into.

I've had good luck with the Prairie Fresh butts at Walmart and whatever Faraway sells. I also buy the whole boneless shoulder sometimes from Costco but I prefer the bone in.

 

[JM4CY]

I get all over my pork either at Walmart (the one near me carries Prairie Fresh pork, which is by far my preference among the popular consumer brands) or a local butcher shop. Smithfield pork is okay, too, but if you can get Prairie Fresh, jump on it.

If you find a good one, a local butcher is often money.

 

[cycloner29]

I always go back and forth from Hy-Vee and Fareway. Depending on who has it on sale. I'll throw six on the smoker at once, and vac seal once I get them all pulled. Just throw a little rub and some maple syrup on them and let them go for 15-17 hours. I put a water pan in with and get great bark. When I get ready to vac seal, I add more rub to it.

I've even made buckboard bacon from shoulders. So for me it really isn't that big of a deal when choosing where to buy them. Yeah, I've had some that looked bad, but it hard to tell what the inside is going to be like just from looking at it from the outside. When I buy I will go to the meat counter and ask for the biggest shoulders they have.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Had to make room for a quarter beef in our freezer.

View attachment 101018

 

[ScottyP]

I am a person who really does NOT like meatloaf (probably cuz I don't particularly care for ketchup). I follow a pit master on YouTube & he links his recipes to his website (I included the video below). I have a LOT of hamburger and ground pork sausage & I decided to make this guy's smoked meatloaf (a no-ketchup recipe). It was FANTASTIC!! The only variance from his recipe is that I did not have any specialty worcestershire sauce. I used plain old BBQ sauce as a substitute. I ended up loving this more than any pork fatty or smoked sausage I have done.

I'm cooking a smoked meatloaf using the MeatChurch recipe today. Using regular Worcestershire sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's for the BBQ sauce.

When I would make meatloaf, i preferred to use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup so that isn't going to be a big difference. My in-laws used 57 sauce when making their meatloaf.

 

[bos]

I'm cooking a smoked meatloaf using the MeatChurch recipe today. Using regular Worcestershire sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's for the BBQ sauce.

When I would make meatloaf, i preferred to use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup so that isn't going to be a big difference. My in-laws used 57 sauce when making their meatloaf.

Smoked meatloaf is BOMB. You ever used Stubbs bbq? I loved sweet baby ray but moved to Stubbs because they don’t use HFCS. Has a cleaner mouthfeel to me. Delicious stuff.

 

[ScottyP]

Smoked meatloaf is BOMB. You ever used Stubbs bbq? I loved sweet baby ray but moved to Stubbs because they don’t use HFCS. Has a cleaner mouthfeel to me. Delicious stuff.

Never had Stubbs BBQ sauce but I will have to give that a try. Do you usually get the original?

 

[BACyclone]

BBQ sauce -- I tried Joe's KC bbq sauce for the first time in the last year or two, it's my new all-time favorite.

In Hy-Vee you can sometimes get Big Moe Cason's brand BBQ sauce -- he has one called I-20 which has pineapple juice in it. Man, I could eat that stuff on a spoon, so good.

But I like mine on the sweeter side with the spice, so YMMV

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Smoked meatloaf is BOMB. You ever used Stubbs bbq? I loved sweet baby ray but moved to Stubbs because they don’t use HFCS. Has a cleaner mouthfeel to me. Delicious stuff.

I don't hate Stubbs but at times for me it has a strong vinegar taste to it. I love the Blues Hog original sauce.

 

[bos]

Never had Stubbs BBQ sauce but I will have to give that a try. Do you usually get the original?

Yeah original and sticky sweet sometimes.

 

[bos]

I don't hate Stubbs but at times for me it has a strong vinegar taste to it. I love the Blues Hog original sauce.

I guess I haven’t noticed that but everyone has their taste. Never had Blues, I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion! Always looking for something different.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I guess I haven’t noticed that but everyone has their taste. Never had Blues, I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion! Always looking for something different.

Blues is a little bit thicker of a sauce so I love the way it glazes ribs. I actually mix in some Stubb's from time to time to thin it down and kind of cut the sweetness for pulled pork. It's a nice little combo.

 

[JP4CY]

I don't hate Stubbs but at times for me it has a strong vinegar taste to it. I love the Blues Hog original sauce.

This is the bees knees: (and I love that it comes in a squeeze vs their mason jars)

 

[kentkel]

Smoked meatloaf is BOMB. You ever used Stubbs bbq? I loved sweet baby ray but moved to Stubbs because they don’t use HFCS. Has a cleaner mouthfeel to me. Delicious stuff.

BTW, love your avatar ‘cuz “The train don’t run outta Wichita - lessin’ you’re a hog or a cattle (snort, snort).”

 

[JM4CY]

This is the bees knees: (and I love that it comes in a squeeze vs their mason jars)
View attachment 101036

Where does one find that?

 

[JP4CY]

Where does one find that?

I think Ace is where I got it. Pretty sure I've seen it at Scheels, Hawgeyes.

 

[kentkel]

I'm cooking a smoked meatloaf using the MeatChurch recipe today. Using regular Worcestershire sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's for the BBQ sauce.

When I would make meatloaf, i preferred to use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup so that isn't going to be a big difference. My in-laws used 57 sauce when making their meatloaf.

Hope it turns out the way it turned out for me!

 

[JM4CY]

I think Ace is where I got it. Pretty sure I've seen it at Scheels, Hawgeyes.

I’ll give that a go. I’ve got connections at my local Ace.

This is my secret weapon:

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

This is the bees knees: (and I love that it comes in a squeeze vs their mason jars)
View attachment 101036

Yep. Love the squeeze bottles!