ham v.s. butt

porky 24 · Posted: Mar 08 2009 Post subject: ham v.s. butt

hey all you bbq rant/shack owners out there do any of you use ham instead of butts for your pork sammies? the reason i ask is i went to a nice little bbq shack beside a gas station/conv. store to eat and quiz. the owner was'nt there but the young lady who helped him get started made a big deal about how they only use ham because it's so much better[less fat] and how much less it would cost them if they used butts. now that sounds good except for the fact that the meat was swimming in sauce so even though you could see the meat being smoked[outdoor homemade cooker] i barely tasted the smoke. i prefer my meat with the sauce on the side so you can taste the meat ,if it is good then you should'nt need to soak it in sauce right? thoughts please!

Herman · Posted: Mar 09 2009 Post subject:

ham will tend to dry out in a slow and low cook and make very dry q if served alone. when used as whole hog the ham will blend in with the other meat and give a slightly different flavor to the q.

the shoulders will render out most of the fat during a slow and low cook and give a more moist q but not greasy. sometimes I will add a ham to my usual shoulder only cooks because of shortage of shoulders but I do not serve a ham by itself because of dryness

Herman

Pit Boss · Posted: Mar 09 2009 Post subject:

The Bessinger clan, of South Carolina lore, serve hams.

Hams are dry and somewhat flavorless when compared to shoulders.

The above mentioned Bessinger's cook the hams, chop it, and then (I believe) they actually simmer it in their mustard based sauce before serving. The bbq comes to you completely covered in sauce which is there for moisture and flavor.

Each to his/her own. I don't like hams served by themselves. Whole hog bbq that's chopped and mixed together is a different story. If I'm only doing one pork primal, it's gonna be from the shoulder.
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Harry Nutczak · Posted: Mar 09 2009 Post subject:

I use fresh hams quite often, But I do not bill them as pulled pork. they defenitely have their place in our operation. They cook quicker, they are slicable without huge amounts of rubbery fat.

A few instances is when we are roasting a pig, and have a large guest count and the client wants the pig as more of a centerpiece on the buffet.

We will cook bonelss green hams, (netted to stay together) and place then on the backside of the pig, we will carve off both the hams and the pig to put on the guests plate. fresh green hams are actually cheaper than whole pigs are in this area, and I get an 80% yield out of a fresh ham as compared to 30%-35% yield on a whole pig.

So for labor versus product cost, I can actually see the hams evening out with butts. With simplicity comes increased cost's. it is a trade-off
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pafisher · BBQ Pro Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 535 Location: Pa.

i've done fresh hams before ,they are very good ,but i dont think you would want to sell it as pulled pork . the fat to meat ratio is all wrong . i would rather do them in a hot oven .
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porky 24 · Posted: Mar 09 2009 Post subject:

thanks guys ,i guess thats why they had the meat saturated with sauce. i also have smoked a few hams that i happen to catch on sale,good meat but a little dry from the lack of fat. but back to that bbq shack why go to the extra expense of cooking ham if you are going to soak it in sauce?

RodinBangkok · Posted: Mar 09 2009 Post subject:

If there is a cost advantage, you may try larding the hams. I've done pork roast using green hams smoked, that were larded and they turned out just fine. As you are going much higher on internal temp for pulled pork, you may want to go to about 20% fat when larding, I do about 10% for a larded roast.
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porky 24 · Posted: Mar 11 2009 Post subject:

hey rodinbangcock what is larding with regards to cooking a pork roast or ham

Pit Boss · Posted: Mar 11 2009 Post subject:

Larding is generally done to pieces of meat that don't have much, if any, internal fat...such as the hams in this case or even in other meats such as venison.

Larding is a process of making deep holes in the meat and inserting strips of fat. It can be done with a knife, but there is a special metal rod made specifically for this purpose called a "larding needle".
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Harry Nutczak · Posted: Mar 11 2009 Post subject:

RodinBangkok · Posted: Mar 11 2009 Post subject:

I prefer a larding needle with a pusher on it, makes life much easier.

Here's a great site if you have not found it already with a lot of hard to find culinary items.

http://fantes.com/meat-prep.html

Scroll down a ways and you'll find larding needles.
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Rod

porky 24 · Posted: Mar 12 2009 Post subject:

rod, do you use salt pork like harry or do you have another type of fat that you prefer?

RodinBangkok · Posted: Mar 12 2009 Post subject:

I use fresh pork belly, try to find a very fat portion of the section. I then trim off the outer layer of fat which is usually quite thick and at least the same thickness as the diameter of the needle, leaving the skin on, lay this flat in a sheet pan and pop it in the freezer for a couple hours. This will give you a nice firm piece of almost clear fat that you can then push the larding needle into, rotate it and pull out basically a dowel shaped piece of fat, then insert the needle in the ham and use the pusher to eject it. Takes a bit of practice, but by leaving the skin on, it helps keep the needle from poking out the top, just keep pointing toward the skin. I take what's left and put it in for rendering lard. I've never used salt pork, but nothing wrong with that either. Not sure about the ratio given the salt content. Hope that makes sense.

Forgot to mention, assuming your not doing a roast that may need to look good for presentation or slicing, you can just take a fillet knife cut a slot and push in a big chunk of fat, larding with a needle may be overkill if your just pulling it to bits anyway. The idea is to get that fat into the meat while its slow cooking.
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Harry Nutczak · Posted: Mar 13 2009 Post subject:

Suet is another great larding agent (the fat from around a cows kidneys) it has a super low melting point, and add's no flavor. there is no sinew, no nothing, it is like butter.
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Petunia · Posted: Mar 15 2009 Post subject: ham or butt - both

I hope I'm understanding the question. Not sure if you're talking about smoked hams or fresh, but we've been doing smoked hams for years. Mustard & rub, then at 190+ hand-pulled & lightly sauced with some Memphis Magic. Most often-heard comment": "I don't even LIKE ham, but this stuff is awesome!" Not exaggerating. People flip for it. Had it for the first time at a Gates BBQ in Dallas area. It was thin-sliced, served on plain white bread, and it rocked.

Yes they can end up drier than a butt. Keep them between 200-225 instead of rushing things at 250+, plan for it to take a little longer, and wrap in foil for an hour (a few if you can wait) after she comes off the rig. Not so sure about serving it in place of butt, but "BBQ Sunday Ham" could be a great addition to your menu/repertoire.