New idea for cooking pork butt==sous vide

charley2

Well-known member
We are headed to the beach in a couple of weeks and DS is a dedicated keto diet eater. He is also a dedicated cyclist and stick thin in that genre of bodies so he can do this. I don't necessarily approve but at this point in life I don't get that vote!!

So last time he came he ate a lot ribeyes in addition to the seafood we have. And although I had brought a tenderloin for him to have he opined it was too lean!! So on a Chopped episode they were given pork butt to prepare and the chef put it in sous vide for the 25 minutes he had--not enough but he wanted to slice it. This led me to investigate sous vide for this and it is interesting.

You can do it at 165* for 24 hours and get it to the pulling stage for pulled pork. BUT you can do it at 145-150^ and it will be tender, juicy and maybe pinkish and sliceable. It should also be fat enough to please DS.

And even though the articles about cooking it for pulled pork are enthusiastic about how good it is I don't think I'll give up my oven method for that.

Pork is on sale this week so nothing ventured nothing gained. ALSO Hatch chiles!! May have to make some green chile sauce to go with the pork.

https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-barbecue-pulled-pork-shoulder-recipe

Here is sort of the pith of the article

At a bath temperature of 200°F, pork shoulders take only a few hours to become fall-apart tender. At 145°F, this same process can take over a day. The results of cooking pork at these temperature extremes are wildly different. Cooked at 145°F, the pork has a firm, almost steak-like texture and can be easily sliced, but not easily pulled apart. It's also very juicy. Cooked at 200°F, the pork shreds at the slightest touch but is also quite dry—most of the internal moisture leaks out into the bag and can't be reabsorbed. Like Goldilocks, I like my pork cooked right in the middle: 165°F for 18 to 24 hours yields pork that is pull-apart tender, but still moister than anything you've ever pulled out of the oven or off the grill.

 
I did this yesterday using the recipe I posted for the soy sauce addition. I cut a 7# butt in half and from one side got a fairly nice cylindrical shaped piece. I haven't seared it yet but cut a couple of very thin slices (the way I like to eat this kind of meat) and it was just absolutely delicious. I can see why it was recommended for the ramen bowl. It would be perfect.

This has some fatty pockets within the very tender and flavorful meaty parts. I am going to serve it with chimmichurri sauce for our kids tonight. I will be interested to see how DS the keto dieter likes it. This would make a delicious banh mi or Cuban sandwich.

 
Well, survey says...... The kids liked the pork a lot. DD looked at the slices and asked if it was porchetta. Then she commented that the meat consistency was a surprise because it was SO tender--literally like a good filet. The chimichurri was a good sauce.

I did put the piece under a hot broiler to crisp and brown the smallish fat cap that I had. I didn't turn it to brown sides--the soy sauce had made it brownish so it wasn't unattractive--and didn't need it. As Kenji said in the article this would be a perfect pork to use in a ramen bowl as a sub for pork belly. It would make a great banh mi or cuban sandwich also.

I'm going to do the other half today and will probably marinate in a herb garlicky mix without soy sauce. I have a nice piece left from last night and will freeze along with today's to take to the beach to use. Any other ideas. It could be cut up for tacos. Hmmm, some pineapple in the marinade for an al pastor treatment?

 
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