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/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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4402158 No.4402158 [Reply] [Original]

Here's how I've been getting three distinct meals a day out of a pork shoulder. They usually cost between eight to ten dollars when on sale. They are in Cryovac bags so they 1.) resist freezer burn 2.) are easy to thaw in the fridge 3.) can last up to a week or longer after thawing. Make note of the day it expires and subtract today's date (e.g. April 30 - April 17 = 13 days). Write the number on the label with a Sharpie. It will probably take 3 days to thaw in the refrigerator, so that leaves you 10 days (in theory) to begin processing it by our example.

Trim off all the fat, chop it up, and put it in a plastic container with a lid. On the side of the pork shoulder opposite the blade, slice off two to three inch steaks until you reach the bone. Cut these in half and into thirds. They will be approximately the size of a large lemon (2^3 or so). Set aside. Slice off enough meat from the bone so that you have three times the amount of fat you trimmed earlier. Now throw the bone (plenty of meat will still be attached) on a smoker and let it cook for 10-12 hours. Braise the pork cubes in purified water or chicken stock until fall-apart tender. Cool and put in the fridge overnight. Now take your container of pork fat and meat, and toss it with herbs and spices to make breakfast sausage. Process it with a grinder, and package it in freezer paper in 16 oz. portions. Take your pulled pork, and make tamales (Here's a beginners guide: http://www.tamaletrail.com/recipe_howto.shtml)) Now take the smoked pork blade off the smoker and put it into a pot of beans.

Breakfast sausage for breakfast (make sausage gravy and biscuits, or serve with home fries and eggs). Hot tamales for lunch. Beans and cornbread for dinner.

It's labor intensive, and you need some equipment, but if you get off on this sort of thing, it is worth trying.

>> No.4402159
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4402159

>> No.4402162

That's crazy labor intensive.

Why not just smoke or braise or pot-roast the whole thing and make pulled pork, carnitas, or similar. That's very little effort and tou can portion it up and eat it over a long period of time.

>> No.4402163

>>4402162
Go right ahead then.

>> No.4402166

>>4402162
Fuck yea pulled pork

Or personally i'd just throw the whole thing in the slow cooker with some carrots and taters.

>> No.4402170

>>4402158
Pork shoulder is god tier meat - very forgiving to cook and fucking delicious.

>> No.4402182

>>4402170
Yes, and it takes well to many different cooking techniques.

>> No.4402200

>pulled pork

As a Texan living in South Carolina, I appreciate and have come to love your BBQ tradition, though it's different (if, I am obligated to say, inferior to ours)

Thx OP for the info

>> No.4402207

>>4402200
Is South Carolina where they use mustard sauce instead of barbecue (tomato based)?

I prefer Arkansas/Tennessee barbecue.

>> No.4402209

>>4402159
Sean fucking Stephenson

>> No.4402215

>>4402207
South Carolina does but also has a more vinegar based sauce too

>> No.4402234

>>4402215
>a more vinegar based sauce too

exactly. that is the one for people who enjoy flavor; the heavy sauce filled with flour and sugar is for people who are packing carbs.

>> No.4402235

>>4402215
I quite like the barbecue sauces that are thinned out with vinegar. Less sweet, more tangy. Sometimes spicy.

I like how it soaks into the meat and down into the bun. Shit is dope.

>> No.4402251

>>4402207

Yes, and it's fucking delicious with chicken. As I said, I'm Texan, and prefer the vinegar based sauces and of course godly dry-rub, but proper Carolina mustard-based sauce is an amazing compliment to smoked/grilled chicken. Try it out sometime you won't regret it.

>> No.4402426

>>4402162
>>4402166
I think you missed the point OP was trying to make.

One pork shoulder makes sausage, tamales, and a pot of beans? I'm fucking down.

I'm getting a smoker and sausage grinder ASAP.

>> No.4402454

>>4402251
>proper Carolina mustard-based sauce is an amazing compliment to
anything

>> No.4404656

bump

>> No.4404682

A large chicken might be more useful, I think.

Remove the back, wing tips, feet and debone the breast for stock. One large chicken will yield enough bones for a serving of stock.

The giblets/organs make giblet gravy and/or dirty rice. That's a condiment or side dish there.

Pull the skin from the breast and thighs and render for chicken lardons and huhnerschmaltz. That's a snack (lardons) and cooking fat.
Slice the breast meat for soup with the broth made earlier, for stir-fries and other niceties. Makes at least three meals.
Grill the thighs. That's two meals.
Deep-fry or stew the wings and drums. That's two meals.

One large chicken provides enough for a week's worth of dinners. In my area, a large chicken averages about 9-10lbs/4-4½kg. At 69-89¢/USD per pound, that's about $6-$9 per bird. Not bad.

Unlike pork shoulder, no specialised equipment necessary and it's not anywhere near as labour intensive. I can break down a chicken in about five minutes (not very fast, I realise, but I'm not trying out for the olympics) and debone a whole breast in about one or two. Someone with less experience might take a little longer, but it's innowise difficult.

>> No.4404692

>>4404682
Sounds boring by comparison.