Lots of fat left after pork cook

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Smoked Nachos?

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Hi guys,

Have a quick question. I just finished my pork cook (the bone is letting loose).

I have a lot of un-rendered fat left on the fat cap. In hindsight, I guess I should have trimmed maybe 1/4 inch off of it, but at present I'm stuck with what I got unless I want to overcook it.

So my question is, do I just pull it along with the high fat content and mix it in, or should I try to take a filet knife to remove the beautiful bark I've got, then take the rest of that top layer of fat and toss it, and pull?
 
I personally like some of the fat mixed in. Maybe mix some in, just don't over do it.
 
If the butt is properly cooked, you should be able to just slide that fat cap off. I prefer not to have chunks of pure fat in my pulled pork.
 
The fat cap isn't going to render down, no matter how much you cook it really. I mean in theory it could render down, but it'll take a long, long, loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg time.
Your best bet at this point is to simply remove anything that doesn't render and toss it, or add some water and cook it down in a pot, then pour it over the meat, or fry it up and eat it.
The choice is yours.
 
I slide it off and wring it out over the pulled meat. Fat is flavor and Pork fat is the mayor of flavor town
 
I just pull it into the meat, and if there are any really large chunks push them off to the side and dispose.
 
No one says you even have to leave the fat cap on to cook it. I always remove it before the cook. It's easier to deal with then IMO.
 
Lots of different opinions on that one.

I trim the fat cap off of my butts before smokeing, so that the smoke can penetrate as much meat as possible.

But, since you didn't do that, and you now have that big slab of smoked fat, I would recommend you scrape it off and toss it. Your pork butt has plenty of rendered fat inside it. You don't need that fat cap. IMO, pulling the fat cap with the rest of the butt will just make your pulled pork greasy. Moist is good, greasy -- not so much.

So, my vote is to get that fat cap off of that butt, and lose it.

CD
 
I've done both and personally I like it better without. Your pork will be plenty juicy, and all that fat is going to make it overly greasy. I vote for toss it.
 
Thanks, guys.

I was able to separate the bark from the fat easily and then I just scraped all the fat off with a spoon and trashed it. Pork ended up great! I'll post some picks when I get a chance.
 
I like bark, so I've been removing the fat cap on butts and all the skin + fat on picnics before cooking. In order to keep the bottom from getting too crispy, I do flip them once or twice during the cook.

I have about 10 lbs worth of fat trimmings in the freezer waiting to be made into cracklins or something.
 
Just slide it off. Shouldn't need a knife to cut it off.
 
I trim off the fat cap and make buckboard bacon out of it.... :biggrin1:
 
I was a firm believer in leaving the fat cap on for the longest time, but in the past few months I've been trimming it (along with lots of other fat) off and exposing more of the actual meat to allow for increased bark. Experiment and see what you prefer.
 
I cook fat cap up ...thinking all that flavor will run down through the meat while cooking ..then i just grab it and throw it away ...simple enough ...not saying I'm right or wrong but tastes good to me so I stick with it
 
I'm not following here..... fat cap? By the time we are done cooking a pork shoulder where there was fat has cooked down into a bacon like crust we call BARK. Nothing gets thrown away, except that bone :icon_blush:


Cook it longer, if one is fearing drying out the shoulder, then lower the temp and cook longer (works for us here.......).:thumb:
 
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