Smithfield Butts

P

Pole D

is one Smokin' Farker
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
566
Reaction score
283
Points
0
Location
Cary, NC
Just went to pick up a couple packages of Smithfield butts and noticed that the way they package them and the size of them has changed. They are much smaller then they used to be and the shape isn't great. We are talking around 6 pounds with maybe a 5-6 inch MM.

Anyone else run into this?
 
I have stopped buying Smithfield due to the sizes and the cuts looks as if a kid butchered the pig. The quality in my opinion has gone down hill lately.
 
Yea, the last bunch of Smiths I bought were weird, got 8-9 pounders and 5-6 pounders in the same vac pac, so I guess they are pretty close to an 8 pound average, but a PITA to cook.
 
dwfisk said:
Yea, the last bunch of Smiths I bought were weird, got 8-9 pounders and 5-6 pounders in the same vac pac, so I guess they are pretty close to an 8 pound average, but a PITA to cook.
Click to expand...

I see pretty much exactly this when I go to Sams and look at the Smithfield they have. I buy other stuff from Sams, but always look at their butts just for fun. There might be one decent 2 pack in the meat case and the rest have one big on and one smaller one. Also they are trapezoid shaped and taper smaller towards the money muscle end.
 
Pole D said:
Just went to pick up a couple packages of Smithfield butts and noticed that the way they package them and the size of them has changed. They are much smaller then they used to be and the shape isn't great. We are talking around 6 pounds with maybe a 5-6 inch MM.

Anyone else run into this?
Click to expand...

This raises a good question for us ... Did some side by side tests in the off season and smithfield actually came out really well ... but our Sams rarely carries them now, the brand they do carry did pretty crappy in our tests compared to others (can't think of the brand off hand) ... so if smithfield is now sucking, what is everyone using if they don't have their own personal magician of a butcher???
 
It's not just Smithfield, check out this farmland butt.

null_zps51f3e785.jpg


Brother bought a case and they were so small and horrible he had to call farmland. Their standard for butts were something like 5-10 lbs. this weighed 4lb 8.9oz

Been a bad wave of 7lb loinbacks 3 packs everywhere here too
 
Same problem here. Bought a bunch of 5-6 lbers from Food Lion, only cause they were .99/lb. Noticed that the bin was all different sizes and weird cuts. I don't know what the brand is at Kroger, but they are very consistent and 8-10 lbs all the time.
 
To me IBP still have the best butts. Haven't bought Smithfield in a while. I buy by the case and the butts would be anywhere from 3.5 - 9 lbs. It drove me crazy. IBP butts are usually the close to the same size.
 
Yeah, but they have changed the IBP cut we get here, like in the last few weeks. Bet it varies by geography, but I was a little shocked with the last few cryo's I opened.
 
I agree with MattG. Our Sam's alternates between Smithfield and IBP, and the IBP butts are larger and more similar in size.
 
Well at least now I know it wasn't just me seeing things. Thanks for the replies.
 
Could this have anything to do with commodity prices being so high? The farmer is selling sooner because it costs to much to feed these critters?
 
This year, our Sam's Club started to carry the Smithfield Butts. I've never used them before. I don't seem to have a problemwith size. I can usually find a few 8-9 pounders. I have more of an issue with the fat content. During the post-cook pull I'm finding alot more pockets of fat within the meat. Very unappealling.
 
I'm not defending Smithfield, but you should know they have multiple "lines" and they vary in quality and particularly in what they put IN them. There's "All Natural" which is pretty much just that, and then they have varying degrees of enhanced meat, some they say is "Self Basting". I'm thinking to myself: YUCK.
 
Smithfield was a great Virginia company until recently. They sold out to China.

I noticed the smaller, hacked up, butts about 2 months ago. I bought 2 cases of them [bang head] at $1.21lb. Great deal....so I thought. I always had great luck with Smithfield, and thought maybe this was a flook.

Two weeks later I bought another case. Same thing. 5-6lbs average. The butts were hacked to pieces. Very disappointed.

I contacted Smithfield and provided photos of what I received. I got a response stating they were going to forward my email to some other department. I never heard anything further.

They've defiantly lost me as a customer, as if they really care.

946960_247234035417954_961577372_n.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BuffettFan
Sheep casings vs hog casings aroma
Replies
3
Views
203
IamMadMan
IamMadMan
J
My Annual Deer Grind.......
Replies
18
Views
667
SmokeOCD
S
N
Time to smoke a chuck
Replies
11
Views
877
Negolien
N
E
Smithfield Extra Tender Pork Butts
Replies
3
Views
603
SirPorkaLot
SirPorkaLot
D
Cooking pre-cut individual ribs suggestions
Replies
7
Views
899
Newglide
N
Back
Top