What to brine a butt or picnic in?

Turkey

I want to try brining this weekend. Anyone have a recipe for a brine for Boston Butt or a picnic shoulder? Also, how long to brine?[p]Thanks,[p]Mark

WessB

Turkey,
Brining is not necessary with either of those...typically you will brine chicken,turkey,chops...etc...with the BB and the picnic you cook them low and slow and they stay moist by the break down of the colagen (sp) and fats...[p]Wess

sdbelt

Turkey, I agree with Wess. A butt will be more than juicy enough without Brining. Personally, I like to brine turkey. It really helps the breast stay extremely moist. Everyone that's ever tried my brined turkey says its the juiciest turkey they've ever had, and that includes my 70+ year old mother-in-law![p]Anyway, I use a recipe from the show "Good Eats" on Food TV. Hopefully this link will work:[p]http://www.foodtv.com/recipes/re-c1/0,1724,8865,00.html[p]If not, search for recipe "turkey brine" for that show and you should get there.[p]They suggest brining for 6 hours. I've always done mine overnight. 6 hours feels like a minimum to me, but Alton Brown is quite a cooking guru, so its undoubtedly plenty long enough for a turkey. If you get a chance to see the episode where he gives this recipe its an excellent source of info for how brining works and what it does to the meat when it works.[p]Brining would work well for chicken as well, though I don't find it necessary, and for the result, it would be a lot of extra work. For me, turkey is the only thing I'll go through the effort on.[p]Enjoy![p]--sdb

Mop

WessB, I thought I should tell you after bugging you about your nest a while back, I just got one on the weekend....I love it, I should have got one a long time ago...I held off cause I thought I was going to build a table but opted not to due to room on the deck, turns out for the better now cause I drag the Egg to competition and removing and replacing to and from the table would have been a pain in the arse...
later[p]Mop!

ColaCooker

Turkey,
I have cooked butts both brined and un-brined. They are both delicious. The only reason to brine a butt is to infuse additional flavors into the butt. Try this recipe and see what you think.[p]In a large pot bring to a boil:
- enough water to barely cover the butt (take the butt out after you've measured the water)
- enough salt to get the water to taste like seawater
- about one cup of brown sugar
- about two onions roughly chopped
- about 1/2 head of garlic (don't bother peeling)
- about 4 carrots
- about 4 sticks of celery[p]Bring to a boil and simmer for 1/2 hour. Cool completely in refrigerator. Once cool strain out vegetables and add butt. Brine the butt in the refrigerator for a maximum of 24 hours. I let one go for 36 hours once and it was a little too salty.

WessB

Mop,
Glad to hear everything worked out and that the comps are going so well....I still have that nest if you know anyone else that might be interested..[p]Wess

RhumAndJerk

Turkey,
A brined Butt or Picnic will have a hammy taste to it. ColaCooker gave a recipe and it is worth a try.
If you brine a picnic and then slow smoke it at first and finish it off at higher temperature, you will end up with a nice slicing ham.
If you are looking for pulled pork, stick with an unbrined butt.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]