Pulled Pork, Part Two

Pulled Pork, Part Two

The meat has rested all night long, enrobed in a lovely mixture of spices with a nice mustard undertone. Boy, that sounds high-falutin', but it is important for the flavor of the finished pulled pork to have it sit under the spices for the night.

And now for the confession. I got the smoker all set up and then discovered that somewhere along the way, the temperature gauge had fallen out. It could be anywhere, this smoker has been moved a couple of times since the last time I used it, so I did a makeshift thing and stuck the following in the hole. 

I can monitor the temperature somewhat with this, and it's better than nothing. I thought about using my good wired thermometor to do this, but decided I didn't want to chance ruining it. Also the smoker has sat outside in Florida for over a year, and that's hard on metal as well. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm angling for a new smoker, soon. I did say that I would catalog my triumphs as well as the mistakes I've made or the disasters I've encountered in the kitchen, and outside. So, at this time, the butts are on and the smoker is going. It's now 8 am. I put the butts on about 7:30, started the charcoal going at 7 am. 

Butts on the fire, fat side up.

This is actually a picture of a couple of butts I did last year, and the backdrop was a lot prettier.  Make sure you put the meat on, fat side up, this helps to baste the meat, and just makes it lovely and luscious. 

I check the smoker every half hour and add from 6-12 briquettes, depending on how it's cooked down. I also add some soaked wood chips for the smoke, my goal is to get a nice smoke ring on the meat when I take it off. But I don't like a really heavy smoke taste, so I do try to moderate it a little. And the moisture from the soaked wood chips also helps the meat cook a little.

At noon the internal temp was about 148, and I added the last of the soaked chips. I wrapped the meat in aluminum foil about 1 pm, and placed it back on the smoker.   You want to wrap it and then let it finish cooking in the foil, because it helps to keep the meat tender and flavourful.    And when you unwrap it to 'pull' the pork, you'll also get some lovely juice to pour over the meat.   This is all about the flavour. 

And checked the fire about an hour later, added a few more briquets, and then left it. I pulled the meat in around 4pm, and stuck them in the warmed oven to rest. When our guests arrived, I proceeded to 'pull' the pork and it was fork tender and shredded easily.

The pink is the smoke ring, and the black outer skin is called the bark.

Pulled pork with bark and smoke ring included.

And as you can see from the pictures, people were very generous and brought lots of good stuff to eat with the pork.

And here's the final picture, a nice close up of the meat.

Check out the bark and the smoke ring.   This is just how you want it to look.   

And before I forget completely, you need the recipe for the rub.    You can vary the amounts to suit your taste, but try it this way the first time, and then make your adjustments.    The ground hot pepper really doesn't make it super hot either, but does add a nice flavour to the meat.   

Pork Rub Recipe 

¼ cup salt

¼ cup pepper ( a mixture of fresh ground pepper and commercial pepper works well)

4 tbsp. garlic powder

4 tbsp. onion powder

¼ c. sugar

2 tbsp. cayenne pepper (I use ground hot pepper, the red kind). 

2 tbsp. crushed Italian seasoning (I put it in my mortar and pestle and crushed it some more)

4 tbsp. paprika

For more recipes please check out   http://sidsseapalmcooking.blogspot.com/   

All about food. *giggle*

Pulled Pork, Part One

We're having a few people over on Saturday for a potluck and I'm going to fly in the face of wisdom and make Pulled Pork for a bunch of southerners who know their BBQ.    Oh, and by the way, I'm a Dane who grew up in Canada, lived in the Midwest for many years and now I'm making a quintessential southern dish.    So, follow along with me. 

I've made Pulled Pork a few times, and it has always gone over well. A good friend of mine, who also happens to be a certified BBQ judge, walked me through the process and taught me some of what to look for and what to do.

One thing my friend Dee taught me was how important it is to prepare the pork correctly. And this is before you even get the fire going. You start with Boston Butts of course, but then you do a couple of things to help make them fantastic. 

 I bought mine at Sam's Club, they came two to a package.

Bottoms up.

Aren't they pretty?

Mustard and Rub

Very important is the rub, but what happens first is what can make it over the top good.

Pork Rub Recipe 

¼ cup salt

¼ cup pepper ( a mixture of fresh ground pepper and commercial pepper works well)

4 tbsp. garlic powder

4 tbsp. onion powder

¼ c. sugar

2 tbsp. cayenne pepper (I use ground hot pepper, the red kind). 

2 tbsp. crushed Italian seasoning (I put it in my mortar and pestle and crushed it some more)

4 tbsp. paprika

Now, this can get a little on the messy side. And make sure your hands are clean, so go wash them now. You need the rub to stick to the meat, and one way to do this is by coating the meat with some yellow mustard. 

Squirt some mustard all over the meat, and rub it in with your hands.  Or just use your silicone pastry brush and spread it, making sure you get some neat little patterns on the meat. 

You don't need a great deal, just enough to cover the meat. Now, take the rub you mixed up and sprinkle it all over the exposed meat. Just like this.  

Rub sprinkled over the bottom of the meat.

Turn the meat over onto some clean plastic wrap or foil, and coat the last side with mustard and sprinkle the rub on that. 

Fat side up, and ready for more rub.

Spread a little of the rub on the bottom of the pan, a little more doesn't hurt.   

A little rub sprinkled in the pan

I put the meat in these foil containers and put them in the fridge, covered with some plastic wrap. 

 Rubbed and ready to rest.

Now you need to let the meat rest overnight. Wrap it well and place it into the fridge.

The next morning, take it out and let it rest on the counter while you get the charcoal ready in the smoker. Take the rest of the rub, and sprinkle it on the Butts, making sure you get any spots you might have missed.

The cast of characters:

Boston Butt

Smoker

Good quality charcoal and wood for the smoke

Then add in some mustard, the rub, and time, lots of time. This is a long, slow process, but oh, so worth it. And I'll show you the results tomorrow, for now, the meat is in the fridge resting, which is where I'm going shortly.  I'll be starting my charcoal early, around 6:30 am or so, and will put the meat on as soon as the charcoal briquets show some ash.    

See you tomorrow with the final results.

For more recipes please check out   http://sidsseapalmcooking.blogspot.com/   

All about food. *giggle*

Fun as a Volunteer

I had more darn fun today, not only did I do a good deed, I got to make food for a mass of people and found out that my efforts were appreciated. 

A friend of mine asked for my help this week, well, actually she asked me and another friend if we could give her a hand.   She had to do the weekly lunch at the local Senior's Center and was running short of volunteers so she asked Cari and I if we'd like to give her a hand.     I had a blast today, it was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.   We fed over 130 people and they appreciated the food. 
Gaye had started the food prep at 5 am, however Cari and I didn't get there til 9 am.   Gaye did have a couple of ladies who were there at 7 am and were already working hard by the time I got there.   However, there was still a lot of work to be done, and we did it. 

We had everything, from soup to salad, meatball subs, chicken parmigiana, garlic bread, squash casserole, green beans, deviled eggs, and of course dessert.   Take a look at the pictures:    

Soup

Salad, ready to go in the fridge til serving time.

Meatballs ready to go in the sauce for Meatball Subs.

Meatballs and sauce.

Meatball subs ready to go in the oven ready to be reheated.

Chicken strips ready for the oven. 

Pasta for the Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana ready for the oven.

 

Can't forget dessert.

This wasn't a one time thing, I'm going back.   I had a great time, it made me feel good, and best yet, it was appreciated.   

For more recipes please check out   http://sidsseapalmcooking.blogspot.com/   

All about food. *giggle*