BUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAAAAAAAAAAWWWNN...
zzzzzzzz...ZZZZZZ...zzzzz...(wake up....hey...wake up!...WAKE UP!!!)
...must get up at 6...must get pork out...must rub spice mix on pork...
Okay, ladies and germs...you know time it is (beside 6:00 AM)?
That's Right!...
It's BBQ PORK TIME!!!!!!
I thought it is well past my time to do some pulled pork...never really attempted one, full on, as close to "real" as I could...
so, I bought about a 7 pound piece of pork shoulder, bone in (also called "pork butt", but it is a part of the shoulder...ham is from the back leg...you will also see "pork blade steak or roast"...same thing just cut down). I wanted it "bone-in" (with a bone) because many believe it offers additional flavor and is also one of the best tools to tell if it's done...as you will find out later...
I had the rub ready to go. A mix of the usual suspects, all in powder form...brown & white sugar, cumin, chili, onion, garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper, dried mustard, cayenne and some finely minced fresh rosemary.
I got it well coated on all sides and let set for an hour in hopes it will come up to room temp...otherwise your smoker temp will be reduced by this cold clod of meat...
...later in that same series of downs...
...coffee's on and Mickey sez it's 7 AM...
(and a big shout-out "thank you" to the Skyforest Reeds for the mug some years ago from their rare visit here)...
...time to get my smoke on...reading other world-wide-web-information-highway sites, it seemed to me the consensus was about 1-1/2 hours per pound...7 pounds makes it 10-1/2 hours, add a little wiggle room, time for it to rest when done (cuz we always let meat rest before hacking into it, don't we kids?)...reverse engineer it from a dinner time of 7 PM...
...I'll throw it on a 7 AM, I can always keep it warm and/or add heated sauces to warm it when serving...
...a bit past 7 AM...meat temp at 47 degrees (hardly came up at all during that last hour)...
...cherry wood pellets are in (I wanted to use pecan, as some swear by it for pork but the store was out)...butt on, fat cap side up (so it melts down through the meat) temp set at 225º...now what?...go back to bed, fool...
An hour later I checked in on it...temp "reads" 226º...right on...assuming the digital read out is 100% accurate...
...outside air temp is a balmy 45º...Hmmm, will this low temp (thankfully no wind) alter the cooking?...
...another hour or so...set still at 225º...but the read out shows 269º!...Hmmm...turn it down to 180º?...work on an average?...assume it will go up and down all day?...let's leave it and see...
...'bout high noon...temp reads 149º...sure came up fast in 5 hours...100º...
...an hour later...popped up another 10º...
...about 2 hours later...another 10º...
An hour later it dropped 2 degrees! What the F$#% is going on?!?!?
Piece of crap wireless thermometer gizmo thing...I always wondered if the thing really worked.
Okay, okay...don't panic...it's...it's the...the STALL!...wait, this didn't stall, it went backwards...crap!
Now what? Calm down...eliminate any possible errors...think through the problem...check and verify.
Get your "Insta-Read" out Reed...that ever present pocket thermometer every chef has at the ready in their little sleeve pocket on their chef coat (except mine is in the drawer under the Kitchenaid).
HA! 190º..Done!...........or is it?
Get that other thermometer and try that...Hmmm....170º.
166º...190º...170º...two out of three are about 170º...throw out the abnormal spike?
Maybe it's correct and the other two are off?
Gotta go with your gut...it's the 3rd quarter, you're down 20 degrees...you gotta believe you can come back in the 4th. So punt.
It's only 4 o-clock...shouldn't be ready yet....it's only been 9 hours...
1-1/2 hours before it "should" be ready and 20º too low...leave it...get a glass of wine...walk away and leave it.
In the interim, I was asked to make some Jalapeño Poppers...
There 100's of ways to make these...the one I made up usually uses Fritos...didn't have any so I used Goldfish crackers. I use it as a filler and it adds flavor. That's why I like the Fritos cuz of the intense corn flavor to standup against everything else going in.
About equal parts Fritos (crackers) and sharp cheddar cheese, again sharp...medium would just get lost...a heaping scoop or two of softened cream cheese...some chili and garlic powder...and mash the whole mess up into a thick paste...toss in anything else you find laying around...
Git yer peppers out...slice about half way down near the stem, straight down, then from the other end, slice about the top 1/3 off back to your first cut...so you just cut off the top. I do it this way instead of slicing off the stem end top (as many do) because I don't have one of them thar fancy holder dealies to hold it upright when cooking.
Find a small spoon and scrape our as much or as little as you want of the seeds and white membranes (the heat factory).
Moosh some of the mash into the cavity...sprinkle on some smoked paprika...
Place on cooling rack...I would prefer doing this on the charcoal grill...adds a nice char on them, but I aint got it lit today...I tried it on the Traeger once...not high enough heat...
Throw it in the oven at exactly "whatever" degrees...let it get all hot and gooey...
Plate it up...sprinkle with cilantro...grab 2 or 3 for you...THEN call out "appetizers!"...grab your glass of wine an run back out to the smoker.
Also for dinner, we'll have corn on the cob. I don't boil mine...rinse them off and wash trim the loose husks, any hangy offs, any silk that is hanging out, maybe trim both ends and soak for 20 or more minutes.
Like the poppers, these work great on the grill, but the oven works fine as a substitute. Toss them right on the wire rack for about 15-20 minutes at 350º. The water helps steam them...they do turn out great this way...but kinda hot when de-husking them.
The other Mickey says it's 7:00 PM...it's been in for 12 hours and it hit 190º...."magic time!"
Technically, "pork" is done at 170º, but this big clod of meat and fat and connective tissues and who know what else needs some extra time...for that fat and tissue to melt and the whole thing become wonderfully tender.
Yummmm....
Sweet..and a nice, clean bone (lower right). I understand if you get a clean bone out then it's definitely done...this 7 pounder made enough for maybe 16 sandwiches, I served 4 that night and divided the rest into thirds in freezer bags and stored them away in the deep freeze.
...good bark (the crusty outer layer, it's not burnt)...a nice smoke ring (the pink where the smoke infiltrated...MMMmmmm...
Oh, ya...I didn't add any sauce...let the folks customize it...gotta have slaw with BBQ...for mine I LOVE a "finishing sauce" a guy at my work gave me (below)...it was his grandpas who lived in the Carolinas...it fits great with the smoke and slaw...tangy, spicy, good...
...come to papa!...
The reviews were good...sorta like "oh, my gawd"...and "wow"...something along those lines, hard to tell with their mouths full.
Carolina Style "Finishing Sauce"
2 C Ketchup
3 C White Vinegar
Add 1 Tablespoon each of:
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Red Pepper Flakes
Black Pepper
Cayenne Powder
Tabasco
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or so.
Classic Slaw Dressing
1/2 C Mayo
2 Tbl Milk
2 Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 tsp sugar
OPTIONAL
1/2 to 1 Tbl Celery Seed (NOT! celery salt, the salt will bring our the water in the cabbage and water the whole mess down)
Thanks for those poppers! They are always so very yummy!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour favorite oldest child :)