# Competition Style Barbecue Pulled Pork, Plus Dijon Vinegar sauce



## boar_d_laze

A good pulled pork blends a few elements, each of which blends a few elements, and in turn each of those blends a few elements of its own. At its most basic the sweet, spicy, barky, outside (Mr. Brown), mixes with the moist, juicy, sweet, tender, unctuous interor (Miss White) - chaperoned by a plain or sesame seed bun, coleslaw and a thin barbecue sauce. This particular recipe is very representative of KCBS and Memphis in May type competition barbecue.

The rub is my own recipe, but is really not that original. It follows the typical rules of sweet/salt/hot/and spice balancing most comp pitmasters observe, and is similarly restricted to the ingredients common to the environment. It's an excellent rub for beginners and for situations (like comp) where you don't want to get too far out of the envelope. It also makes an excellent popcorn seasoning salt.

The injection liquid is very close to the Chris Lilly recipe published in Peace, Love and Barbecue, as well as all over the web. The differences are based on personally observing Lilly make his injection at a Memphis in May competition.

The sauce is an upscale version of a Carolina mustard sauce, introduced to me by my girlfriend during the mid seventies who originally came from Savannah. How it got to her is one of those Southern woman's stories involving friends, relations, acquaintances, etc., I couldn't possibly tell well. It's a great sauce - but a little too tweaked for competition.

*COMPETITION STYLE PULLED BARBECUED PORK SHOULDER
(Feeds 8 to 12)*

*
Ingredients*:
8 to 10 lb pork shoulder
Smoke wood: Preferably Cherry, Pecan, Apple, other fruitwood, or Hickory
(Optional) Injection, recipe follows
Dry rub, recipe follows
Baseball mustard or mix of 1/2 dijon mustard and 1/2 mayonnaise for slather
Barbecue sauce, recipe follows

*COMPETITION STYLE SHOULDER AND BUTT RUB*
(Enough for at least 3 butts)

*Ingredients*:
1 cup brown or turbinado sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup paprika
2 tbs onion powder
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs freshly cracked plack pepper
1 tbs California chili powder
2 tsp ground ginger powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage

*CHRIS LILLY STILE SHOULDER AND BUTT INJECTION

Ingredients*:
3/4 cup filtered apple juice or cider
3/4 cup white grape juice
1-1/2 tsp table salt (or 1 tbs kosher salt)
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

*UPTOWN CAROLINA MUSTARD BARBECUE SAUCE

Ingredients*:
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup dijon mustard
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (to taste)
2 tsp to 2 tbs hot pepper sauce (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

*Technique -- All of the Above*:

If the butt is very fatty, trim it slightly. Otherwise, it's fine as it is. Much of the surface fat will render, while the rest will help moisten the final product.

Mix the dry rub ingredients together, so they're evenly blended.

If injecting: Mix the injection ingredients, and heat them over a low flame only until the salt dissolves. Allow the injection liquid to cool until it's comfortable to handle.

Inject the but with as much of the injection liquid as it will hold.

Figure the approximate cooking time at around 1 hour per pound at 225F, and estimate your cooking time accordingly. Then allow an extra three hours to make sure that even if cooking goes slowly (sometimes it does, it's not entirely predictable), the butt has plenty of resting time. In addition, allow at least half an hour to preheat your smoker, more depending on the type.

Prep your smoker to run at 225F at the cooking grate and preheat it.

Slather the butt with the baseball mustard or the mustard/mayo mix.

Generously cover the butt with rub, and rub as much as possible into the surface.

Depending on the type of smoker, if smoke wood needs to be added separately, add it just before the butt goes in.

Introduce the butt into the smoker, insert your thermometer probe, and get the smoker closed.

Estimate your cooking time. An 8 pound butt will take about 8-10 hours at a steady 225F. A 10 pounder, about 10 to 12 hours. At 250F, figure 50 minutes a pound plus 1 hour 45 minutes. At a steady 275F the timing changes considerably -- it's a fine temperature for brisket but too hot for pork. Probably a good idea to hold off cooking a butt or picnic that hot until you've got a better idea of how to deal with the inevitable issues (bark too tough, for instance)

I know that's a long time to cook without doing anything to improve the process or at least check on it. But, NO PEEKING.

Continue adding smoke wood, as needed, for roughly the first half of the cook if using a fairly strong wood like hickory or oak. Lighter woods like pecan and fruit woods can go a little longer. Mesquite should be watched very closely and discontinued at or before the halfway mark. Pork can absorb a lot of smoke happily, so you've got some leeway. But meat cooked in small smokers is sensitive to over smoking and will be acrid rather than sweet. Smokers large enough to be used as "stick burners" allow a lot more flexibility. No doubt you're curious. It's not the smoke, it's the creosote.

The most common cause of bad barbecue is PEEKING. NO PEEKING. A butt doesn't need to be basted or mopped. Although you can add some texture and flavor with the process, I recommend not doing it the first few times.

Do not open the doors (or lid) on the cooking chamber for any reason related to curiosity. NO PEEKING.

If, to deal with an emergency, or a necessity (like reloading the water pan), you must open the door on the cooking chamber, get it closed as quickly as possible. Cool air is the enemy. NO PEEKING. (Sensiing a theme yet?)

At some point after the pork hits an internal temperature of 150F, but before reaching it's final temp (195F) the internal temperature will "plateau" and stop rising for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes -- causing panic in the breasts of people new to 'q. When it finally does start rising, the first 6 or 7 degrees will (seemingly) take forever. Normal. Don't panic.

The phenomenon is called "the stall," and is nearly inevitable with large cuts and low temperatures. Itl reflects changes in density and a property of certain types of molecules to absorb more energy than others -- especially when they're undergoing something very like phase change. That is, the heat energy is denaturing connective tissue, melting fats and doing other wonderful work just outside of the center. Leave it alone. Don't worry. And (wait for it), NO PEEKING.

If you want sliced pork, cook to an internal temperature of 185F - 190F. For pulled pork, cook to 195F - 200F. Many people pull the bone as a test for doneness. Warning: The bone will come out easily before the meat is truly ready to pull.

Wrap the meat in aluminum foil or commercial cling wrap (I prefer cling wrap), and allow it to rest at least 45 minutes before pulling. That's right. At least 45 minutes. You can rest it for as long as 6 hours in an appropriately prepped insulated cooler. It will not only stay in the "safe zone," but will be hot enough to make uncomfortable pulling.

While the meat rests, make the sauce. If you don't want mayonnaise "bubbles," you can mix the mustard and mayo, then slowly whisk the vinegar in until it's entirely incorporated. Alternatively you can mix everything in the blender. Add the syrup and hot sauce last, and in the smallest recommended quantities. Add a few turns of black pepper, just enough so that the odd speck is visible in the sauce. Finally, adjust the syrup, hot sauce and pepper amounts taste.

Pull the pork with your hands (my preference), two forks, or claws. Don't break the pork up too fine, or it will be stringy. As you pull, layer it into a pan. Moisten each layer with a little bit of sauce before covering it with another. Use the barbecue sauce sparingly, the idea is to keep the pork moist while it sits, and compliment without altering its flavor.

Finally, mix the pork up, so Mr. Brown, Miss White and the sauce are evenly distributed.

To serve for lunch or light supper: Moisten the bottom of warmed, soft bun with sauce, mound the pork on top, add more sauce if you like, cover with cole-slaw, moisten the top of the bun with sauce, and serve it alongside.

To serve for dinner: Simply mound the pork the plate, garnished with your favorite barbecue accompaniments. As you may have gathered from the luncheon instructions cole slaw and good breads are musts. Put some of the reserved sauce in a boat or squeeze bottle (hey, it's barbecue!), and pass so guests may help themselves.

*Variations, 1*: Once you've got control over the rub making and rubbingbing processes, you may want to consider some deviation. For instance, mixing the rub with toasted, ground fennel and coriander seeds, at a ratio of about 3 rub to 1 seeds. A stronger fennel/coriander mix was popularized by Michael Chiarello. Alton Brown recommends something very similar to the Chiarello rub. A different, interesting addition to the rub is ground cocoa and cinnamon. If you choose that path, go carefully. Yet another approach is "wet rubs." These are pastes made with the usual dry rub suspects, a little oil, juice, or whatever, fresh onion and a blender or processor.

*Variations, 2*: An injection liquid recipe that more closely follows my own, current tastes would include adding some peach liqueur into the injection mix (and cooking off the alcohol), in place of about 1/3 of the grape and apple, while tripling the amount of ground ginger, and eliminating the powdered chili and cayenne from the rub.

*Variations, 3*: You may use any barbecue sauce you like. By the way, there are a lot of ways to skin the Carolinas' vinegar sauce cat. One of my favorites is 2 cups cider vinegar, 2 tbs white sugar, and 1 tbs each black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Hope you like,
BDL

PS. _These recipes are original and my creation. If you want to share them you have my permission as long as you credit me, Boar D. Laze. I would consider it a kindness if you would also mention my eventually forthcoming book, *COOK FOOD GOOD: American Cooking for Beginners and Intermediates*._


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## maryb

The mustard sauce sounds good, I am going to have to try that one this summer. The rest is standard pulled pork. The wood use is right on especially in small pits like the ECB or Weber, if using a stick burner keep the fire small and hot and the creosote won't rear its ugly head. I could stand downwind in the smoke from my stick burner, it was sweet and clean along with being almost clear. Large amounts of thick dense smoke are bad in any pit.


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## gonefishin

Thanks! I've been waiting for something like this >>>





Do ya see the big smilie face? Yep, that's right...a big smile right at ya!


I'm looking to go to a KCBS event this year, any suggestions on a good one to hit? We've got a couple of events that are local...but they're really lacking.


thanks again!
dan


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## rpmcmurphy

just plain water in the water pan? 

recommend any brining?


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## boar_d_laze

Liquid, sand, fire bricks, wet sand is dependent on the particular smoker. I'm not too familiar with yours, but understand liquid or wet sand are the best choices. If you go liquid, you can add beer, wine, herbs, or whatever you like to the liquid. It won't make much difference to the taste of the pork, but your backyard will smell good. 

An advantage to damp sand is that it won't run out during the cook and require refilling. 

The advantage to water is that it will keep the environment in the cookchamber more humid, which in turn helps stabilize temperatures (promotes a juicier product) and acts as a bar to dry air (which would strip moisture). After human error, dry air is probably the biggest enemy to good barbeuce. 

If you were to brine a whole butt or picnic, it would need at least 24 hours in the brine, and maybe longer. You'll find injecting works better in terms of both flavor and texture. Pick up an inexpensive injecting syringe for now, and you can move up to a better piece of equipment later. I didn't mention it in the recipe,but lots of small injections work better than a few big ones. You'll get the hang of it after the injection liquid starts shooting out the other side a few times.

If you can't get the injection thing together, or just plain don't want to, then brine. A medium brine is about 1/2 cup of table salt, and 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water. Of course you don't have to use plain water -- I like to use some fruit juice and/or nectars and plenty of onions. Pork loves both of those.

Some of the best butts I've made were built around combining peach, ginger, onion and maple with at least two of those in the injection (or brine), smoke wood, rub, and sauce respectively.

You didn't say this, so I will: IIRC your smoker runs at a more or less constant 250F, if that's true figure about 45 - 50 minutes a pound to 195F

Smoke wood chunks work much better than chips. 

Hope this helps,
BDL


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## boar_d_laze

Hope you like it. It's my go to for pulled pork. 

Well yes and no. I'm trying to teach how to make a good, old-fashioned, U.S., southern-style pulled pork. It's the pulled pork flavor profile a KCBS certified judge is trained to rate highly. I'm not trying to impart competition secrets, my own favorites, or a highly tweaked "my way or the highway" recipe. Rather, I want the reader to develop the skills necessary to move on confidently to her (or his) own improvisations. 

It is unashamedly down the middle. 

Without getting too deeply into the techniques which make big offsets, small offsets, large cabinets, small cabinets, insulated cabinets, uninsulated cabinets, kettles, good bullets, bad bullets, charcoal basket, no charcoal basket, etc., different from one another -- that's basically what I was trying to get at. 

Someday we'll get together and cook. If it's as good as talking 'q with you, no one will go away hungry.

BDL


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## rpmcmurphy

my injection mix is in the fridge and ready and my rub is pre-mixed. everything is ready to go for tomorrow morning. 

I'll give the sauce a shot, but I think I'm going to give another one a shot as well to give 2 sauces a try (for the missus) 

I tested the smoker today, and you are correct, it held a steady 250 for over an hour. 

Also stole dads maverick smoker thermometer that monitors both the meat and the smoker.


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## boar_d_laze

Poifick!

BDL


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## petemccracken

Oh GREAT! NOW we have the "Hawaiian influence"!:lol:


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## maryb

I have a brisket going in the Traeger tomorrow night at midnight, haven't decided on a rub yet. For beef I prefer a sugar free rub and often toss one together from whatever sounds good at the time :lol:


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## boar_d_laze

The Jack Daniels if you can get to Kentucky in October. There are some pretty good comps in the midwest during the summer, too. Ideally you want to find one that's got something going on besides the competition itself -- like a blues festival. There are several good ones in the midwest region. Still, if you're smart you'll find another reason to be wherever it is you're going -- a golf course for instance. Not that watching a stranger cook a brisket for fourteen hours isn't facinating, but there's surprisingly (unsurprisingly?) little drama at comps. Eespecially KCBS comps.  Here in California teams aren't allowed to give away or sell samples -- which makes it kind of hard on the spectators. I'm not sure if the rule is national or just state wide, as it went into effect after I stopped competing.

The KCBS site has a schedule.

You may also want to check out The Royal, and Memphis in May competitions. In some ways they're a lot more fun for spectators than KCBS comps. 

Probably the best thing to do is join your state KCBS barbecue society. They'll hook you up with the newsletter, the state internet forum and so on. You can get a copy of the rules, learn about the subtleties of presentation, the idiocy of judges and so on. When you do go to a comp, at least you'll have some idea of what's going on. If you're thinking about competing yourself -- good for you! You absolutely should. Lots of fun. You may even want to take a judging class -- highly recommended.

Last but not least, start poking around barbecue forums. Chef Talk is very nice, but it's hardly a specialty site. There just aren't enough of us with 'q experience to generate the breadth or depth of information you're starting to crave. It's nice to hear a lot of ideas. And in 'q especially, it's nice to hear from people who own the same rig you do -- or at least something similar. A big part of the game is fire management, and that's so equipment dependent.

BDL


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## justpj

Thanks BDL and just in time too...i have a shoulder I need to cook.


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## kokopuffs

You'll find lots and lots of recipes and techniques for Boston Butts posted here.


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## rpmcmurphy

update, she's holding steady at 240, meat is at 76....she's smokin' 

doesn't seem to be the most airtight lid, but there certainly is enough smoke with 3-4 chunks in


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## kokopuffs

They all leak, even my WSM leaks. DO NOT concern yourself about slight leaks; but, lifting the lid to take a peak will probably add about 15 minutes to the cooking time. Is the 240 F measured at the lid or at the grill? If at the lid you're okay but if measured at the grill the temp may be a bit high.


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## boar_d_laze

The seal will improve somewhat as gunk builds up around the seams with use. Brinkmann's are drafty. That's one of their major problems, and why you'll eventually look for something better. 

BDL


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## phatch

3-4 chunks seems like too much in that Brinkman.


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## rpmcmurphy

I quickly realized that. 2 seems perfect


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## maryb

240 is acceptable for shoulder. My Klose liked to settle in at 250 so thats what I cooked at most of the time. Every pit seems to have a sweet spot where things run right so learning to cook at that temp helps but 225-275 is in the acceptable range for low and slow. Some people are doing brisket hot and fast at 350 and above with acceptable results but I don't think the fat renders as well.


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## boar_d_laze

When the wood first smolders you'll get some fairly thick smoke. After five minutes or so, it should start settling down quite a bit over the next five minutes. After that, you should very little, if any, visibile smoke; but should have a good smoke aroma. 

If instead you're billowing smoke -- that's a bad thing. It means you're probably using too much wood (easily correctable), or burning your wood up -- which is usually a function of too much heat or too much draft.

If your wood chunks burn rather than smolder, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and pierce the foil with a few small holes. Remember: It's a smell test. If you can smell good wood aroma, your food is smoking. Also bear in mind, with a small cooker, it's better to err on the side of too little smoke than too much. 

The wrap thing, aka "smoke bomb," is the sort of last resort you try with small, inexpensive smokers. It's not something you'd do with a bigger, better pit.

How long your chunks will smolder, before burning up and needing replacement depends on the size of the chunk, type of wood, how well cured it is, how dry it is, heat of the pit, and God knows what else. With the little I know about what's going on with your little electric ECB, I'm guessing a little more an hour between reloads. FWIW, one decent size chunk at a time should do it. 

If it smells like smoke, it's smoking. 

Do you have enough beer?

Let's save brisket for another time, 
BDL


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## rpmcmurphy

coming up on 6 hours, it was a 7.4lb butt. Internal temp 162.

I'm imagining it looks good. 

anyone have a "close to regular ol BBQ sauce" recipe for the missus?


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## rpmcmurphy

some pics...


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## phatch

There are different schools of thought on BDL's smoke bomb, or more technically smolder vs burn. As I understand it, it comes down to creosote formation and condensation. And I prefer the burn to the smolder. You'll have to experiment with your wood chunks to see what you like in your equipment. 

Wood creosote condenses on surfaces readily at temps below 250 which is prime barbecue territory. How much condenses depends on how much you're forming with your combustion. A smolder with wet wood produces more creosote than a dry wood burning, mostly because the temp of the dry wood fire is higher. A related note, you generally don't want to use fresh wood chunks, but chunks that have aged a year from cutting. 

But as Mary B alluded to, your heat source and its distribution to the cooking grate enters in to it as well. Charcoal (lump only), vs wood, vs electric in your case.


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## boar_d_laze

The problem with burning chunk in a small, electric bullet like RPM's, is that if you let it burn (in flames) you'll have to reload every 15 minutes.

Phil, if you mean something other by "burn" than "in flames," than that's what I mean by "smolder." 

BDL


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## rpmcmurphy

also, if it dos burn (in flames) the temp seems to skyrocket,  found that out the hard accidental way...


seems like the thermometor is stuck on 180 though... smoker temp 238


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## boar_d_laze

Oh Jeeze! My bad. I'll amend the recipe later. 

I forgot to tell you about the dreaded "stall." The good news is that you came up on it at a fairly high temp -- which usually means it won't last all that long. 

The stall is typical of butts, picnics, shoulders, briskets and other large pieces. For whatever reason (it's a little bit of cute biochemistry and thermodynamics too, let me tell ya), the internal temperature, which has been rising pretty steadily, just plain stops rising. Your job is to just wait it out. Don't crank the temp, don't wrap, don't do anything. Just let it go. After anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes the temp will start raising again. The first five degrees or so will go pretty slowly, afterwards it usually starts rising pretty quickly again. 

Have a beer. Don't worry. Wait. Pull at 195. 

BDL 

PS. About the flame/temp thing. It's called "peaking" and has to do with the fact that flame begins at one temperature, but the wood continues to burn at a considerably higher temperature. 

The whole set of questions relating to smoke, heat, etc., are grouped together as fire management. It's one of a couple of reasons it's helpful to have someone familiar with your particular cooker -- or at very least something very similar. They're all very difficult. When it comes to fire management, a lifetime of experience with a medium sized offset is very little help with an electric bullet. 

Different strategies work with different rigs; Some very successful techniques simply won't translate. The reverse is also true. Take for instance the "smoke bomb." It would be a first choice using a propane grill as a smoker; a last resort in a bullet like yours; and simply stupid in a mid-sized or larger offset.

The choice has nothing to do with creosote formation, but is about temperature and frequency of reloading. 

Now that we're four paragraphs into it, it might be a good time to say that this thread isn't a particularly good place for the conversation. But it's worth thinking about to highlight that every rig type is idiosyncratic, some rigs are darn near sui generis, and you have to match your technique to whatever equipment you're using.


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## rpmcmurphy

at 187....

pullled out a VERY good and expensive bottle of Anejo tequila someone recently brought back for me from Mexico.....I'm not a straight tequila drinker, and....well this tequila is too good to use for say, even a properly made margarita....so. I did it justice in a mexican tequila old-fashioned type cocktail.

2oz anejo tequila
.25-.5oz agave syrup (or 1 teaspoon of agave nectar) 
dash of orange bitters
dash of angostura bitters

stirred, then poured over rocks in an old fashioned glass, preferably a giant ice cube.....garnish with a flame orange peel. Im sure you can just do agnostura bitters and a lime twist, but I like orange...

agave syrup is just 1:1 water:agave nectar. 


update after typing that above...188.


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## phatch

I mean not soaking the wood and not hindering the oxygen. Wrapping in foil is an oxygen control technique, but this is also a high creosote technique. You want a CLEAN burn for a clean flavor. 

I know this isn't a common opinion but I recommend you give it a try. It does take an adapted technique to manage temps but I think the flavor is better.

In an electric Brinkman, a dry chunk of wood half the size of a fist should last about an hour.


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## rpmcmurphy

191


a few cocktails down, and now into the rest of last nights bottle of wine (which is a rarity)


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## phatch

That's about when I pull it, but my boiling point is 201 so I don't have the buffer you do at a lower elevation.


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## rpmcmurphy

if ya guys wana pop on over to my other initial thread and give me some pointers on smoking a chicken tomorrow, I'll have another pour of tequila for ya. 

192.


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## rpmcmurphy

done and resting. 

made BDL's sauce.....awaiting inhalation. 


snuck a quick taste of the pork....mmmm.


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## maryb

Same process for the chicken other than I drape bacon over the bird to baste it as the bacon cooks down. The standard butter/herbs under the skin is good too. Unless you crisp the skin up under the broiler or on the grill it is going to be rubbery. Pork rub usually works well on chicken also.


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## kokopuffs

<<...seems like the thermometor is stuck on 180 though... smoker temp 238>>

LID TEMP (or GRATE TEMP) = 238
MEAT TEMP = 180

The meat has reach a plateau and will remain so, at 180F, for 1 or more hours. And the plateau is quite normal and always occurs with my boston butts. During the time that the meat plateaus methinks that the connective tissue is absorbing all of the heat energy for it to breakdown and "tenderize" the butt.

Again, plateaus are normal.


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## rpmcmurphy

SO here are some pics....

first my tequila old fashioned


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## rpmcmurphy

this 5 image limit stinks!










I'm very happy with the results of the first time me smoking something. However, I have to critique the recipe a little BDL. it was a 7.4lb butt, and I probably used half the rub, and used the injection as well, and it came out pretty salty. too salty, I'd cut the salt in both at least in half.

Other than that, came out great!! ended up eating around 10:30-11ish after it rested for almost an hour.

Did a chicken today, came out even better. Threw a lump of frozen duck fat in the cavity, and believe it or not, used some free Emerils essence and chicken rub I got as a goodie bag when I had lunch with him last week.


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## kokopuffs

Eeeeehhhhhhhhh, you need to email me a taste NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## boar_d_laze

Glad it worked out. Sorry about the salt. I had a tbs/tsp error in the injection. I fixed that and edited the rub recipe to reflect your experience. 

You got more rub on the butt that I would have thought possible; and I also wonder if you're using Diamond Kosher or Morton for your rub. Morton packs more saltiness (and mass) per unit volume. 

None of which has anything to do with the weaknesses in the first draft of the recipe. As you know I had a virus which killed a lot of my recipes and food notes, including nearly all of my barbecue stuff. So, I'm flying on memory. It's not a big problem with my cookiing because the stuff I want to do I've done enough that measurement is entirely by eye and by taste. With the pork rub, I know I've got enough salt and paprika by eye -- plus, I cut the basic rub with other spice combinations -- fennel/coriander for instance, or cocoa/cinnamon -- which takes down both the salt and sweet components. The basic rub has to work as a stand alone and a component and I underestimated the salt punch it carried.

No excuses, just sayin' is all.

For next time... swine rub is one of the few rubs which should taste pretty good on its own. Just stick a finger in there, give it a lick and adjust.

BDL


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## maryb

Looks good! As BDL said taste the rub, I did a chicken leg quarter tonight with Smokin' Guns mild and I can eat some of the rub straight from the bottle. Stuff is good on popcorn too!


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## kokopuffs

Just an fyi I have a 9-pound boston butt going into the Weber Bullet tonight and the rub was applied about 3 days ago. So this will be my first smoke where the butt wasn't rubbed 6-24 hours in advance; the local butcher who sold me the rub recommended rubbing 2 or 3 days in advance of cooking in order to achieve an even better flavor throughout the meat.


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## gonefishin

This worked out pretty well, thanks!

The spice rub was really a nice blend. Much better and much better rounded than most recipes or blends that I've been trying. If there's one thing I'm finding with BDL recipes is that they're well balanced. No, no...I would say fully balanced. There's more than just a homeostasis within the flavors, there's always a nice roundness or depth.

For my taste I usually stay clear of chili powder in most of my rubs. I just found them to be a bit too much (well) chili taste. But having a smaller amount really stretched the flavors out. I could see playing around with the recipe in a few other directions...but it's a better start than I've found in other places. I have made the mistake of using Morton's Kosher salt in a previous rub, which is why I don't use it as a equal substitution any more  The rub...nice...good taste alone too.

This is the first time I've injected my shoulder (you didn't think...). I could see this being fun to play with some nice hints of flavors. I can't wait to throw a little bit of peach into the mix (just seems like a natural). I didn't end up going thru much of the injection liquid...oh well.

I really don't like the whole "don't peek" thing. I like to peek...I would mop at times in the past. It's just sooo purty to look at while it's cookin'! But...I put the water pan in their and kept the lid closed the whole time. Took the pork out at 193_f_ and let it come up to 198_f. _It turned out a very nice, super juicy, well broken down pull. Still, I make no promises if I could leave the lid closed the entire time on the next piece of meat that I smoke.

I put the mustard sauce together and tried a bit. I ended up adjusting to reduce the vinegar down a little. I ended up with a sauce that still had a vinegar forefront...but just not so much. It went well with the fattier meat of the shoulder.

All in all...very good advice and I can't wait to start playin' around a bit. Thanks!

I'm still not sure which KCBS event I'll end up going to but I'll certainly look to see if I can make the JD event. With 3 kids under six years of age I'm not looking to compete (although I bet it would be fun). But I am hoping to get into one of the judging "courses". Much like this recipe, I'm hoping to gain some insight into where a well made (decent scoring) BBQ consist of. I have no problem branching out to meet personal preferences. But I believe in proper calibration too 

Thanks,
dan


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## boar_d_laze

Dan, 

Sounds like it really worked for you. And yes, now that you've got it going we can start talking about the peach/ginger/maple combination -- you'll like it. I wanted you to have a chance at something mainstream before moving on to the exotic. 

The type of recipe you used (after RPM tweaked it) is the sort which scores in kcbs comps. The judges appreciate excellence, but aren't real thrilled with originality. It's very much "in the box," but you'll be surprised at how good in the box can be when the ingredients are top notch and so is fire management.

I just wish I had this thing together as well for RPM as it came to you. But, oh well.

BDL


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## gonefishin

Hi BDL,

I just can't stop thinking about the maple flavor with the peach/ginger combination. I'd love to read any thoughts that your willing to share. 

thanks,
dan


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## kokopuffs

If I could please recommend a couple of great barbecue websites that you would find helpful, here they are:

1. The Virtual Weber Bullet

2. The Smoke Ring


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## kokopuffs

As far as the water pan is concerned, it's just a heat sink that prevents wide swings in temperature. In my Weber Smokey Mountain smoker, I use instead a foil-covered terra cotta saucer (flat plate on bottom of potting vases) that is placed on top of the foiled water pan.


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## boar_d_laze

Actually, you use the saucer as a "(heat) ballast," or "heat bank," and as a shield against direct radiance; but not as a "heat sink," which is something else. The idea is to keep a more or less steady temperature going in the cooking chamber despite variation in the in the fire pan; plus to ensure that the vast majority of energy in the cooking chamber is convected rather than radiant. Some popular alternatives to the terra cotta are fire bricks or sand. Many people use terra cotta shards from broken pots as a sort of "split the diff" between clay and sand.

The thing about using dry ballasts in the WSM (like kokopuff's) is that the WSM is incredibly tight as bullets go. The biggest advantage with dry ballasts is the flexibility they allow with temperature. Water in the pan really tends to keep it down because of how much energy it absorbs for phase change.

But none of those are good for RPM. He should use water or water plus aromatics (wine, beer, herbs in the water, etc.) in his ECB's pan because the ECB is so darn drafty compared to a WSM. A dry ECB is an unhappy ECB.  (Not to digress or anything like that, but you only get a little flavor out of aromatics in the waterpan; what you mostly get is a great smelling backyard. Nothing wrong with that.)

Humid air doesn't strip as much moisture from the meat, and transfers energy more efficiently than dry (in effect "tuning" the pit and promoting even cooking). A WSM is tight enough that it keeps the same humid air circulating for long periods of time, introducing very little fresh, dry air. One measure, other than it's cooking, is its relative fuel efficiency. I.e., it's not pulling in a lot of air to burn a lot of charcoal, because it doesn't use a lot of charcoal. On the other hand, charcoal fired ECBs use a LOT of fuel because they're (wait for it) so drafty, lose a lot of heat, and need to replace it. This means they circulate dry air, unless it's humidified.

Getting back to WSMs. They are near ideal cookers and I recommend them highly to anyone who's interested in a smoker, portable, or all 'round -- especially if value is a consideration. However, they are practically _sui generis_ when it comes to fire and air management. Many techniques which work well with them don't work at all for other bullets and vice versa.

Hope this helps,
BDL


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## kokopuffs

For a 12-18 smoke on the WSM, around half a bag of Kingsford charcoal (NOT MATCH LIGHT) is used.


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## sabbah

I am so hungry now.


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## boar_d_laze

Frankenthread!  It's alive!  It's alive!

BDL


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