Category: Barbecue

Pulled Pork a la Alton

I adapted Alton Brown’s molasses brine to make one of the most tender and moist batches of pulled pork to ever come out of my Big Green Egg.

Ingredients
2 quarts water
12 ounces kosher salt
1 cup molasses
1 tablespoon chili powder
Basic Pig Rub (or your favorite barbecue rub)

6 to 8 pound pork shoulder roast (Boston butt)

The Brine

Combine molasses, salt, chili powder, 1 tablespoon of the rub, and water in 6 quart stockpot over medium heat. Stir and cook only until the salt has dissolved and everything is well-combined. Remove from heat and let cool.

Trim excess fat from pork shoulder. Make shallow cuts through the remaining fat cap every half inch or so.

Put the roast in a big Ziploc bag and add the brine. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. I like to put the bagged roast right back in the stockpot and arrange it so that the meat is fully covered by the brine.  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, overnight is better yet.

The Cook

Remove the roast from brine and pat dry. Dust heavily with barbecue rub, working it in with your hands to get a good coating. Wrap the roast in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.

Set up your cooker for an indirect cook of at least 18 hours at 225°F. Add some chucks of pecan or hickory for smoke. Use a drip pan to catch the fat as it renders off.  Pork butts take about 2 hours per pound to cook at this temperature, so this is really a job for a smoker or ceramic cooker.  I like to set it up as an overnight cook starting at 6pm so I can plan on serving pulled pork for lunch the next day.

Begin checking butt for doneness after about 10 hours of cooking. Pork butts are done when the collagen and connective tissue has melted into tasty gelatin and the meat literally starts to fall apart. I like to get mine to about 190°F internal, and then wrap it in a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and put it back on the cooker for another hour or so until it reaches 210F internal.

When the butt is done, remove it from the cooker and let it rest in the foil for an hour. When it has cooled a little,  pull the meat apart using a couple of forks (or better yet, a pair of these bear paws) to separate the fibers. The idea is to remove all the remaining inedible bits, break the meat down into bite-sized pieces, and ensure an even distribution of the chewy bark.

I like to serve it on cheap white buns with dill pickles, sweet potato chips and an assortment of barbecue sauces.

Baby Back Ribs

If I had to pick a cut of meat that benefits the most from the art of barbecue, it would be the lowly rib. It’s amazing what the proper application of smoke, spice, and a low flame does to this otherwise tough and fatty piece of pig.

I’m partial to baby backs, the ribs that come from closest to the backbone, underneath the loin muscle. They are generally leaner, more tender, very tasty, and a quicker cook than their spare rib cousins. While there are a lot of good rib recipes out there,  this is my sure-fire, simple, no-frills recipe that consistently produces good results with a minimum of fuss.

Preparation

The night before the cook, prepare the ribs by removing the membrane on the back side of the ribs and trimming any large amounts of fat or stray flaps of meat. Slather both sides of the ribs with a thin coating of yellow ballpark-style mustard. This acts as a marinade. The vinegar in the mustard helps make the ribs moist and tender, and it gives the rub something to hold on to.

Apply a generous coating of your favorite rib rub. This basic rub works great. The rub adds not only a whole medley of flavors, but helps to form a nice bark – a dark brown crust on the meat.  Start on the back side and apply a medium-heavy coating, actually working it into the ribs with your fingers. Turn the ribs over and put a heavier coating on the top side, also working it in.

Wrap the slabs in plastic wrap and store them overnight in the fridge. By morning the mustard will have almost disappeared, melting into the rub and forming a glaze on the ribs.

The Cook

Set up your grill for an indirect cook that will burn for at least 6 hours at between 225 to 250°F. Use a drip pan under the ribs to catch the fat.

Once the grill is up to temperature, add your smoking wood. If using a gas grill, place 2-4 cups of soaked wood chunks in the smoker box. If using a charcoal grill, toss a fist-sized lump right into the coals.

Take the ribs straight from the fridge, unwrap, and arrange bone side down on the grate. Use a rib rack if you need more room. Close the lid and for the first 2 hour of the cook, do nothing – no peaking, no looking, no touching, no nothing. The more often the lid gets opened the less actual cooking is going on and the greater the chance that they’ll dry out.

After the ribs have been on for 2 hours, flip the slabs. Cook for another hour and flip one more time.  Again, no peeking. Continue cooking bone side down until the ribs have been on about 4 hours total, then start checking for doneness.

When they are done, a full slab will “break” or almost fold in half and start to crack when you pick up one end with a pair of tongs. At this point the meat should also have pulled back from the bone at least half and inch from the end of the bones and a gentle tug on a couple of adjacent bones shows that they will come apart easily.  Expect around 5 to 6 hours of total cooking time to get to this point.

Once the ribs are done it’s time to sauce. Purists will skip this step, but I like a little sweetness added at to the ribs at the end of the cook. I think it helps to balance the flavors and keeps the bark a little chewy. For a commercial sauce, I like Bone Suckin’ BBQ sauce. If you want to make your own, my Thick & Tangy BBQ Sauce – v2.0 is particularly good on ribs. Sauce both sides with a light coating, put the ribs back on for 15 minutes, then sauce them again just on top.

Remove the ribs from the grill and let them stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Basic Pig Rub

Fine for almost any swine – rub this into the meat generously the day before you cook it.

Ingredients

4 tablespoon brown or turbinado sugar
4 tablespoon Smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoon cumin seed, ground
2 tablespoon chile powder
2 tablespoon black pepper, fresh cracked
1 tablespoon sage, ground
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme

Preparation

Combine all ingredients together and transfer to an air tight container. Makes about 1 cup.

Country-style Ribs

This is an adaptation of Sally Schneider’s Lacquered Baby Back Ribs recipe from her book  A New Way to Cook. The rich and spicy sauce is used both as a marinade and to baste the ribs when they are just about done to give them a nice caramelized finish.

I often do this recipe with country-style ribs instead of baby-backs. Country-style ribs aren’t really ribs. They’re cut from the shoulder roast (a.k.a. Boston butt). There’s a good amount of meat there, along with enough fat to keep them tender when they’re cooked low and slow.

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3-5 pounds of country-style ribs, boneless if possible Continue reading “Country-style Ribs”

Pulled Beef

After buying our last half of a beef, I discovered that our butcher had unhelpfully labeled all of the roasts as “Roast.” Since now I’m never sure what I’m getting when I take one out of the deep freeze, I needed a roast recipe that would work as well for a top sirloin as it would for a chuck.

I decided to try making pulled beef. This low-and-slow barbecue approach is similar to the one used to make pulled pork, but because of the (relative) lack of fat and connective tissue in some beef roasts, this recipes adds a braising step to ensure that the meat is moist and tender. Continue reading “Pulled Beef”

Dave’s Thick & Tangy BBQ Sauce – v2.0

1 small onion, minced
2 clove2 garlic, minced
14.5  ounces canned diced tomatoes
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate (not paste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon bacon grease or butter
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon

In medium sauce pan, heat bacon grease over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cover and sweat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced by a third (30 minutes or so).  Sauce will be chunky. If you like a smoother sauce, blend with an immersion blender for a minute or so.

Store, and chill overnight. Makes about 3 cups.

Dave’s notes: Very nice. Best try to date. Good tomato flavor. Like the acid of the red wine vinegar better then the cider vinegar. Sauce is better when it’s a little smoother after hitting it with the immersion blender. Maybe try crushed tomatoes?   Need to back off on the allspice and nutmeg. The Penzey’s stuff is pretty potent.

Dave’s Thick & Tangy BBQ Sauce – v1.5

8 ounces tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate (not paste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon bacon grease or butter
1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard (Colman’s if you can get it)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon onion granulated powder
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sweet curry powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced by a third (20 minutes or so). Makes just shy of 2 cups.

Dave’s notes: better, sweet and spicy with being too dark. Littel too much black pepper and mustard. Needs allspice and/or mace. Maybe go 1 cup syrup and leave out the brown sugar (or adjust taste wth a little white sugar).

Citrus Barbecue Sauce

A tangy, Caribbean-ish sauce that goes particularly well on shrimp and chicken.

1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs chile powder
1 Tbs Smoked Spanish paprika, or 1/2Tbs Hungarian half-sharp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 tsp mustard powder, Coleman’s if you can get it
1/2 tsp ginger, powdered
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp black ground pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mojo criollo
2 Tbs lemon juice – fresh
2 Tbs molasses
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp lemon peel, minced
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp hot sauce, a habanero-based one like Marie Sharp’s

In small sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sweat until soft. Add remaining ingredients and bring to simmer. Cook covered over low heat for 30 minutes. Store, and chill overnight. Makes about 2 cups.

Dave’s Thick & Tangy BBQ Sauce – v1.0

8 ounces tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup tamarind concentrate (not paste)
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 molasses, mild un-sulphured
2 tablespoons secret seasonings (flake salt, sugar, black pepper, paprika, ground nutmeg, sage, cayenne and red pepper)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, granulated

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced by a third (20 minutes or so). Makes just shy of 2 cups.

Dave’s notes – good dark, sweet, tangy, spicy. Needs more nutmeg/allspice. Sauce is too dark, maybe try a syrup instead or molasses.

Puerco Adobada (Red Chile Pork)

This is a traditional Mexican recipe of pork slow cooked in chile sauce (adobo). Yes, this recipe takes some time to make. Yes, it has LOTS of chilies in it.  But it is well worth the effort as much of the heat cooks out and you end up with these chunks of amazingly tender pork bathed in a warm, earthly sauce. Continue reading “Puerco Adobada (Red Chile Pork)”

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