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Post by yellajacket on Mar 6, 2008 15:50:47 GMT -5
Ok, so I come from central SC where pulled pork is king and mustard sauce is queen. I've always enjoyed eating barbecue, but I've never attempted to make any. Last week I picked up a used grill/smoker, so I'm ready to change that. I've got a house warming party set up for saturday and I'm looking to make some pulled pork for about 40-50 people. Since this is my first time, I've got a couple of questions I was hoping to get some advice on:
--I was in Kroger today looking at the pork selection. They had boston butt and picnic cuts (which I understand to be the best choices) running about 1.99/lb in about 6lb pieces. But right next to these cuts there was something they had marked as "steak ready shoulder center cut butt". Would this work? I would just go with the guarantee boston or picnic, but this mystery cut was about 9lbs for $6!! I'm a college kid on a limited budget, so if this cut will work fine, I don't think I can turn down this deal. What do you think?
--How much pork should I buy for 40-50 people?
--I'm planning on getting up early sat to start the smoking process (7am or so). Should the meat be ready come dinner time?
--Also, I've found a couple of mustard/vinegar combo sauces on the net I'm going to try and whip up today or tomorrow to try out. Any killer mustard based sauces that you'd recommend? If that doesn't work out, I'm going to be making a late night road trip to the SC line to pick up some Shealy's! (currently in school in Atlanta)
Any other tips/advice/warnings for a first timer??
Thanks! David
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Post by BBQ Butcher on Mar 6, 2008 17:27:48 GMT -5
Ok, so I come from central SC where pulled pork is king and mustard sauce is queen. I've always enjoyed eating barbecue, but I've never attempted to make any. Last week I picked up a used grill/smoker, so I'm ready to change that. I've got a house warming party set up for saturday and I'm looking to make some pulled pork for about 40-50 people. Since this is my first time, I've got a couple of questions I was hoping to get some advice on:
--I was in Kroger today looking at the pork selection. They had boston butt and picnic cuts (which I understand to be the best choices) running about 1.99/lb in about 6lb pieces. But right next to these cuts there was something they had marked as "steak ready shoulder center cut butt". Would this work? I would just go with the guarantee boston or picnic, but this mystery cut was about 9lbs for $6!! I'm a college kid on a limited budget, so if this cut will work fine, I don't think I can turn down this deal. What do you think? David, I've never heard of this cut, but then again stores can make up names as quick as you can turn around. However, seeing as the words "shoulder and butt" are in the description, it is safe to assume that you can use this for a low and slow type cook, such as Pulled Pork. It seems that 66¢ a pound is indeed a deal. Normally, Pork Butt will lose up to 40% of it's weight during the cooking process (2.4 servings per LB of uncooked meat). The average person will eat 4 oz of pork (one sandwich), however men will normally eat two and women/children only one. OK.....30 men (x2) and 20 women (x1) will eat approximately 20 lbs of Pulled Pork, which amounts to a little over 30 lbs of Pork Butt to start with. Also, if there will be other foods, meats, etc, you can get by with 20-25 lbs.A 6 lb Pork Butt will take approximately 8-9 hours to cook, baring any unforeseen circumstances. Not sure of the size of your cooker, but if you fit in 5 or 6 of those Center Cut Butts in one load, you should be fine. If it were me, I'd try starting them a lot sooner and then just hold them over in the oven or a cooler until serving time. Homemade is always better I'm partial to Maurices brand, but I have heard of Shealy's, so you should be ok. Here is a recipe to my "yellow sauce"askabutcher.proboards42.com/index.cgi?board=rub&action=display&thread=1178722824Hang on, this may take a while!!
Okay, let’s set up the grill for indirect cooking. Usually the fire is in an offset firebox or a heat deflector is in place between the meat and the heat. Backyard grills can be set up for this by setting the coals on one side and the meat on the other. On a gas grill, you can turn only one burner on and set the meat over the other. One other method I have seen is to use a few firebricks (available for around $1 ea.). They are put in place, then a raised placed rack over them, then the meat. Pizza stones are often used as well.
approx 30 lb Pork Shoulder Boston Butt
BBQ seasonings of your choice
Grill set up for indirect cooking at 225-250°
3-4 fist size chunks of hickory/cherry wood or a mix of both (optional)
A good six hours before cooking (I prefer over night), trim any excess fat from the meat, a ¼" fat covering is plenty. Now, liberally sprinkle your BBQ seasoning all over the meat and 'rub' it in. Wrap in plastic and set it in the refrigerator until it's time to cook.
Place the butt into your preheated cooker. Keeping the meat cold will help in the formation of the coveted 'smoke ring'. The average time to cook a Pork Butt is around 1½-2 hours a pound. However, almost every hunk of meat can be different due to variables, such as size, amount of fat, grill temperature, condition of the meat, etc. The best way to monitor the internal temperature of the meat you are cooking is by using a 'probe' type thermometer. This allows you to keep track without opening the lid on the cooker. As a general rule of thumb, meat will 'take on smoke' up to 140°, after that the chemical transformations between the meat and the heat will not allow any more 'smoke ring' to form. However, the outside of the meat will still allow some smoke flavor to adhere.
As mentioned earlier, the 'plateau' (the collagen in the meat breaking down) can occur any where from 150° to 170°, the average being around 160°, and the internal temperature may remain 'stuck' for up to 2 hours. Once the plateau is over with, the temperature will rise quite rapidly. The meat will be "pull able" once the internal temp gets past 190° and the ideal is as close to 200° as you can get.
When you get into the above range (+ or – 10°), I like to FTC the meat. What is FTC? 'Foil', 'Towel' and 'Cooler'. Pull the meat from your cooker, double wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and then wrap in a regular bath towel. Now, place this bundle into a small, preheated cooler (just place a boiling cup of water in the cooler a few minutes before use) for about 1 hour. This allows the meat to rest, set up and lets the meat juices disperse throughout the meat.
You are now ready to "pull" or shred the meat.
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David, if it were me, I would try and make this as simple as possible, seeing as it's your first time with the cooking process.
I would cook the meat in your cooker, with some smoke, for about 4 hours. At that point wrap each hunk of meat in a couple layers of heavy duty aluminum foil and place them in a pan in a 275° oven to finish off. They will finish cooking in their own juices, which will help to keep them flavorful, tender and moist. This will free up your time for other activities other than just tending to the grill which you've never cooked on.
Any other questions, just holler at me.
Good luck and have fun!
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Post by BBQ Butcher on Mar 7, 2008 9:33:57 GMT -5
David, just curious...what type of grill/smoker are you planning on using? Knowing the setup might get some more comments and suggestions, as all cookers do not cook the same.
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Post by yellajacket on Mar 7, 2008 20:56:53 GMT -5
Steve, thanks for the quick response and all the info! I bought the grill second hand off of craigslist. It's pretty much like the one in this picture: images.blogster.com/host/images/47031803935.jpg Just as an update, I tried this mustard based recipe ( www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1359&sid=8ba314f9e870a80cf9c3cc30b3db2415 )but added a little bit more mustard and some red pepper flakes. It turned out well, but a little strong on the onion, so I may cut that back next time. I was also thinking of making some with more vinegar for the meat, and one with more mustard (thicker) for the table. After I read you response with the green light on the meat, I went back up to the kroger, but all 5 of the 9 pounders were gone. Seems someone else knows a deal when they see one... So I ended up picking up 3 packs of 2 pork butts from Sams this morning. The packs range from 12-15 pounds each, so overall I'll be cooking around 40 pounds of meat. I figured I may as well go ahead and cook enough so I'll be sure to have leftovers. But other than that, I'm about to prep the butts by removing any excess fat and then applying the rub. Hopefully I'll get to starting around 8 tomorrow morning. Thanks again for the help and any other advice would be greatly accepted! David
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Post by BBQ Butcher on Mar 8, 2008 4:06:40 GMT -5
Steve, thanks for the quick response and all the info! I bought the grill second hand off of craigslist. It's pretty much like the one in this picture: images.blogster.com/host/images/47031803935.jpg
But other than that, I'm about to prep the butts by removing any excess fat and then applying the rub. Hopefully I'll get to starting around 8 tomorrow morning.
Thanks again for the help and any other advice would be greatly accepted!
David Ok.....been there and done that with that particular grill. Airflow will determine your cooking temperature.....air will come in your open damper on the left of the firebox and go out the chimney on the right. The more air that goes in, of course, will make the cooking chamber hotter. The damper to the left of the firebox will be your main culprit to deal with and the chimney will control your smoke. You will have to do some fiddling around to see what is what. Don't be surprised if you have to keep both vents almost closed to keep your temperature down to a decent cooking level (not much over 275°-300°), as the temperature gauge on that model is not that accurate, plus it will read a good 25-50° higher than the temp at the cooking level. If you are using a starter chimney for your charcoal, you might want to stoke one up about 45 minutes to an hour to keep hot charcoal ready for your firebox, as it will use charcoal quite freely. Keep some smoke going through there for about the first four hours, after that it doesn't make much difference to add it or not. There is an area between the firebox and the cooking chamber, where the heat first comes in......you will need to keep the meat rotated every hour or so (maybe less) as that meat on the left will burn more easily than the rest. Similar to rotating tires on a car. Again, I suggest that you only smoke the butts about four hours and then wrap them in foil to finish in the oven. Some purists say never to use foil...well, that is all well and fine, but I'll tell you that in some cases, foil is your friend as it will help to hold in the meat juices and the meat will cook quicker. Some of the best barbecuer's out there on the competition circuit use foil all the time, and it doesn't affect their reputation at all. Good luck! I'll keep an eye out here most of the day, if you run into any little glitches or questions you may have. Steve
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