Good Ole' Boston Butt, AKA Pork Butt, but Really Pork Shoulder

So the cook went real well.  I am going to change up my format a little on the cook posts.  So here is the pulled pork cook...

Boston Butt Bone In
Char-Griller Pro Duo
Time: 8hrs (cook) 11hrs (total)
Ambient Temp: 52F-60.5F
Cook Temp: 225F-250F
Wood: Hickory (80%) Apple (20%)
Charcoal: Briquettes (20%) Lump: (80%)
Practice (1st)

Basic Rub: Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Brown Sugar, Chili Powder and some Secret Spices.

Injection: Salt, Apple Juice, White Sugar, Worcestershire Sauce, and Water

About 1/3 of the way into the cook...Testing out if my thermometer would show up in the pics.  In stead of showing a bunch of pics throughout the cook I'll just report temps.  1/3 cook: 138F, 1/2 cook 152F, 

Wrap: 166F, Pull to Rest: 196F

Mopped every hour from hour 1-5 with apple juice.

Pulling the meat can be challenging because even after 1 1/2 hours resting the internal temp near the bone is 180F.

Finished product.  The meat was succulent and the flavor was balanced between the smoke, bark, and pork.  Not pictured is the money muscle which I cubed and ate as a "Pit-Master Privilege".   I ate mine plain with just a small topping of BBQ sauce, while the others ate theirs atop a hamburger bun.  Very proud of this cook!

Next Cook...Chicken or Tri-Tip

Next Topic...TBD  

A Quick Word on Sustainability

I am real big on sustainability.  I am a firm believer on fiscal sustainability as well as product sustainability.  I want to keep my BBQ about Colorado and for Colorado.  I am in the process of picking which grass fed ranch i can buy my proteins from.  If any of you reading this know of a great ranch let me know in a comment.  The ranch has to be sustainable and grass fed.  No hormones, bad living conditions, etc.  I am also buying what I don't make myself from local Colorado artisans and craftsmen.  I  may have to make my own BBQ sauce again because the two local sauces I have tried are really bad.  I think any products I may find that I like, I will dedicate a small post to try to get the word out.  So all I can say is Colorado BBQ Pride and GO BRONCOS!!!!!

Up Next...

I'll be cooking a pork butt for some pulled pork! 

Rib Time!!!!

Ribs have got to be one of my favorite items in the BBQ world.  Jamie, my wife, asked me to make sure the ribs were sweet and saucy, so I made some like Mr. Trigg makes (just not as good I'm sure).  The ribs turned out better than I thought.  They were tender and sweet and salty.

 I made a pretty basic rib rub.  For pork I always cut down on the pepper and I make it sweeter tha when I'm preparing beef.

Here's a tip...when using brown sugar in a rub, dry it out on a sheet of aluminum foil.  Stir it around every hour or so.  Once dry, place another sheet of foil over it and roll a unopened soup can over it to break up the sugar.  I find this method makes it easier to shake out the rub, avoiding clumps.

Ready for the cooker!

Winter smoking does have it's challenges...today was high wind.  I'm using the Minion Method for the fire during this cook.  I used a fruit wood mix for the smoking process.

Smoking the meat using the 3-2-1 cooking method.  This is about 1 1/2 hours in at 225F.

Wrap Time! 3 hours into the cook.  2 hours wrapped at 225F then unwrapped, sauced, and back on the cooker for 1 hour at 225F...Thats the 3-2-1 method!

Ribs resting, the hardest time for a BBQ cook.

Ribs and rib tips...man they turned out great!

Next Topic TBA...Next Cook is Chicken In 2 Weeks

Brisket...Texas Style

Brisket is the quintessential BBQ meat in Texas.  It is something you have to master if you are going to even attempt to win competitions.  It is a trashy and temperamental meat that can easily be overdone turning your masterpiece into a masterpiece of leather.

I found a nice 12 1/2 lb packer brisket at our local grocery store.  I trimmed it, injected it, rubbed it, and let it come to room temperature.  My injection and rub for brisket is really simple.  Beef just tastes good and I don't want to screw with the flavor too much.  My injection is a little beef stock spiked with some Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.  My rub is done the Texas way...1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1/4 part garlic powder.  Super simple and super delicious.

I cook my brisket between 225 degrees F and 250 degrees F.  This brisket smoked for 7 hours, got wrapped and cooked for 5 hours more.  I always let my brisket rest for 2 hours in the foil, wrapped in a towel, shoved in a cooler.  I'll let you know my temps whith the pics.

With the cooker at temp the fun begins!

4 hours in and all is going well...First mop was done at this time.  The mop is the same as my injection with the addition of apple juice.

6 1/2 hours in.  Temp was about 165 degrees F so I smoked for another 30 min.

7 hours in.  Temp at this point was 172 degrees F.  Time for the "Texas Crutch".  I cooked for 5 more hours wrapped until the temp was around 190 degrees F.

The finished brisket which had rested for 2 hours...The internal temp was still 182 degrees F.

Great structure and smoke ring!

I sliced up the flat and chopped the point after I removed the burnt ends.

Up Next...Ribs

My New Cooker

My cooker is a Char-Grill 3 burner gas grill with a smoker box attachment.  I had to mod the smoker and plug up a ton of holes and gaps but it works actually really well.  Having the ability to light a burner to keep my temp up when I have the hood open is a major plus.

I seasoned the cooker for 4 hours using lump charcoal and hickory chunks.  The fire box does pretty well.  I ran the cooker much hotter than I ever will when smoking to burn off the oil on the cooker and get that nice smokey seasoning!

Up next...The first run...Brisket!

And So It Begins!

For many, many years I have been producing BBQ.  I have been through trial and error going on 12 years now...and my BBQ was created without the use of a proper cooker.  Up until recently I only used a gas grill and smoker pouches.  But "Big Daddy" (or as I'm redefining myself for a possible competition team) "Slim" has a smoker!  So join me on a journey to put Colorado on the BBQ map!

My journey really started about 12 years ago, but didn't come to fruition until about 8 years ago.  I was in my late 20's living in Ewa Beach, Hawaii where the Navy had stationed me.  Being that Hawaii was extremely expensive, my fiance' and I had to move in with a young couple I had met through my boat.  We were young, well paid, and living in paradise which meant most weekends we were either at the bar, the beach, or partying at home.  It was not uncommon for 15-20 buzzed Submariners to show up on our porch every weekend, primed to watch the most recent MMA fight, drink, and eat.  I started needing to feed more and more people and hot dogs and hamburgers were just getting boring.  My first attempt was a brisket flat that I smoked on a 3 burner gas grill.  The meat turned out OK, but was not up to my standards and I had a burning desire to do better.  So the next weekend I snatched up a pork butt and a couple of racks of pork spare ribs.  Not knowing temperatures, types of wood, or techniques, I cooked in the 84 degree patio.  Covered in sweat I delivered the meat, and to my surprise it was a big hit.  My roommate Mark said to me "Brian, when you can take a piece of trash meat and make it taste that amazing, then man you truly have something special!"  He probably doesn't know this, but that iconic speech really moved me.  That was it I was hooked.  I immersed myself in everything BBQ.

So now, 12 years later, I have a chance to do something really special...I can finally do it right and proper.

I'm going to put Colorado BBQ on the map!