UK equivalent of Boston butt

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There are a large percentage of people in the UK who eat tomato ketchup with everything, so it's not surprising that some food outlets don't need to think twice about whether a sauce is complementary to the meat they're serving it with, or not.

I can also see why maple syrup is served on bacon when so many sugar derivatives are added throughout the cooking process with certain meats - why not add one more?

Whilst I'm always happy to taste new sauces, gravies and the like, the recipes that shine through are the ones that have refined and evolved over many years, that are complementary to the meat that they're served with.

I'm often sceptical about 'what lies beneath', when a dish is served with the meat completely covered by a strong, opaque sauce, which leaves me wondering if it's hiding something.
 
I love BBQ sauces (and mustards) of all sorts and in small amounts, the fridge and cabinets are full of them. But Good meat, properly seasoned and cooked should be able to stand on its own.  Tomato ketchup is best with fried foods. 
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I think it's time to go find lunch, Chinese sounds good today. 
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Hi folks.  "Pulled pork" came from the Carolinas.  I have NO idea about the origins or the origins of the vinegar based finishing sauce.  Maybe someone could educate us all ).  I just can't get my head around putting vinegar on my meat ( just my preference ).  "Pulled pork" has now evolved and is sometimes served with BBQ sauce.  Wade has given some good advice as has many others.  Andy, I would not change horses mid stream.  As Wade said, dance with the girl you brought.  You started making pulled pork, finish it and see what you think.  Next time you can try it different.  I tell no secrets when I say I agree with folks who have said the meat SHOULD be able to stand on it's own.  Quality meat smoked to perfection needs no help IMHO.  When doing a party I often do provide a couple different sauces served on the side.  Each to his own.  Just my opinions.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Not sure where the vinegar thing came from either, but I think it is perfect for pork.  For me the vinegar in a sauce or mustard cuts / balances the pork fat perfectly.  I would guess that is why so many BBQ joints also serve pickles with their product.
 
Hey Danny, I've only got one horse, however I like to chew the cud/kick some tyres etc :)

I've played a lot with vinaigrette dressing, so I'm fine with vinegar, and will mix something appropriate for my pulled pork.

Smoker should arrive tomorrow, so cook some chicken legs this week, then hopefully a butt next weekend.
 
We used to have a horse but it went mad so we had it put down! I wonder what pulled horse tastes like... 

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Not sure where the vinegar thing came from either, but I think it is perfect for pork.  For me the vinegar in a sauce or mustard cuts / balances the pork fat perfectly.  I would guess that is why so many BBQ joints also serve pickles with their product.
When I was a child in the 60's, whenever we had roast lamb, it was my job to make the mint sauce.

At that time there was no ready made mint sauce in a jar - you made it yourself.

So, I would pick a handful of fresh mint from the big clump of mint we had growing close to the back door.

I would then cut it and chop it into fine pieces and put it into a jar or cup.

To that I would add 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar, and stir into the chopped mint.

I would then add sugar to taste.

We would have this with any kind of lamb until the first pre-made miny sauces/jellies arrived.

I only just remembered this, and thought I would share due to the relevance of vinegar.

There is also the use of vinegar in vinaigrette dressings, but without looking further, don't know how long they've been around.
 
 
When I was a child in the 60's, whenever we had roast lamb, it was my job to make the mint sauce.

At that time there was no ready made mint sauce in a jar - you made it yourself.

So, I would pick a handful of fresh mint from the big clump of mint we had growing close to the back door.

I would then cut it and chop it into fine pieces and put it into a jar or cup.

To that I would add 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar, and stir into the chopped mint.

I would then add sugar to taste.

We would have this with any kind of lamb until the first pre-made miny sauces/jellies arrived.

I only just remembered this, and thought I would share due to the relevance of vinegar.

There is also the use of vinegar in vinaigrette dressings, but without looking further, don't know how long they've been around.
Andy that is an interesting story and a bit of history that I did not know about.  To be honest I never heard of mint jelly until I began working as a cook in hotels.  Chewing gum was the only mint flavored anything that I knew of as a child.  I slowly took a liking to mint when used in a few Thai dishes.  When I grew up cayenne pepper, parsley and green onion tops were always in the garden and used in most savory dishes.  Now in my old age I have taken a fancy to spicy pepper jelly and all sorts of mustards with my meats.  Making my own mustard is on my to do list, not sure why I get these ideas... 

Cheers 
 
To add to the mint sauce story, after now finding out that my mother also had mint sauce regularly with lamb,

I googled 'The history of mint sauce with lamb', and found this very interesting page:

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2009/10/why-mint-with-lamb.html

so it goes way back, explaing that it wasn't uncommon to have mint sauce with pork too.

I've already been contemplating the use of rosemary or sage as a dominant herb flavour in a vinegar/brown sugar sauce with pulled pork,

which kind of pulls things back on topic :)
 
Well it loooks like this smoke projectwill be happening on wednesday of this week.

My plan, and it was an assumption, was to smoke this butt with the fat cap up, but then I read this:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/57139/basic-pulled-pork-smoke

I can understand the reason for this fat-cap down method as mentioned in the article, but thought I'd find out if it is a must do?

Anyone smoking boston butt with fat-cap up?
 
I am a rookie at this, but I have always placed the meat with fat cap up so that the dripping fat will keep the rest of the meat moist...  so I don't know what's best.  Then again, why not remove the fat layer and get full bark if bark is the goal?  (I don't smoke directly over fire)

I have not tried it cap side down, but worth a try next time the pig is on sale.  
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   definitely worth a conversation! 
 
Hi Darwin,

the article I linked to gave the reason as protecting the meat from heat spikes during the cook, which made sense to me, but I also understand the logic behind the fat cap up, as you mention, the dripping fat keeps the meat moist.

Anyway, I smoked my pork butt today - fat-cap down, and will put up a thread later, after I've eaten some, sorry, I mean tested the quality 
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