Here Piggy-Piggy, Come to Hawg Heaven - Pork Butt

[Rafter H BBQ]

Looks awesome Duke, very nice smoke ! Thumbs Up

 

[dukeburger]

Bark thief alert! Looks like that first sammie was a home run! Great looking smoke!

I didn't even mention how much bark was stolen during the pulling process :biggrin:

Thanks!

Hey DB.  That's a great job.  The PP looks VERY edible!!!!  Long smoke, but worth the extra effort.

:points:

Gary

Thanks Gary!
And thanks for the points!!

 

[dukeburger]

 
DB, nice work!!! Was your butt enhanced or fresh? Your mention of sort of a null reaction from the brine makes me think it may have been enhanced. Brines work faster with fresh meat...if enhanced, you may need to jack up the salt content a bit to get the osmosis going and flavors to penetrate deeper. I also have tried longer brine time (5-6 days) and that helped quite a bit. Temp control, if you can do it, helps as well...staying around 36-38*F in the fridge while brining instead of just above freezing (my meat fridge is usually 33-34*F) will react faster. I know with slicing, you can definitely taste where the brine stops...pulling it mingles all the meat together so it's more difficult to judge. Anyway, glad you like the rub!!! It was a favorite, and requested by family and friends here since I introduced them to it. Then, I started another pork rub adventure and this one went by the way-side.

I may just have to tap into my freezer stash of PP after seeing this...and I just ate dinner!!!

Eric

Thanks Eric!

To the best of my knowledge, this butt was not exhanced. I'm thinking the flavor of the brine may have gotten hidden in the pulling process.

Also, I added about 4 or 5 extra cups of water to the mixture, just to get my butt covered. As for the fridge temp, I will see if i can figure out the actual temp in there.

All things to look at, plus maybe a couple more days in the brine. I'll be trying this again for sure.

I'm thinking I need to get a whole load of red bell peppers dried out and ground up to have on hand!

Thanks for the points!! Appreciate it!

 

[dukeburger]

 
Nice job DB, the PP looks killer. I'll have to try that one soon, thanks for the great smoke pics!

Thanks for the points!

Looks awesome Duke, very nice smoke !

Thanks WHB,

Appreciate the points!

 

[disco]

What a great cook, qview and thread. I love the work on the rub, Duke. Points

Disco

 

[dukeburger]

 
What a great cook, qview and thread. I love the work on the rub, Duke. Points

Disco

Thanks Disco. Much appreciated!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Originally Posted by DukeBurger  

I'm thinking I need to get a whole load of red bell peppers dried out and ground up to have on hand!

Uh-oh...I may have indirectly created another red bell pepper addict...

...okay, well, you're not the first, and I'm sure you won't be the last.

I haven't dried my own (yet), but I used to have a source for 8oz bags of dried red bells for about $12, however, I think they figured out they were not making much profit, because they don't offer them anymore. I may have to dig out my slightly used dehydrator next summer when the pepper crops are in, 'cuz my stash is running low. You're dried reds look great!!!

Eric

 

[dukeburger]

 
Uh-oh...I may have indirectly created another red bell pepper addict...

...okay, well, you're not the first, and I'm sure you won't be the last.

I haven't dried my own (yet), but I used to have a source for 8oz bags of dried red bells for about $12, however, I think they figured out they were not making much profit, because they don't offer them anymore. I may have to dig out my slightly used dehydrator next summer when the pepper crops are in, 'cuz my stash is running low. You're dried reds look great!!!

Eric

I couldn't believe the smell and flavor of them!

I'm going to blanch my next ones before dehydration to preserve some more of that flavor.

I'm curious to see if i can dry those tart cherries out a little more to make grinding easier.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

 

 
Uh-oh...I may have indirectly created another red bell pepper addict...

...okay, well, you're not the first, and I'm sure you won't be the last.

I haven't dried my own (yet), but I used to have a source for 8oz bags of dried red bells for about $12, however, I think they figured out they were not making much profit, because they don't offer them anymore. I may have to dig out my slightly used dehydrator next summer when the pepper crops are in, 'cuz my stash is running low. You're dried reds look great!!!

Eric

I couldn't believe the smell and flavor of them!

I'm going to blanch my next ones before dehydration to preserve some more of that flavor.

I'm curious to see if i can dry those tart cherries out a little more to make grinding easier.

Yeah, the flavor and aroma of red bells in a rub is quite unique. I've been using reds for...hmm...I can't say for sure without going back through my old threads, but, maybe close to 6 years. They're hard for me to not use when I'm developing a new rub. Then, there's Ancho chilies and Jalepeno, which are a close second and third...but yeah, red bells take the cake for me. Lightly sweet, with an ever so slight hint of mild spiciness in the background...they're a very good match for the tart cherries as the main rub ingredients, because they both offset each other. As long as the ratios are reasonable, they compliment each other very well. Paprika doesn't even come close to the sweet, mild flavor of red bell pepper, IMHO.

Ah, yes, you found out the cherries create quite a paste in the grinder. Here's what I found works best: pre-grind measurements - grind them with your peppercorns, red bells, and other non-caking ingredients. About a 50/50 ratio of cherries with whatever else, works pretty well. Even if it's already ground, you can add it with the dried cherries and it will reduce the pasting a lot. Then, tumble the entire batch and I regrind for a couple seconds per 2 Tbsp, just to blend it all up for better uniformity. Tumble once more in a covered plastic container for the final blending and it's good to go. It doesn't store for very long without caking, unfortunately, but a quick spin in the grinder again brings it back to life. Oh, the grinder will suffer from residual build-up, eventually...I just use a butter knife to scrap it out. AT some point, you'll want to scrub out the grinder with a hot, soapy cloth and then, wipe again with a clean damp cloth...just watch out for those blades. Oh, another trick is to bust-up some dried bread in the grinder...helps to dry-out some of the residue for easier removal. Salt can help with this, too.

To get the cherries more dry before grinding may be a challenge. I hadn't tried it with cherries, but I did take dried blueberries (another pork rub recipe) and gave them a couple hours in the dehydrator @ 135*F and it didn't seem to make much difference. I guess if I weighed them first, dehydrate, then weighed again, I'd get a better gauge on whether I'm doing any good or not. I'm afraid of cranking the temp up and destroying the flavor of the fruits, otherwise I'd try a bit hotter. Maybe just low and slow @ 135* and give it an overnight run...that might be the ticket. BTW, if you think cherries are a bugger, blueberries paste-up like crazy when solo in the grinder.

I find that with the fruit-based rubs I've conjured up that it's best to only grind as much as you'll use that day. I have used some that was a couple months old (just stored in sealed plastic containers) and it was still a good rub, I just had to deal with the caking and run a regrind.

Oh, blanching should help with the fresh red bells...been a long time since I was researching the subject, but I still have bookmarks to some dehydrating methods, and that is one trick I've forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder!!!

Eric

 

[dukeburger]

I use a couple of marshmallows in my brown sugar container to avoid clumping. They absorb any moisture in there. I wonder if that would work for keeping this rub intact...   

That's a shame about the blueberries. After making this rub, you've got my mind wandering about other possibilities and dried blueberries did come to mind.

I'm going to try drying some cherries out today the same way I did te pepper, I'll let you know the results!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Huh, I never thought of marshmallows. No sweat on the blueberries, 'cuz I just roll with it, mixing other ingredients with them to grind...been using them for about 1-1/2 years or so in a pork rub that we like. If you have fresh cherries to dry, they'll do OK, but they'll take a while to get super-dry, from what I've read. I'll send you a link to that blueberry recipe...don't wanna jack your thread.

Eric

 

[dukeburger]

 
Huh, I never thought of marshmallows. No sweat on the blueberries, 'cuz I just roll with it, mixing other ingredients with them to grind...been using them for about 1-1/2 years or so in a pork rub that we like. If you have fresh cherries to dry, they'll do OK, but they'll take a while to get super-dry, from what I've read. I'll send you a link to that blueberry recipe...don't wanna jack your thread.

Eric

I think I just gained a new hobby

 

[dukeburger]

The rest of the butt went into the crock pot this morning for Pulled Pork Chili! Perfect for a cold windy day

IMG_20151116_180147.jpg

• dukeburger
• Nov 16, 2015

Another bark theif alert

IMG_20151116_180604.jpg

• dukeburger
• Nov 16, 2015

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Nice pot of chili!!! Gotta love it when you can toss leftover smoked meats into a dish, and forget that it's even from leftovers because it's so good. Hmm, did I just take the words out of your mouth? Ha-ha!!! I can see that you are not lacking in creativity.

 

[dukeburger]

 
Nice pot of chili!!! Gotta love it when you can toss leftover smoked meats into a dish, and forget that it's even from leftovers because it's so good. Hmm, did I just take the words out of your mouth? Ha-ha!!! I can see that you are not lacking in creativity.

Thanks!

First time trying this with PP. It's the best chili I've had!!

 

[sfprankster]

Nice job!!!

All the pressure of the internet watching and you pulled(pun intended) it off!!!  

 

[dukeburger]

 
Nice job!!!

All the pressure of the internet watching and you pulled(pun intended) it off!!!  

Thanks!

Just glad I didn't make a butt outta myself

 

[driedstick]

Dang it Duke that looks awesome!!! Nice job 

A full smoker is a happy smoker

DS
 

 

[slimc]

Great job! that looks tasty. 

In my experience, brine doesn't affect the taste as much as it helps the meat retain moister. 

I usually inject apple juice and apple cider vinegar for pork shoulders and loins for at least 4 hours before cooking or over night

For turkey and chicken I brine with kosher salt, apple cider vinegar, whole peppercorn over night

 

[dukeburger]

 
Dang it Duke that looks awesome!!! Nice job 

A full smoker is a happy smoker

DS
 

Thanks DS!! Appreciate it.

 
Great job! that looks tasty. 

In my experience, brine doesn't affect the taste as much as it helps the meat retain moister. 

I usually inject apple juice and apple cider vinegar for pork shoulders and loins for at least 4 hours before cooking or over night

For turkey and chicken I brine with kosher salt, apple cider vinegar, whole peppercorn over night

Thanks slimc!

Never tried injecting a butt before, but there's a first time for everything at some point