It’s been a while since I posted. No, I haven’t quit eating. I had a 2nd kid, which makes it tough to cook fancy meals, and post to blogs. But, I couldn’t skip a Porkth of July, it is a tradition!
2016 was the year of simplicity. Since I got into barbecue, I used every trick in the book. I injected, I rubbed hours in advanced, I let meat come to room temperature, I put fancy liquids in my water pan, I wrapped my ribs with honey and brown sugar, I did everything that the championship pitmasters on TV and in books told me to do, and the food turned out delicious.
BBQ Rub & Seasoning with Coffee & Garlic
Unfortunately, being a husband, and father of two kids, my time is a little more precious. While sitting outside, babying my meat in the smoker, listening to some tunes and drinking some delicious beers is still my paradise, I don’t always get that “me” time.
I had a 10 lb pork butt in my freezer, taking up precious space, since last year, when I never got the chance to smoke it. Actually, I didn’t realize it was a ten pounder until I defrosted it. Instead of preparing this cut of meat 5 days in advance, I defrosted it, rubbed it and threw it on the smoker. No injection, no 24 hour rub down, no massages. I didn’t have 15 hours to cook this bad boy. So I cut the butt in half, well not half. I split it just below the bone, so one was larger than the other half.
split, rubbed and ready to go.
I started the smoker at 9 am, and fired my Weber Smokey Mountain to 275 with some hickory and apple wood and used a ceramic planter instead of water for simplicity. The water pan just makes the cleanup process so much harder. Even when foiling the pan, it always leaked through.
All cleaned and up to temp!
I decided to wrap the biggie, and let tiny go naked all the way through, hoping the size difference would make them finish around the same time.. I probed biggie, and didn’t look at her again until it hit 160. I threw a quick spritz of water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. I spritzed them both, wrapped biggie, and put them back on. Once biggie hit 205 (7 hours later), I took it out, and tented it with foil, spritzed tiny, probed it, and closed the lid. Tiny only had 8 degrees to go, so I let it ride.
After it was all said and done, everything turned out great. Even though I didn’t take any fancy steps, everything was delicious. Tiny was a little more dry than biggie, which was to be expected since I never wrapped. But the bark was much better. Biggie was more tender but with a softer bark. But I pulled them, and mixed them all together and got the best of both worlds.
If I tasted these side by side, with a pork shoulder with all the fancy steps, I might have been able to tell the difference, but for my purposes, this was great. I won’t be injecting, or pre-rubbing, or putting liquid in my water pan any more. It isn’t worth the time and energy. With this method, I have more time to chase the kids around.
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