Food for tomorrow’s game

moos

@FirePlugDawg said:

@moos said:

@ghostofuga1 said:

@FirePlugDawg said:

@RPMdawg said:

@ghostofuga1 said:
I cheat. I have a commercial electric smoker. After brining the butt(s) for 24 hours and adding the rub, I put them in the smoker around 8 or 9 pm, push one button and they will cook overnight at 225 for 12 hours, then hold at 145 until I'm ready to take them out. They've always turned out great....

What's the smoke. I also have an older electric smoker. Looking to upgrade maybe

Also, what is the brine for your pork?

The smoker is a Cookshack like this one. My brine is pretty simple. 1 part apple cider vinegar, 1 part white vinegar, 2 parts water, 1/4 cup salt.

Interesting brine. I use Black Strap molasses and pickling salt

Would you mind expanding how you do it? Is it a paste that is spread over the meat? Thanks, hombre

Ice water bath overnight with the salt and molasses, usually two nights ahead of smoking (but it's only two nights because I've done this enough that I can smoke butts overnight and have them ready for lunch the next day.) Remove from water, pat dry, apply rub and refridgerate up until smoke time. If time is limited between applying the rub and cook time, you can use olive oil to help the rub flavors penetrate the meat faster.

Pickling salt is made for cold water use. The salt and molasses get pulled into the meat, so you avoid the crusting issues mentioned above.

I won't type the full story here, but I've had people at BBQ competitions take the time to come up to me saying they wanted to vote for my stuff in People's Choice when they were eating my leftovers from the night before.

FirePlugDawg

@FirePlugDawg said:

@ghostofuga1 said:

@FirePlugDawg said:

@RPMdawg said:

@ghostofuga1 said:
I cheat. I have a commercial electric smoker. After brining the butt(s) for 24 hours and adding the rub, I put them in the smoker around 8 or 9 pm, push one button and they will cook overnight at 225 for 12 hours, then hold at 145 until I'm ready to take them out. They've always turned out great....

What's the smoke. I also have an older electric smoker. Looking to upgrade maybe

Also, what is the brine for your pork?

The smoker is a Cookshack like this one. My brine is pretty simple. 1 part apple cider vinegar, 1 part white vinegar, 2 parts water, 1/4 cup salt.

While its fresh on my mind, I was inspired by yours and did this (mostly approximate quantities):

..... (changed below)

The Motts was leftover from a colonoscopy prep. Most brines have sugar and salt to simulate a blood replacement (cf: Normal saline). Motts will provide some sugar and some flavor (I presume - great aroma). The thyme is cause I like the herb. The butt was larger than I thought and this should be enough. I could have added more Motts or some water.

(Take from brine, pat dry, then...) This will go into a Crock-Pot (slow cooker) with seasonings - likely Italian and/or oregano - after about 4 hours in the brine. Hope to report good results.

Bought some BBQ sauce that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, so will try that with this.

To close the loop on this, it was delisioso++! But I added a few things from that given earlier. Here is what I ended up with:

1 pint (16 oz) apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 pint (24 oz) white vinegar
~ 1 pint (16 oz) Mott's for Tots apple white grape juice
~ 1/2 pint (8 oz) water
1/3 cup Kosher salt
2 Tblsp light brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dry thyme leaves
1 smallish pork butt (it was wrapped in string)

I added a little apple cider vinegar and an equal quantity of water plus a little ground coriander to the Crock-Pot before I put the butt in, fat side down. The ground coriander gives a 'body' to meat that I notice if I use it, and miss it if I don't. Cannot explain it. The brown sugar was my fear that the salt should be balanced by a sugar as is usual in a brine. If I had a dark brown sugar or molasses (opened) I would have used that. The extra water was just to cover a little better.

After removing from the brine and drying it, I dusted the butt with Cavender's Greek Seasoning (Salt Free - meaning potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride) and Italian (herb) seasoning - McCormick's or equivalent, then put it in the C-P. Cavender's is available via Kroger. Made in Arkansas.

So, the vinegar/Motts and salt/sugar ingredient pairs ended up being close to 1 to 1 (equal parts of the pairs). Wouldn't change anything, but would brine at least 4 hours ( - it was closer to 3 hours actual). The butt was moist and very flavorful.

https://kroger.com/p/cavender-s-all-purpose-greek-seasoning/0007435000001

Thank you @ghostofuga1 for the vinegar brine tip.

(Should have been posted 10/1)

kelly_b

Always love to see different folks' takes on brines and Q. Believe it or not, there are a few supposedly good BBQ joints here in Paris though I haven't gotten to 'em yet. I saw one last week. Def modeled after Texas brisket. I looked it up online and the locals complained that they smelled like smoke when they left, which was a positive, and since I don't have the set up in my apartment in the city, I might order one for the Vandy game and start the ritual over here. Need to get that delicious Brunswick stew recipe I saw someone had posted here. Man, that made me miss home.

PharmDawg2054

I inject with:

1 part apple juice
1 part strained Italian dressing
2 T Worcestershire
2 T hot sauce

I mix mustard and a brown ale beer together in a blender and coat the butt in that combination before adding my rub

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