Bored. Decided to try something different today. Perhaps a little Southern take on my Q. First an 8lbs. butt. I split it on the diagonal just to see if it would change anything. No it didn't except that I had two hunks to manage instead of one. My cook times were almost identical to my standard techniques. Only advantage was that I got more rub on more surface area I guess. Could have had some more bark but I tried something else down below.
Then I found this in the cabinet so I decided I would bring the suckers overnight.
This morning they got all rubbed down with some Head Country.
Into the smoke. Have never used a pan under my BB. Usually straight onto the grate. Let see what happens...
In the spirit of the South, I decided to smoke using mostly peach wood and some hickory.
Good thing a friend talked me into getting a Maverick. POS built in therm has never worked well.
A little thin blue smoke,
Thought I would skip the store bought stuff and whip up some foiling juice for later. Think of something in between Bone Suckin' Sauce and the foiling juice of Chef Jimmy J. (thanks again Chef) Tangy and slightly sweet.
John's Juice:
1/2C apple cider vinegar
2TBS pure maple syrup
1/2 cup Cooper's honey (Peculiar, MO).
2TBS Head Country Rub (because it was on the counter and I didn't have to mix anything up)
1/4 cup Ketchup-the real stuff, no fructose added
1/2 tsp or so of minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
Time for foil and some rest. IT 165F. Won't pan it again. No benefit. No bark on the bottom. not enough initial drippings to make me care. Additional liquid will come from the foiling juice. Would have preferred the fat drip into the bottom of the smoker or another pan to be discarded.
half juice into pan when foiled. Then when IT hit 200F, I re-foiled the meat, and then reduced the drippings with the other half of the juice. This was then added back to the pulled meat.
We stood in the kitchen and ate most of the bark straight from the pan. Too good to pass up.
Super moist without being too wet. No other sauce necessary. Definitely will try this again. It was a nice alternative to our tradional hickory flavors.
During the smoke I also whipped up a pot of gumbo using the last of the keilbasa and grilled peppers.
Also made a gallon of homemade Chicken and Noodle soup courtesy of Ree Drummond's recipe from her website.
All in all, a good day in the kichen. No plated pics. I was too busy stuffing my mouth. Enjoy.
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