# Philly Style Pulled Pork Sandwiches Q-VIEW (Bear View) Extremely Pic Heavy, long post



## sqwib (Jul 26, 2011)

Philly Style Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This is an extremely long post and very pic heavy, you have been warned.

I dont know what the limits are to posting but if there are any I'm sure that I will hear about.\

Before you start reading, you may wanna grab a coffee, beer or snack.

I figured some guys would be interested in a blow by blow post.

Before you read this post look at the clock and let me know how long it takes to read it.

Lets Begin.
First I mixed up my Rubs, I had some pork rub already, the photo below is old.

 






Pork/Rib Rub:

    1/3 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
    1-1/2 cup (packed) Sugar in the Raw(brown sugar is ok)
    1-1/4 cup paprika
    1 Tbsp freshly coarse ground black pepper
    2 Tbsp garlic powder
    ¼ cup dried onion flakes
    ¼ cup onion powder
    1 tsp cayenne pepper
    2 tsp chili powder
    2 tsp coriander
    1 Tbsp rosemary

Then onto my Philly Style Pulled Pork Rub, this isn’t the traditional Rub that others use but very similar.
This is my first shot at this










Philly Style Dry Rub:

    ½ c. kosher salt
    ¼ c. black pepper (freshly ground if possible)
    ½ c. Italian seasoning (OR equal parts: basil, oregano and rosemary)\
    ½  c. Minced Onion Flakes
    2 tsp. chili powder
    2, 7- 10lb Pork Butt


I start off prepping the ribs, “St. Louis style”, I then line a steamer pan with some plastic wrap, sprinkle some of my pork rub on the bottom, then start layering them in, coating each one, no I don’t use mustard.
After all the Ribs are prepped and rubbed they are wrapped tightly still inside the steamer pan and placed inside the downstairs refrigerator, if you don't have a dedicated refrigerator your wife will kill you.

All the rib meat will be smoked, the trimmings will be used for my next batch of chili I make, nothing goes to waste.














Now onto the Butts, the butts are trimmed, I remove the Fat cap and False cap. A lot of folks will leave on the fat cap and score it. I think there is enough fat marbled throughout to provide enough flavoring to the meat without the fat cap. If you like a lot of bark, remove the fat, this will give you more surface area, this however is not my reasoning for this particular smoke, I am not looking for a heavy bark.
Some leave on the fat to protect the meat from flareups or temp spikes like in the situation your meat is directly over the heat source. 
 



















I then line a steamer pan with some plastic wrap, sprinkle some of my Philly rub on the bottom, then place the trimmed butts in the pan rubbing each one real good, no I don’t use mustard.
After the Butts are prepped and rubbed they are wrapped tightly, still inside the steamer pan and placed inside the downstairs refrigerator, where they will have to wait till morning.
 


















Good morning!

Ok its now 7:00am, 90 minutes later than I planned, oh well.
I promised myself I wasn’t gonna stress over this cook and DAMN IT, I WONT!

*7:00 am** Saturday*
Butts are removed from the fridge and placed on the counter.
 







Ok, now its time to fire up Frank, first I choose some wood for a coal base and toss into my handy basket, I’ll usually use my junk wood for this.
 










Then I turn on the propane supply and open the valve for the log lighter, get my nifty butane lighter that rarely ever works and Voila! Instant fire.


























Now I pop the basket in directly over the log burner.
 










As the burner does its thing, I get out my toys; thermos, gloves, tongs and such.
Here I am sliding out my storage bin and getting out my toys.
I know its a bit messy, I have to organize it better.


















Now I light my pre-warmer burner and as that’s warming up I head upstairs to get the butts











In retrospect I should have lit the preburner first then the log lighter.
Let me explain.. the draft is so strong from the fire going under the plate and out the exhaust stack, that it was a bear to ignite the preburner, hell I do it wrong every time… oh well, maybe I’ll get it right next time.

I let the smoker heat up to around 400° then turned off the gas supply. Reaching 400° barely took 10 minutes.
My rule is not to use gas with wood once Frank is up and running, I don't want Frank to become a bomb.
The only exception is when I am smoking with propane, I'll lay a chunk on the grate to add smoke flavor throughout the smoke.



















*7:30** Saturday*
Ok so back to the Butts, Butts are unwrapped brought to the smoker still in the steamer pan.
Next I slide one of the grates out of the way on top of the other grate to the left and place one butt on the grate to the right and one butt on the grate to the left.

The pan is then placed underneath the grates on top of the reverse flow plate to catch the drippings.
There is a cast iron grate on top of the reverse flow plate, you can not see it in the photos below but it is there.
The Steamer pan will sit on top of this grate.
Now I slide the grates back in place with the butts on top of the grates without disturbing the butts.
The butts were not tied up, I just placed any trimming I had inside the butts and tucked it tightly in place.
I’ll add 2 cups of water to the steamer pan, this prevents the drippings from burning.
 




























Time to set up my probes.
Once the probes are inserted and ready to go and everything is in place the door is shut and sealed and I hit the timer button on the Taylor Thermo and do an actual time check.
The official smoke has begun.














Ok time to tidy up, I’ll put everything back into the bin that wont be used right away and close the bin.
 







I start with all 4 intake valves open, for the first hour or so
 













I check the fire once more and wow its going good. This fire will not be raging like this during the smoke, this is the first burn.
 










Now I start to monitor my temps, at first I don’t mind if it goes over 275° and sometimes as high as 300° the first hour or so but will shoot for 225° - 240° for the long haul.
Once I have a good coal base and can feed it every 30 - 60 minutes I can maintain my preferred temps, I dial in the smoker every smoke.











Ok now that everything is done and seems to be running smoothly, it is now a waiting game and I know I cant go anywhere, its time to chill out, so I head upstairs for a cup of coffee and quick meal.
Then I head downstairs with my coffee, get a notepad, and grab my maverick receiver and relax with some episodes of Lost.







This Timothy's Kahlua is awesome.



Gotta love this Netflix.










I’m on episode 3, yep that’s right never seen lost before and have 99 left.
After an episode its time to see how the smoke is coming along.

















*8:30am** Saturday*
Ok everything’s looking good, threw on a few more chunks of cherry wood and added a quart of water on the reverse plate, I usually don’t do this.
For the next 2 hours I dial in Frank and get a my preferred temp range. I ended up with 2 valves fully open and 2 valves fully closed, throughout the entire smoke.








*10:30am** Saturday*
Its 10:30 now and a few episodes of Lost later, it's time to throw on the ribs.










The Ribs are unwrapped and taken to the smoker. I check the fire and add some more chunks of cherry wood.
The smoker temps are looking good, hovering around 240°.
I open the smoker and place the rib rack inside and do my best to fit everything without disturbing the butts. I add a cup of water to the drip pan and add a 3 cups of water to the reverse flow plate. 

Ok the ribs are in and everything’s looking good. The steamer pan is cleaned and set a side for the foiling stage of the ribs.

The Butts had broken 140° a little while before adding the Ribs.


























Adding the ribs knocked the snot out of my temps but Frank recovers pretty quickly, plus the fact that its over 100° out helped out quite a bit.
It took around 10 minutes to recover temps, I usually throw a few chunks on right before opening the smoke chamber for any length of time, such as I did here.
 









Back to my show.
For the next three hours I monitor the temps and feed the fire, peeking only once and opening another time to add the ribs.
I usually mop but decided not to do so this time, I wasn’t going for a heavy bark on the Butts and felt the ribs would be fine.

*1:30pm** Saturday*
Now it’s 1:30pm and still nasty hot outside I believe we topped out at 103° - or 106°
Ribs are ready to be foiled, ribs are removed from the rack, placed in the steamer pan and foiled, then placed back in the smoker.
The reason I do it this way is, I have found it's a lot less messier and none of the rib juices are lost.












 

Since were open, lets take a look at the butts.
 








 
*2:15pm** Saturday*
Its now nearly 7 hours into the smoke and the butts have reached 165° at nearly the same time as one another. I decide to foil these butts at this time because as I said before I am not going for a heavy bark on this smoke. When I am doing my "Traditional Barbecue", with my pork rub, I will usually mop. It's fun to play with your food sometimes.








*3:30pm** Saturday*
Ribs are removed from the pan and placed directly on the grates and a few marinated chicken breasts are added, it was way too hot out to cook inside so the wife reluctantly let me throw the chicken on the smoker.
Everything is looking good and incredibly both butts are around 190°, they did hit a stall at 160° at 12:30 for two hours, but that was it, steady climbing the rest of the smoke. 
 
















*4:30pm ** Saturday *Happy Hour!
First things first, time for an ice cold Killians, WOOHOO!








after my first cold one… one of many to come, I remove the ribs and they are placed in a steamer pan and taking upstairs to rest about an hour


*5:30pm ** Saturday*
Ribs are sliced for dinner and some placed in the refrigerator awaiting to be vacuum sealed and frozen for next weeks vacation.
I know, I know, the presentation sucks, but I was in a hurry to feed these guys after you see the next picture you'll understand.

















As everyone ELSE eats their DINNER, its time for me to do a few more things.







Scary, Huh!



Since the butts are ready as well, I remove the butts, place another layer of foil, wrap in towels and place in a cooler to rest.






























The drippings are then removed from top the reverse flow plate, strained into a pot and placed in the refrigerator for later.
 






















I was a bit surprised that the butts were finished in 10 hours, they were roughly 9 pounds each, trimmed to about 7.5 pounds, that would be a cook time of 80 minutes per pound. I checked the probes in different spots for about twenty minutes and even switched the probes from one butt to another just to make sure.
I knew the thermos weren't lying and the butts seemed tender by feel, no resistance from the meat when probing.

I have a theory as to why the butts were done so quickly, that I am going to research.

While the butts are resting, my game plan was to make 4 different toppings:

1) Broccoli raab
2) Horseradish sauce
3) Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese
4) Grilled peppers


Anyhow I decided to make them the following day, but at the least finish the butts tonight.



*8:00pm Saturday*

The butts are removed from the cooler and placed on the counter, the foil is opened slightly to cool a bit as I make the finishing sauce. I don't want too much of the steam to escape too quickly.














Time to start the finishing sauce.
 
















































Finishing Sauce

    2 c. red wine (merlot)
    1 box beef stock (4 cups) (or 1 qt. pork stock )
    1 tablespoon. canola oil
    1 small white onion, chopped finely
    1 tbs. fresh garlic, chopped finely

 _    In a skillet add a tablespoon of oil
    Add the onions and garlic and cook 5-7 minutes.
    Add the wine and allow it to reduce by half.
    Add the broth
    Remove the drippings from the fridge, skim off the grease and add to the skillet, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat._



After the finishing sauce is made, remove from heat.
Now its time to shred the pork, once the pork is shredded, the finishing sauce is slowly added to the pulled pork, I would add a few cups at a time,  mix a bit and let the pork absorb as much as it could, wait a while and repeat.
Make sure to taste the finishing sauce before adding it to your pork!
 



















I ended up using a little more than half, the rest will be saved for “Au jus”.
Watch your salt here, it was more than enough salt from the Rub and Beef broth, don’t add any salt.
The finishing sauce was incredible, and if I had to tweak anything, it would be an extra cup of merlot…that’s it!





Ok lets Fast forward to the next day.


*10:30am Sunday*
At about 10:30 am I drag my sorry ass out of bed, I know… late start, anyhow I make myself a cup of “Jamaican me Happy” and now I’m ready to go.
 







I start off with the Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese sauce.
 






























































Ingredients

    5 red peppers, rinsed (I used 4 this time)
    1/8 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp ground pepper
    1 tsp balsamic vinegar
    11 ounces goat cheese
    8 oz. whipping cream
    10 basil leaves

Directions

_Roast red peppers under the broiler for about 10 minutes each side you want the peppers skin to blacken_
_Put peppers in a paper bag, fold top closed, and let steam for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the peppers from the bag - they will still be hot. the skin will peel right off. Remove the stem and seeds inside.
Place the pepper flesh, skin and seeds removed, in a food processor.
Add salt, pepper, vinegar and basil leaves.
Pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a pot on very low heat, add the whipping cream and goat cheese once everything is smooth, remove from heat
Taste and add additional pepper as desired.
Store in the refrigerator for 10 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months._

After that was done I placed the sauce in a Jar, Labeled and refrigerated.



Ok now onto my next topping, “Horseradish Sauce”.




















Ingredients

    2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
    1 tablespoon cider vinegar
    1 teaspoon dry mustard
    3 tablespoons mayonnaise
    1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
    1/2 cup nonfat sour cream

Directions

_     In a small bowl whisk together horseradish, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, ground red pepper and sour cream._

Alright the Horseradish sauce is finished, bottled and in the refrigerator.



Whats next…
Broccoli Raab









































































Looking good!

Ingredients:

    1 large bunch of fresh broccoli raab
    1 tablespoons olive oil
    1 whole bulb of fresh peeled garlic, coarsely chopped
    1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
    Crushed red pepper, to taste

_Rinse and trim 1/4-inch from bottom of stems._
_Cut stalks crosswise into 2-inch pieces and drop them into salted (optional), boiling water.
Cook in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes and remove with slotted spoon.
In a large heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat; add a tablespoon of olive oil then add the chopped garlic and sauté briefly, 1 minute, add  the blanched broccoli raab/rapini cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add salt and few dried red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon._

That was painless, quite easy actually.
Off to the fridge with ya!




Ok, this is the easiest and so far my favorite and I’ll explain later.
































Simply Gorgeous!

2 red peppers (optional)
2 yellow peppers
2 orange peppers
Tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
Teaspoon balsamic vinegar(sorry not in the picture)

_Grill or sauté peppers 5 minutes toss with a bit of Sea salt and balsamic vinegar._





Damn! Thank goodness that’s all done, now its time to make some sandwiches and get some feed back.


First, all of the toppings are laid out.









Lets break it down.













































A few sandwiches were made in the following manner
Long roll split, smoked provolone slice, pulled pork then grilled for several minutes each side.
I am sure the grilling and foiling makes a big difference in the  quality of the sandwich.























Then toppings were added.






































Then the sandwiches are wrapped in foil for 10 minutes for a short rest, unwrapped, sliced and served.
 

















































These would be great for a party, make a bunch of different ones use long Hoagie rolls and slice in 2" pieces




Ok, now that that’s all done, the pork and Ribs are vacuum sealed and frozen, except for a bit set aside for another dinner.




















So how did everything come out? Great!
Here are my notes on this cook


*The Ribs*
Awesome as usual.
No complaints from any of the dinner guests and hopefully they will be enjoyed on vacation next week

*The Pork*
The pork itself was top notch and the finishing sauce threw it over the top, and the general consensus was that the Philly Style was preferred over my traditional Pulled Pork as was my Italian Porchetta.

*The chicken*
Everyone liked the chicken as well.



*The toppings*, well this is another story.

I’ll start off with the least favorite.

*Horseradish Sauce*, everyone found this to be a bit too bitter on the pork, my suggestion would be to use horseradish cheese in place of the sauce, unless you have a better recipe. The sauce was so so and I am sure it has its place somewhere, but not on my pork sandwiches, would I make it again? No, not for sandwiches, not this particular recipe anyway.


The next in the Lineup:

*Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese sauce*, while this was a good sauce, and mostly everybody liked it, I think it would get better recognition with a stuffed pork loin. I would definitely make this again for a party, but most likely not for sandwiches for my family. It does make a fine dip.

*Broccoli Rabe,* This was ok by itself but really came through on the sandwich, me and my wife gave this 2 thumbs up and I would definitely make this again for sandwiches.
The kids however are a little weird with green stuff on their sandwiches.

*Grilled Peppers,* Now this was my favorite, something about grilled peppers.
This was an awesome topping for the pork, it added a nice sweetness and a welcomed crunch to the sandwich.

My kids loved the sandwiches plain, sometimes you cant improve on perfection and this pork did not need any help at all from the toppings. The toppings complimented the sandwiches and did not take away from the pork.
My oldest prefers barbecue sauce, so she slathered hers with Sweet Baby Rays, go figure.

I will be serving this next week for a crowd of 15, then I can give some more feedback.
I am going to serve some as a French Dip, the gravy (finishing sauce), is outstanding


Now that wasn’t so bad was it?

[h3]  [/h3]


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## SmokinAl (Jul 26, 2011)

Well SQWIB, You were right, it should get the award for the longest most pic heavy thread.

However, it was very well done & very informative.

I think you should be congratulated for putting this much effort into a thread.

I had to drink a cup of coffee half way through, but enjoyed every detail.

By the way, everything you smoked looked absolutely delicious too.


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## thunderdome (Jul 26, 2011)

WOW. THumbs up on a nice read, and great pics.

The food looks great, nice bar too!


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## smokin - k (Jul 26, 2011)

SQWIB! My goodness what a post...! Don't tell my boss but I ran a little long on my coffee break... Love it! I will be trying a couple of your recipies... That roasted red pepper goat cheese sauce and your Philly Style Dry Rub look delish! It all looked great but I don't have the time to do it all at once. Great job on the smoke...! Happy Smoking, Smokin - K


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## daveomak (Jul 26, 2011)

WOW !!! Great thread......chow looks marvelous.......your 3 daughters did not look too happy about the pics.......but I'll bet they were happy about the food....


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## scarbelly (Jul 26, 2011)

Nice job my friend. Great post and qview. Awsome tutorial all the way along. Thanks for sharing


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## navyjeremy (Jul 26, 2011)

hmmmmm Killians on Tap

BTW the rest looks good as well


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## fpnmf (Jul 26, 2011)

Got a chunk of andouille and a glass of root beer as instructed...

Very nice thread SQWIB!

The food and recipes are awesome..

I didn't read every word  -- 14 minutes..

I will read it more thoroughly later.

I love seeing the smoker full,I bet your entire neighborhood was wanting some.

How long did it take to put the thread together??

  Craig


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## gros cochon (Jul 26, 2011)

man, a lot of work went into making that meal, and it looks like it was well worth it. Those sammies look delicious. And I have to give you a bunch of 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





for taking the time to put together a play by play post like this.  Awesome job my friend.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 26, 2011)

This is an Awesome Thread!!!!!

We got to see it ALL:

Three lovely young ladies.

Some Great equipment being used.

Some real good Recipes.

Parts of a brand new kitchen.

The SQWIB hard at work!!!

Some Philly "Pork" Cheesesteaks actually made in Philly.

And a whole bunch of Awesome BearView.

Thanks SQWIB !!!!

Unbelievable Job!!!!

Oh Yeah---It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish, but that included about half hour break for Supper, and I have no idea how long I sat and stared at those last few BearViews of the Pork Cheesesteaks!!!!!

Thanks SQWIB !!!

Bear

BTW----SQWIB: I see you have the exact same vacuum packer as I have (V3485). I got it a short time ago when they had a Heck of a buy.

I just confirmed something "today" about mine that I suspected the last time I used it. We have had a lot of trouble with it. We thought it was the curl on the end of the bags we cut from the rolls. Then I noticed we never seemed to have trouble with the first 15 or 20 bags. Today I made up 18 bags before I started slicing. The 18th one had a problem. It didn't want to get to the right place to work right. So I set it aside & started slicing CB & Dried Beef. After I sliced the CB, I put it in the bags & sealed them up. Then I took the one that I had trouble with, and it now went right into the right place, and sealed perfectly. Then I sliced all of the Dried Beef, and sealed that up, but after making some more bags, and sealing a bunch of bags of Dried Beef, I ran into the same problem. I tried a few bags, and had the same problem with all of them. So I put all the ones that needed sealing into the fridge, and took a break for about an hour. Then I went back, and it worked Great on all the bags that didn't work right before.

So after all of these months, after thinking there was something wrong with the unit or the bags, and after hearing Mrs Bear yelling at it & at me---"What's Wrong With This Dumb Thing", we are now sure that when it heats up, it seems like it won't line up properly, and if it does start sucking the air out, it only sucks less than half of the air out & then seals too soon.

All you gotta do is give it a break, turn it off, and come back later---How long I'm not sure yet, but it was good an hour later.  Then it works perfectly again.

Thought you might want to know this if it happens to you.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 26, 2011)

Oh another "BTW" SQWIB:

Mrs Bear and I never saw the series "LOST" either, until last year.

I found it on Netflix, and streamed the first couple episodes.

We got totally sucked in & watched ALL of the episodes.

I won't say any more---Let me know when you've seen them all.

Bear


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## meateater (Jul 26, 2011)

What a great post, lots of great pics and info.


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## johntroxel (Jul 26, 2011)

This is one of the most awesome threads ever.  Bookmarking this one for later.


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## mballi3011 (Jul 27, 2011)

Great Post


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## realtorterry (Jul 27, 2011)

WOW reading it all took nearly 20 minutes of drulling!!

Awesome post man. LOVE me some phillies, any style

Love the bar & Killians on tap NICE

Love that smoker too


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## ecto1 (Jul 27, 2011)

You get my vote for best Q-view ever!!


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## alelover (Jul 27, 2011)

Great post. Most detailed Q-View ever. Took me 11 minutes to get through it. Now I'm really ready for lunch. Love the broccoli rabe on the sammie. Never heard of that. Bet it's yummy.


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## lovinspoonful (Jul 27, 2011)

OMG this just gave me this super strong flashback.I lived in Philly for 22 years and one of my favorite meals was a roasted pork, smoked provolone, and roasted pepper sandwich from DiNic's. Your sandwich is the spitting image of it and I am SO going to try this. Thanks for the amazing post!


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## sqwib (Jul 27, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> Well SQWIB, You were right, it should get the award for the longest most pic heavy thread.
> 
> However, it was very well done & very informative.
> 
> ...


Thank You




ThunderDome said:


> WOW. THumbs up on a nice read, and great pics.
> 
> The food looks great, nice bar too!




Thanks, yeah the bar is nice when doing those long smokes.


Smokin - K said:


> SQWIB! My goodness what a post...! Don't tell my boss but I ran a little long on my coffee break... Love it! I will be trying a couple of your recipies... That roasted red pepper goat cheese sauce and your Philly Style Dry Rub look delish! It all looked great but I don't have the time to do it all at once. Great job on the smoke...! Happy Smoking, Smokin - K




Thank you




DaveOmak said:


> WOW !!! Great thread......chow looks marvelous.......your 3 daughters did not look too happy about the pics.......but I'll bet they were happy about the food....




I'll tell my lovely wife you said that, my oldest is not in the picture, the first young girl is my daughter Sams friend (2nd girl), she always magically appears when I'm doing ribs lol.

Heres my oldest with her BF Dan, nice guy, I thhink he comes around more when he knows the smoker is getting fired up.






 


Scarbelly said:


> Nice job my friend. Great post and qview. Awsome tutorial all the way along. Thanks for sharing




Thank You


Navyjeremy said:


> hmmmmm Killians on Tap
> 
> BTW the rest looks good as well




Yep Killians, My camping beer is Pabst Blue ribbon


fpnmf said:


> Got a chunk of andouille and a glass of root beer as instructed...
> 
> Very nice thread SQWIB!
> 
> ...


Thank You
About 5 hours, I typed up the event from the pics and notes, posted it on my website then posted here. Took a few hours to post here because I swapped all the pics out so we could have Bear View!


Gros Cochon said:


> man, a lot of work went into making that meal, and it looks like it was well worth it. Those sammies look delicious. And I have to give you a bunch of
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks

I had a sammie last night roll/provolone/pork and peppers and served like a  like a french dip.

The gravy is awesome.

Had another at lunch with the peppers, wrapped in fol threw in the toaster oven and that was awesome as well.




Bearcarver said:


> This is an Awesome Thread!!!!!
> 
> We got to see it ALL:
> 
> ...


Thanks Bear.

Haven't had any issues other than sometimes its a PITA getting the bags in that little slit.


Bearcarver said:


> Oh another "BTW" SQWIB:
> 
> Mrs Bear and I never saw the series "LOST" either, until last year.
> 
> ...


Its pretty cool to be able to watch 3 or 4 episodes in one shot with no commercials.

Now dont laugh but just finished watching the Seaquest series, Boy that show dropped lik a bag of S%#@ after the first season.




meateater said:


> What a great post, lots of great pics and info.




Thank you


johntroxel said:


> This is one of the most awesome threads ever.  Bookmarking this one for later.


Thank You

If I ever get my links working, I'll have it in my signature as well.


mballi3011 said:


> Great Post



Thanks




realtorterry said:


> WOW reading it all took nearly 20 minutes of drulling!!
> 
> Awesome post man. LOVE me some phillies, any style
> 
> ...


Thanks, yeah sometimes I love the Killians too much lol, so the wife says anyway.


ECTO1 said:


> You get my vote for best Q-view ever!!



Well thank you.




alelover said:


> Great post. Most detailed Q-View ever. Took me 11 minutes to get through it. Now I'm really ready for lunch. Love the broccoli rabe on the sammie. Never heard of that. Bet it's yummy.




When I ws doing research on the Philly Style PP some of the big dogs like Tony Lukes and Tommy DiNics were using Broccoli Rabe and spinach, referred to as greens from what I hear anyhow. I figure if they can do it so can I... without the drive and 2 hour wait.


LovinSpoonful said:


> OMG this just gave me this super strong flashback.I lived in Philly for 22 years and one of my favorite meals was a roasted pork, smoked provolone, and roasted pepper sandwich from DiNic's. Your sandwich is the spitting image of it and I am SO going to try this. Thanks for the amazing post!


Thanks, yeah read the post above, DiNics is supposed to be top dog for Pork Sandwiches. Do I hear Throwdown?


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## sqwib (Jul 27, 2011)

Don't want to make this post any longer, but wanted to share this with everyone.

_Here's a hot and juicy topic to sink your teeth in:_

_The cheesesteak is No. 2?_

_Funny, the things you stumble across on the Web._

_"I may never eat another Philly cheesesteak - not, at least, when I can have a roast pork sandwich," a writer opined some weeks ago in the Washington Post._

_Tim Warren, who lives in Maryland, was such a big cheesesteak fan that he often made food runs to Philadelphia and found he "wasn't the only idiot who had driven 100 miles for a $7 sandwich."_

_He sided with Pat's in the Pat's vs. Geno's debate._

_Now he's siding with the roast pork vs. cheesesteak._

_Because he fell in love._

_"The subtle interplay between the pork and the tart greens, between the provolone and the spices in the juices, is heaven compared with the sledgehammer-like cheesesteak."_

_Heaven!_

_"Going from cheesesteaks to roast pork sandwiches was like listening to whatever pop music was on the radio, and one day discovering a station that played Sinatra and Duke Ellington," he gushed._

_Warren also sampled the sandwich at John's Roast Pork and DiNic's, but pronounced Tony Luke's the best._

_But is Warren to be believed?_

_On the one hand, others have agreed._

_"It's time to retire the greasy, overrated cheesesteak and name this superior sandwich our official food," wrote Inquirer columnist Karen Heller last June._

_How superior?_

_"The roast pork Italian with aged provolone and broccoli rabe is one of the finest treats the culinary world has to offer," she declared._

_Tony Luke told the Washington Post many of his customers agree._

_And so did Gourmet magazine once, as quoted by tonylukes.com: "Philadelphia is famous for its sandwiches: hoagies, chili-sloughed Texas wieners, steak lubricated with molten Cheez Whiz. But nothing compares to the roast pork sandwich at Tony Luke's."_

_Then again, Warren may not be fully informed, just like Gourmet apparently was confused about those wieners._

_If a Tony Luke's cheesesteak was his basis for comparison, well, that's a worthy opponent, most locals would agree._

_On "best cheesesteak" lists, Tony Luke's often finishes high, along with the likes of John's Roast Pork, Chink's and others._

_But not Pat's or Geno's._

_They're basically tourist traps, many here agree._

_The biggest giveaway of Warren's gnawing naivete, however, is this remark: "Sharp provolone vs. Cheez Whiz? Please."_

_Uh, dude, you can put provolone on a cheesesteak._

_Indeed, most locals prefer provolone or American, according to a Philly.com poll._

_That Cheez Whiz stuff?_


----------



## africanmeat (Jul 27, 2011)

Wow SQWIB this is one of the bast post i saw.  so  organized   with all the equipment    . 

and what a feast you cooked my Friend well done .

lovely girls all 3 of them probably they said when you took the photo dad stop it. i also got 2 girls.

thank for sharing your feast with us


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## Bearcarver (Jul 27, 2011)

Getting the bags in that slit was the first hint, because I discovered it was harder to get them in that slit after the first 10 or 15 sealings. Hopefully you won't have that problem, but if you do, just shut it off awhile to let it cool. Then see if the bags go in the slit easier.

Thanks again for such a great thread!!

Bear
 


SQWIB said:


> Thanks Bear.
> 
> Haven't had any issues other than sometimes its a PITA getting the bags in that little slit.


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## ugaboz (Jul 27, 2011)

hell of a job


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## michael ark (Jul 27, 2011)

Took 20 min to read.Darn you 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  i am going to have to stop phone posting and get a camera.


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## cindy lolz (Jul 28, 2011)

I wanted to register right now so that I could reply to this thread with: "HOLY AWESOME THREAD!" 

We just got a smoker last week, and I keep looking all throughout the internets for tips/recipes, etc.  I think my first smoked pork shoulder just might be your "Philly Style", SQWIB. Looks so, so good. It's so great that you took the time to show this to us all.


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## chef jimmyj (Jul 28, 2011)

SQWIB, I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS THIS TREAD IS!!! AS A PROFESSIONAL CHEF,I HAVE REVIEWED YOUR WORK AND FRANKLY I AM ASHAMED!!!!

It is Ridiculous how thoroughly you detailed every step with such perfection, great info, fabulous recipes and pro photography! I'm ashamed I have never posted anything this awesome! Thanks Bro, you're the man!...JJ


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## sqwib (Jul 28, 2011)

africanmeat said:


> Wow SQWIB this is one of the bast post i saw.  so  organized   with all the equipment    .
> 
> and what a feast you cooked my Friend well done .
> 
> ...


Thank you

I have been showing the oldest how to prep meats and trying to get my other daughter and son more into this type of cooking




Bearcarver said:


> Getting the bags in that slit was the first hint, because I discovered it was harder to get them in that slit after the first 10 or 15 sealings. Hopefully you won't have that problem, but if you do, just shut it off awhile to let it cool. Then see if the bags go in the slit easier.
> 
> Thanks again for such a great thread!!
> 
> Bear


Will do and I gotta laugh at how much bag is lost for it to seal, tell me that wasn't a marketing strategy.
 




UGABOZ said:


> hell of a job




Thank you




michael ark said:


> Took 20 min to read.Darn you
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Do it man! we love pictures




cindy lolz said:


> I wanted to register right now so that I could reply to this thread with: "HOLY AWESOME THREAD!"
> 
> We just got a smoker last week, and I keep looking all throughout the internets for tips/recipes, etc.  I think my first smoked pork shoulder just might be your "Philly Style", SQWIB. Looks so, so good. It's so great that you took the time to show this to us all.


Thank you, and I am honored that I am your first post,

Just watch the salt, you may want to half what I have in the recipe or use a low sodium broth, especially if your cooking for any one watching their salt intake.

You may want to beef up the pepper a bit too, I usually go light on the pepper for my family but if it was for a party I would have nearly doubled the pepper.




Chef JimmyJ said:


> SQWIB, I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS THIS TREAD IS!!! AS A PROFESSIONAL CHEF,I HAVE REVIEWED YOUR WORK AND FRANKLY I AM ASHAMED!!!!
> 
> It is Ridiculous how thoroughly you detailed every step with such perfection, great info, fabulous recipes and pro photography! I'm ashamed I have never posted anything this awesome! Thanks Bro, you're the man!...JJ


Wow. you guys are very gracious, I really appreciate the kind comments.


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## terry colwell (Jul 28, 2011)

SQWIB,,,

 sammies looked the best..

 Reading your first post took 19 minutes.

 reading EVERYONES  post added another 8 minutes..

 Great post , loved all the pics. was my own personal tutorial...

 Thanks for taking the time time to post all that..

 Again,,,, GREAT JOB!!!!


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## gotarace (Jul 28, 2011)

Wow what a Excellent post SQWIB....Great detail and awesome finished meals!!! It feels like i spent a few day smoking with you reading the thread!!!You have raised the bar for Q-Views with this Jewel!!! Thanks for the ride and all those Recipes ...


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## cindy lolz (Jul 30, 2011)

SQWIB said:


> Thank you, and I am honored that I am your first post,
> 
> Just watch the salt, you may want to half what I have in the recipe or use a low sodium broth, especially if your cooking for any one watching their salt intake.
> 
> You may want to beef up the pepper a bit too, I usually go light on the pepper for my family but if it was for a party I would have nearly doubled the pepper.


I just wanted to update that your Philly Style pork shoulder has been our project since Thursday. Rubbed it before bed Thursday, got up at 2 freakin' 30 in the morning today to start everything...

And it was SO WORTH IT. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





We didn't make a finishing sauce, but we had some leftover homemade BBQ sauce that we used on it. I need to think about what kind of finishing sauce I would even like, LOL.

All ready for inhalation:







My late lunch:







The fiance's late lunch:







Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, SQWIB! Our first pork smoke was a delightful experience thanks to this thread and the ability to keep referencing back to it. <3


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## sqwib (Aug 18, 2011)

Sorry guys don't know how I missed this
 


cindy lolz said:


> I just wanted to update that your Philly Style pork shoulder has been our project since Thursday. Rubbed it before bed Thursday, got up at 2 freakin' 30 in the morning today to start everything...
> 
> And it was SO WORTH IT.
> 
> ...




Looking good




Terry Colwell said:


> SQWIB,,,
> 
> sammies looked the best..
> 
> ...


Thankyou




gotarace said:


> Wow what a Excellent post SQWIB....Great detail and awesome finished meals!!! It feels like i spent a few day smoking with you reading the thread!!!You have raised the bar for Q-Views with this Jewel!!! Thanks for the ride and all those Recipes ...


My Pleasure.


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## wndrrd (Aug 18, 2011)

WOW SQWIB!

That looked great! I can't wait to get my big smoker together so I can smoke up a feast like that (if it is possible)!


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## checkerfred (Aug 19, 2011)

man, awesome thread sqwib!  this may be what I try for my first butt....that finishing sauce looks sooooo good...you've made me very hungry! lol


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## worktogthr (Nov 3, 2014)

I was searching the web for a recipe that mimics DiNics roast pork or pulled pork sandwich and found the actual recipe.  What I don't understand about the recipe is that it says to pull the pork butt ay 160. From my experience with pork shoulder...it's not pulling at that temp.  have you seen this recipe that I'm talking about?  I definitely am going to follow your  recipe step by step because I have been craving this sandwich since I first had it in Philly this summer.  Great post.  I knew this would be the place to find the answers I've been looking for.  Again, epic thread!


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## sqwib (Nov 4, 2014)

worktogthr said:


> I was searching the web for a recipe that mimics DiNics roast pork or pulled pork sandwich and found the actual recipe. What I don't understand about the recipe is that it says to pull the pork butt ay 160. From my experience with pork shoulder...it's not pulling at that temp. have you seen this recipe that I'm talking about? I definitely am going to follow your recipe step by step because I have been craving this sandwich since I first had it in Philly this summer. Great post. I knew this would be the place to find the answers I've been looking for. Again, epic thread!


I think you may be talking about Tommy D's Roast Pork sandwich. This recipe is not a copy cat of Tommy's Pork Sandwich (I hope I did not mention that it was anywhere)

And when they say pull it, they mean remove from the heat, I am guessing.

The recipes I tried here were recipes I have tossed around in my head for a while, the Philly Style was basically an Italian spice hybrid type mix, I wanted a change from the traditional (I use that word loosely) Paprika, Brown Sugar rub so many folks on SMF use.

The Goat cheese recipe was discussed with a chef when at a luncheon on the Battleship New Jersey, I picked his brain about the stuffed pork loin that he served and that's where I got the idea for the sandwich.

The other recipes are just generic toppings.

As far as the Roast Pork goes;

You can try a roast pork using a pork loin, make sure to brine for 48 hours and cook to 140° (safe Internal Temp is 145°), save drippings, foil then cool in refrigerator and slice the next day, simply amazing.

Your brine is the most important step to getting a flavorful thinly sliced pork, if you skip this step, the results are not the same, trust me! You will know your brine was effective when you take a  slice from the center, pop it in your mouth and your eyes roll in the back of your head like when a shark eats.






If you mess up, no worries, toss it in a steamer pan with some dressed up gravy and you are GOLD!













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## sqwib (Nov 4, 2014)

You can try this if you want to try the pulled pork, I have done similar to this with great results in my Dutch Oven.













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Recipe Taken from Superfancychef.com

*Dinic’s Italian Style Pulled Pork Sandwich – The Best Sandwich EVER*

_makes six sandwiches_

*Pulled Pork Ingredients*

1 4-Pound Bone in “picnic” Pork Roast

1 Cup Broth

Brine:

5 Rosemary Sprigs

1 Fennel Bulb, Thinly Sliced

1 White Onion, Thinly Sliced

3 Celery Ribs, Chopped

6 Garlic Cloves, Diced

3 TB Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TB Fennel Seeds

Salt & Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

*Pulled Pork Instructions*

Combine all the brine ingredients with the pork shoulder in a bag and massage it like you mean it for about two minutes, then refrigerate overnight. Combine the contents of your brine bag, and the broth into a Dutch oven or large covered pot. Roast in the oven at 275° for about 3 ½ hours or until the internal temperature 190°, remove from the oven and uncover and allow to rest for about 30 minutes before pulling. Remove the roast from the pot and the drippings and broth on low, re-adding the pulled pork as it surrenders itself to you. Keep it warm while you prepare the broccoli rabe and assemble the rest of your sandwiches. To roast the peppers, place them directly on your stovetop burner until charred, once charred let them sauna it up in a Ziploc bag until you can easily peel their skins off. I intended to use Cubanelle Peppers.

*Broccoli Rabe Ingredients*

2 Bunches of Broccoli Rabe (Rapini)

2 Shallots

6 Garlic Cloves

2 TB Red Pepper Flakes

½ Cup Olive Oil (Give or take some)

*Broccoli Rabe Instructions*

Wash and rough chop the broccoli rabe. Finely dice the shallot and garlic. Boil about 1 ½ cups of water in a sauté pan, add the broccoli rabe until it turns dark green and then remove it from the heat. (It will only take a few seconds and you’ll want to shuffle the pieces around to make sure they all get cooked). Once you have pressed most of the water from the greens, warm the olive oil and add first the shallots, then the garlic, then the greens and red pepper flakes, give a quick stir and then cover for ten minutes, only checking it if the pan starts making apocalyptic threats.  You want the greens to get extra soft, once they are done, season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

*Sandwich Ingredients *

Italian Sweet Roll

Sliced Sharp Provolone

Italian Pulled Pork

Broccoli Rabe

Roasted Peppers

*Sandwich Assembly Instructions*

Slice the roll lengthwise, line with sharp provolone. Pile in Pulled Pork and spoon over a little extra broth. Add in the broccoli Rabe and Roasted Peppers. Eat immediately without hesitation or regrets.


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## worktogthr (Nov 4, 2014)

SQWIB said:


> You can try this if you want to try the pulled pork, I have done similar to this with great results in my Dutch Oven.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks so much for all the info.  The recipe I was originally talking about is more like the pulled pork recipe you just posted.  DiNics sells
Two kinds of pork...  The roast pork from the loin and the Italian style pulled pork from the butt.  You have gone me so much to try haha


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## aceoky (Nov 5, 2014)

Awesome post from another Killian's fan!


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## danbono (Apr 6, 2016)

Great post. Lots of info. All sounded & looked really good!!!

What is "Frank"?

Thx Dan


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## sqwib (Apr 6, 2016)

DanBono said:


> Great post. Lots of info. All sounded & looked really good!!!
> 
> What is "Frank"?
> 
> Thx Dan


Meet Frank


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## sqwib (Jul 26, 2011)

Philly Style Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This is an extremely long post and very pic heavy, you have been warned.

I dont know what the limits are to posting but if there are any I'm sure that I will hear about.\

Before you start reading, you may wanna grab a coffee, beer or snack.

I figured some guys would be interested in a blow by blow post.

Before you read this post look at the clock and let me know how long it takes to read it.

Lets Begin.
First I mixed up my Rubs, I had some pork rub already, the photo below is old.

 






Pork/Rib Rub:

    1/3 cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
    1-1/2 cup (packed) Sugar in the Raw(brown sugar is ok)
    1-1/4 cup paprika
    1 Tbsp freshly coarse ground black pepper
    2 Tbsp garlic powder
    ¼ cup dried onion flakes
    ¼ cup onion powder
    1 tsp cayenne pepper
    2 tsp chili powder
    2 tsp coriander
    1 Tbsp rosemary

Then onto my Philly Style Pulled Pork Rub, this isn’t the traditional Rub that others use but very similar.
This is my first shot at this










Philly Style Dry Rub:

    ½ c. kosher salt
    ¼ c. black pepper (freshly ground if possible)
    ½ c. Italian seasoning (OR equal parts: basil, oregano and rosemary)\
    ½  c. Minced Onion Flakes
    2 tsp. chili powder
    2, 7- 10lb Pork Butt


I start off prepping the ribs, “St. Louis style”, I then line a steamer pan with some plastic wrap, sprinkle some of my pork rub on the bottom, then start layering them in, coating each one, no I don’t use mustard.
After all the Ribs are prepped and rubbed they are wrapped tightly still inside the steamer pan and placed inside the downstairs refrigerator, if you don't have a dedicated refrigerator your wife will kill you.

All the rib meat will be smoked, the trimmings will be used for my next batch of chili I make, nothing goes to waste.














Now onto the Butts, the butts are trimmed, I remove the Fat cap and False cap. A lot of folks will leave on the fat cap and score it. I think there is enough fat marbled throughout to provide enough flavoring to the meat without the fat cap. If you like a lot of bark, remove the fat, this will give you more surface area, this however is not my reasoning for this particular smoke, I am not looking for a heavy bark.
Some leave on the fat to protect the meat from flareups or temp spikes like in the situation your meat is directly over the heat source. 
 



















I then line a steamer pan with some plastic wrap, sprinkle some of my Philly rub on the bottom, then place the trimmed butts in the pan rubbing each one real good, no I don’t use mustard.
After the Butts are prepped and rubbed they are wrapped tightly, still inside the steamer pan and placed inside the downstairs refrigerator, where they will have to wait till morning.
 


















Good morning!

Ok its now 7:00am, 90 minutes later than I planned, oh well.
I promised myself I wasn’t gonna stress over this cook and DAMN IT, I WONT!

*7:00 am** Saturday*
Butts are removed from the fridge and placed on the counter.
 







Ok, now its time to fire up Frank, first I choose some wood for a coal base and toss into my handy basket, I’ll usually use my junk wood for this.
 










Then I turn on the propane supply and open the valve for the log lighter, get my nifty butane lighter that rarely ever works and Voila! Instant fire.


























Now I pop the basket in directly over the log burner.
 










As the burner does its thing, I get out my toys; thermos, gloves, tongs and such.
Here I am sliding out my storage bin and getting out my toys.
I know its a bit messy, I have to organize it better.


















Now I light my pre-warmer burner and as that’s warming up I head upstairs to get the butts











In retrospect I should have lit the preburner first then the log lighter.
Let me explain.. the draft is so strong from the fire going under the plate and out the exhaust stack, that it was a bear to ignite the preburner, hell I do it wrong every time… oh well, maybe I’ll get it right next time.

I let the smoker heat up to around 400° then turned off the gas supply. Reaching 400° barely took 10 minutes.
My rule is not to use gas with wood once Frank is up and running, I don't want Frank to become a bomb.
The only exception is when I am smoking with propane, I'll lay a chunk on the grate to add smoke flavor throughout the smoke.



















*7:30** Saturday*
Ok so back to the Butts, Butts are unwrapped brought to the smoker still in the steamer pan.
Next I slide one of the grates out of the way on top of the other grate to the left and place one butt on the grate to the right and one butt on the grate to the left.

The pan is then placed underneath the grates on top of the reverse flow plate to catch the drippings.
There is a cast iron grate on top of the reverse flow plate, you can not see it in the photos below but it is there.
The Steamer pan will sit on top of this grate.
Now I slide the grates back in place with the butts on top of the grates without disturbing the butts.
The butts were not tied up, I just placed any trimming I had inside the butts and tucked it tightly in place.
I’ll add 2 cups of water to the steamer pan, this prevents the drippings from burning.
 




























Time to set up my probes.
Once the probes are inserted and ready to go and everything is in place the door is shut and sealed and I hit the timer button on the Taylor Thermo and do an actual time check.
The official smoke has begun.














Ok time to tidy up, I’ll put everything back into the bin that wont be used right away and close the bin.
 







I start with all 4 intake valves open, for the first hour or so
 













I check the fire once more and wow its going good. This fire will not be raging like this during the smoke, this is the first burn.
 










Now I start to monitor my temps, at first I don’t mind if it goes over 275° and sometimes as high as 300° the first hour or so but will shoot for 225° - 240° for the long haul.
Once I have a good coal base and can feed it every 30 - 60 minutes I can maintain my preferred temps, I dial in the smoker every smoke.











Ok now that everything is done and seems to be running smoothly, it is now a waiting game and I know I cant go anywhere, its time to chill out, so I head upstairs for a cup of coffee and quick meal.
Then I head downstairs with my coffee, get a notepad, and grab my maverick receiver and relax with some episodes of Lost.







This Timothy's Kahlua is awesome.



Gotta love this Netflix.










I’m on episode 3, yep that’s right never seen lost before and have 99 left.
After an episode its time to see how the smoke is coming along.

















*8:30am** Saturday*
Ok everything’s looking good, threw on a few more chunks of cherry wood and added a quart of water on the reverse plate, I usually don’t do this.
For the next 2 hours I dial in Frank and get a my preferred temp range. I ended up with 2 valves fully open and 2 valves fully closed, throughout the entire smoke.








*10:30am** Saturday*
Its 10:30 now and a few episodes of Lost later, it's time to throw on the ribs.










The Ribs are unwrapped and taken to the smoker. I check the fire and add some more chunks of cherry wood.
The smoker temps are looking good, hovering around 240°.
I open the smoker and place the rib rack inside and do my best to fit everything without disturbing the butts. I add a cup of water to the drip pan and add a 3 cups of water to the reverse flow plate. 

Ok the ribs are in and everything’s looking good. The steamer pan is cleaned and set a side for the foiling stage of the ribs.

The Butts had broken 140° a little while before adding the Ribs.


























Adding the ribs knocked the snot out of my temps but Frank recovers pretty quickly, plus the fact that its over 100° out helped out quite a bit.
It took around 10 minutes to recover temps, I usually throw a few chunks on right before opening the smoke chamber for any length of time, such as I did here.
 









Back to my show.
For the next three hours I monitor the temps and feed the fire, peeking only once and opening another time to add the ribs.
I usually mop but decided not to do so this time, I wasn’t going for a heavy bark on the Butts and felt the ribs would be fine.

*1:30pm** Saturday*
Now it’s 1:30pm and still nasty hot outside I believe we topped out at 103° - or 106°
Ribs are ready to be foiled, ribs are removed from the rack, placed in the steamer pan and foiled, then placed back in the smoker.
The reason I do it this way is, I have found it's a lot less messier and none of the rib juices are lost.












 

Since were open, lets take a look at the butts.
 








 
*2:15pm** Saturday*
Its now nearly 7 hours into the smoke and the butts have reached 165° at nearly the same time as one another. I decide to foil these butts at this time because as I said before I am not going for a heavy bark on this smoke. When I am doing my "Traditional Barbecue", with my pork rub, I will usually mop. It's fun to play with your food sometimes.








*3:30pm** Saturday*
Ribs are removed from the pan and placed directly on the grates and a few marinated chicken breasts are added, it was way too hot out to cook inside so the wife reluctantly let me throw the chicken on the smoker.
Everything is looking good and incredibly both butts are around 190°, they did hit a stall at 160° at 12:30 for two hours, but that was it, steady climbing the rest of the smoke. 
 
















*4:30pm ** Saturday *Happy Hour!
First things first, time for an ice cold Killians, WOOHOO!








after my first cold one… one of many to come, I remove the ribs and they are placed in a steamer pan and taking upstairs to rest about an hour


*5:30pm ** Saturday*
Ribs are sliced for dinner and some placed in the refrigerator awaiting to be vacuum sealed and frozen for next weeks vacation.
I know, I know, the presentation sucks, but I was in a hurry to feed these guys after you see the next picture you'll understand.

















As everyone ELSE eats their DINNER, its time for me to do a few more things.







Scary, Huh!



Since the butts are ready as well, I remove the butts, place another layer of foil, wrap in towels and place in a cooler to rest.






























The drippings are then removed from top the reverse flow plate, strained into a pot and placed in the refrigerator for later.
 






















I was a bit surprised that the butts were finished in 10 hours, they were roughly 9 pounds each, trimmed to about 7.5 pounds, that would be a cook time of 80 minutes per pound. I checked the probes in different spots for about twenty minutes and even switched the probes from one butt to another just to make sure.
I knew the thermos weren't lying and the butts seemed tender by feel, no resistance from the meat when probing.

I have a theory as to why the butts were done so quickly, that I am going to research.

While the butts are resting, my game plan was to make 4 different toppings:

1) Broccoli raab
2) Horseradish sauce
3) Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese
4) Grilled peppers


Anyhow I decided to make them the following day, but at the least finish the butts tonight.



*8:00pm Saturday*

The butts are removed from the cooler and placed on the counter, the foil is opened slightly to cool a bit as I make the finishing sauce. I don't want too much of the steam to escape too quickly.














Time to start the finishing sauce.
 
















































Finishing Sauce

    2 c. red wine (merlot)
    1 box beef stock (4 cups) (or 1 qt. pork stock )
    1 tablespoon. canola oil
    1 small white onion, chopped finely
    1 tbs. fresh garlic, chopped finely

 _    In a skillet add a tablespoon of oil
    Add the onions and garlic and cook 5-7 minutes.
    Add the wine and allow it to reduce by half.
    Add the broth
    Remove the drippings from the fridge, skim off the grease and add to the skillet, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat._



After the finishing sauce is made, remove from heat.
Now its time to shred the pork, once the pork is shredded, the finishing sauce is slowly added to the pulled pork, I would add a few cups at a time,  mix a bit and let the pork absorb as much as it could, wait a while and repeat.
Make sure to taste the finishing sauce before adding it to your pork!
 



















I ended up using a little more than half, the rest will be saved for “Au jus”.
Watch your salt here, it was more than enough salt from the Rub and Beef broth, don’t add any salt.
The finishing sauce was incredible, and if I had to tweak anything, it would be an extra cup of merlot…that’s it!





Ok lets Fast forward to the next day.


*10:30am Sunday*
At about 10:30 am I drag my sorry ass out of bed, I know… late start, anyhow I make myself a cup of “Jamaican me Happy” and now I’m ready to go.
 







I start off with the Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese sauce.
 






























































Ingredients

    5 red peppers, rinsed (I used 4 this time)
    1/8 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp ground pepper
    1 tsp balsamic vinegar
    11 ounces goat cheese
    8 oz. whipping cream
    10 basil leaves

Directions

_Roast red peppers under the broiler for about 10 minutes each side you want the peppers skin to blacken_
_Put peppers in a paper bag, fold top closed, and let steam for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the peppers from the bag - they will still be hot. the skin will peel right off. Remove the stem and seeds inside.
Place the pepper flesh, skin and seeds removed, in a food processor.
Add salt, pepper, vinegar and basil leaves.
Pulse until smooth.
Transfer to a pot on very low heat, add the whipping cream and goat cheese once everything is smooth, remove from heat
Taste and add additional pepper as desired.
Store in the refrigerator for 10 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months._

After that was done I placed the sauce in a Jar, Labeled and refrigerated.



Ok now onto my next topping, “Horseradish Sauce”.




















Ingredients

    2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
    1 tablespoon cider vinegar
    1 teaspoon dry mustard
    3 tablespoons mayonnaise
    1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
    1/2 cup nonfat sour cream

Directions

_     In a small bowl whisk together horseradish, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, ground red pepper and sour cream._

Alright the Horseradish sauce is finished, bottled and in the refrigerator.



Whats next…
Broccoli Raab









































































Looking good!

Ingredients:

    1 large bunch of fresh broccoli raab
    1 tablespoons olive oil
    1 whole bulb of fresh peeled garlic, coarsely chopped
    1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
    Crushed red pepper, to taste

_Rinse and trim 1/4-inch from bottom of stems._
_Cut stalks crosswise into 2-inch pieces and drop them into salted (optional), boiling water.
Cook in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes and remove with slotted spoon.
In a large heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat; add a tablespoon of olive oil then add the chopped garlic and sauté briefly, 1 minute, add  the blanched broccoli raab/rapini cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add salt and few dried red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon._

That was painless, quite easy actually.
Off to the fridge with ya!




Ok, this is the easiest and so far my favorite and I’ll explain later.
































Simply Gorgeous!

2 red peppers (optional)
2 yellow peppers
2 orange peppers
Tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
Teaspoon balsamic vinegar(sorry not in the picture)

_Grill or sauté peppers 5 minutes toss with a bit of Sea salt and balsamic vinegar._





Damn! Thank goodness that’s all done, now its time to make some sandwiches and get some feed back.


First, all of the toppings are laid out.









Lets break it down.













































A few sandwiches were made in the following manner
Long roll split, smoked provolone slice, pulled pork then grilled for several minutes each side.
I am sure the grilling and foiling makes a big difference in the  quality of the sandwich.























Then toppings were added.






































Then the sandwiches are wrapped in foil for 10 minutes for a short rest, unwrapped, sliced and served.
 

















































These would be great for a party, make a bunch of different ones use long Hoagie rolls and slice in 2" pieces




Ok, now that that’s all done, the pork and Ribs are vacuum sealed and frozen, except for a bit set aside for another dinner.




















So how did everything come out? Great!
Here are my notes on this cook


*The Ribs*
Awesome as usual.
No complaints from any of the dinner guests and hopefully they will be enjoyed on vacation next week

*The Pork*
The pork itself was top notch and the finishing sauce threw it over the top, and the general consensus was that the Philly Style was preferred over my traditional Pulled Pork as was my Italian Porchetta.

*The chicken*
Everyone liked the chicken as well.



*The toppings*, well this is another story.

I’ll start off with the least favorite.

*Horseradish Sauce*, everyone found this to be a bit too bitter on the pork, my suggestion would be to use horseradish cheese in place of the sauce, unless you have a better recipe. The sauce was so so and I am sure it has its place somewhere, but not on my pork sandwiches, would I make it again? No, not for sandwiches, not this particular recipe anyway.


The next in the Lineup:

*Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese sauce*, while this was a good sauce, and mostly everybody liked it, I think it would get better recognition with a stuffed pork loin. I would definitely make this again for a party, but most likely not for sandwiches for my family. It does make a fine dip.

*Broccoli Rabe,* This was ok by itself but really came through on the sandwich, me and my wife gave this 2 thumbs up and I would definitely make this again for sandwiches.
The kids however are a little weird with green stuff on their sandwiches.

*Grilled Peppers,* Now this was my favorite, something about grilled peppers.
This was an awesome topping for the pork, it added a nice sweetness and a welcomed crunch to the sandwich.

My kids loved the sandwiches plain, sometimes you cant improve on perfection and this pork did not need any help at all from the toppings. The toppings complimented the sandwiches and did not take away from the pork.
My oldest prefers barbecue sauce, so she slathered hers with Sweet Baby Rays, go figure.

I will be serving this next week for a crowd of 15, then I can give some more feedback.
I am going to serve some as a French Dip, the gravy (finishing sauce), is outstanding


Now that wasn’t so bad was it?

[h3]  [/h3]


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## SmokinAl (Jul 26, 2011)

Well SQWIB, You were right, it should get the award for the longest most pic heavy thread.

However, it was very well done & very informative.

I think you should be congratulated for putting this much effort into a thread.

I had to drink a cup of coffee half way through, but enjoyed every detail.

By the way, everything you smoked looked absolutely delicious too.


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## thunderdome (Jul 26, 2011)

WOW. THumbs up on a nice read, and great pics.

The food looks great, nice bar too!


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## smokin - k (Jul 26, 2011)

SQWIB! My goodness what a post...! Don't tell my boss but I ran a little long on my coffee break... Love it! I will be trying a couple of your recipies... That roasted red pepper goat cheese sauce and your Philly Style Dry Rub look delish! It all looked great but I don't have the time to do it all at once. Great job on the smoke...! Happy Smoking, Smokin - K


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## daveomak (Jul 26, 2011)

WOW !!! Great thread......chow looks marvelous.......your 3 daughters did not look too happy about the pics.......but I'll bet they were happy about the food....


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## scarbelly (Jul 26, 2011)

Nice job my friend. Great post and qview. Awsome tutorial all the way along. Thanks for sharing


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## navyjeremy (Jul 26, 2011)

hmmmmm Killians on Tap

BTW the rest looks good as well


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## fpnmf (Jul 26, 2011)

Got a chunk of andouille and a glass of root beer as instructed...

Very nice thread SQWIB!

The food and recipes are awesome..

I didn't read every word  -- 14 minutes..

I will read it more thoroughly later.

I love seeing the smoker full,I bet your entire neighborhood was wanting some.

How long did it take to put the thread together??

  Craig


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## gros cochon (Jul 26, 2011)

man, a lot of work went into making that meal, and it looks like it was well worth it. Those sammies look delicious. And I have to give you a bunch of 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





for taking the time to put together a play by play post like this.  Awesome job my friend.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 26, 2011)

This is an Awesome Thread!!!!!

We got to see it ALL:

Three lovely young ladies.

Some Great equipment being used.

Some real good Recipes.

Parts of a brand new kitchen.

The SQWIB hard at work!!!

Some Philly "Pork" Cheesesteaks actually made in Philly.

And a whole bunch of Awesome BearView.

Thanks SQWIB !!!!

Unbelievable Job!!!!

Oh Yeah---It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish, but that included about half hour break for Supper, and I have no idea how long I sat and stared at those last few BearViews of the Pork Cheesesteaks!!!!!

Thanks SQWIB !!!

Bear

BTW----SQWIB: I see you have the exact same vacuum packer as I have (V3485). I got it a short time ago when they had a Heck of a buy.

I just confirmed something "today" about mine that I suspected the last time I used it. We have had a lot of trouble with it. We thought it was the curl on the end of the bags we cut from the rolls. Then I noticed we never seemed to have trouble with the first 15 or 20 bags. Today I made up 18 bags before I started slicing. The 18th one had a problem. It didn't want to get to the right place to work right. So I set it aside & started slicing CB & Dried Beef. After I sliced the CB, I put it in the bags & sealed them up. Then I took the one that I had trouble with, and it now went right into the right place, and sealed perfectly. Then I sliced all of the Dried Beef, and sealed that up, but after making some more bags, and sealing a bunch of bags of Dried Beef, I ran into the same problem. I tried a few bags, and had the same problem with all of them. So I put all the ones that needed sealing into the fridge, and took a break for about an hour. Then I went back, and it worked Great on all the bags that didn't work right before.

So after all of these months, after thinking there was something wrong with the unit or the bags, and after hearing Mrs Bear yelling at it & at me---"What's Wrong With This Dumb Thing", we are now sure that when it heats up, it seems like it won't line up properly, and if it does start sucking the air out, it only sucks less than half of the air out & then seals too soon.

All you gotta do is give it a break, turn it off, and come back later---How long I'm not sure yet, but it was good an hour later.  Then it works perfectly again.

Thought you might want to know this if it happens to you.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 26, 2011)

Oh another "BTW" SQWIB:

Mrs Bear and I never saw the series "LOST" either, until last year.

I found it on Netflix, and streamed the first couple episodes.

We got totally sucked in & watched ALL of the episodes.

I won't say any more---Let me know when you've seen them all.

Bear


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## meateater (Jul 26, 2011)

What a great post, lots of great pics and info.


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## johntroxel (Jul 26, 2011)

This is one of the most awesome threads ever.  Bookmarking this one for later.


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## mballi3011 (Jul 27, 2011)

Great Post


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## realtorterry (Jul 27, 2011)

WOW reading it all took nearly 20 minutes of drulling!!

Awesome post man. LOVE me some phillies, any style

Love the bar & Killians on tap NICE

Love that smoker too


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## ecto1 (Jul 27, 2011)

You get my vote for best Q-view ever!!


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## alelover (Jul 27, 2011)

Great post. Most detailed Q-View ever. Took me 11 minutes to get through it. Now I'm really ready for lunch. Love the broccoli rabe on the sammie. Never heard of that. Bet it's yummy.


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## lovinspoonful (Jul 27, 2011)

OMG this just gave me this super strong flashback.I lived in Philly for 22 years and one of my favorite meals was a roasted pork, smoked provolone, and roasted pepper sandwich from DiNic's. Your sandwich is the spitting image of it and I am SO going to try this. Thanks for the amazing post!


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## sqwib (Jul 27, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> Well SQWIB, You were right, it should get the award for the longest most pic heavy thread.
> 
> However, it was very well done & very informative.
> 
> ...


Thank You




ThunderDome said:


> WOW. THumbs up on a nice read, and great pics.
> 
> The food looks great, nice bar too!




Thanks, yeah the bar is nice when doing those long smokes.


Smokin - K said:


> SQWIB! My goodness what a post...! Don't tell my boss but I ran a little long on my coffee break... Love it! I will be trying a couple of your recipies... That roasted red pepper goat cheese sauce and your Philly Style Dry Rub look delish! It all looked great but I don't have the time to do it all at once. Great job on the smoke...! Happy Smoking, Smokin - K




Thank you




DaveOmak said:


> WOW !!! Great thread......chow looks marvelous.......your 3 daughters did not look too happy about the pics.......but I'll bet they were happy about the food....




I'll tell my lovely wife you said that, my oldest is not in the picture, the first young girl is my daughter Sams friend (2nd girl), she always magically appears when I'm doing ribs lol.

Heres my oldest with her BF Dan, nice guy, I thhink he comes around more when he knows the smoker is getting fired up.






 


Scarbelly said:


> Nice job my friend. Great post and qview. Awsome tutorial all the way along. Thanks for sharing




Thank You


Navyjeremy said:


> hmmmmm Killians on Tap
> 
> BTW the rest looks good as well




Yep Killians, My camping beer is Pabst Blue ribbon


fpnmf said:


> Got a chunk of andouille and a glass of root beer as instructed...
> 
> Very nice thread SQWIB!
> 
> ...


Thank You
About 5 hours, I typed up the event from the pics and notes, posted it on my website then posted here. Took a few hours to post here because I swapped all the pics out so we could have Bear View!


Gros Cochon said:


> man, a lot of work went into making that meal, and it looks like it was well worth it. Those sammies look delicious. And I have to give you a bunch of
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks

I had a sammie last night roll/provolone/pork and peppers and served like a  like a french dip.

The gravy is awesome.

Had another at lunch with the peppers, wrapped in fol threw in the toaster oven and that was awesome as well.




Bearcarver said:


> This is an Awesome Thread!!!!!
> 
> We got to see it ALL:
> 
> ...


Thanks Bear.

Haven't had any issues other than sometimes its a PITA getting the bags in that little slit.


Bearcarver said:


> Oh another "BTW" SQWIB:
> 
> Mrs Bear and I never saw the series "LOST" either, until last year.
> 
> ...


Its pretty cool to be able to watch 3 or 4 episodes in one shot with no commercials.

Now dont laugh but just finished watching the Seaquest series, Boy that show dropped lik a bag of S%#@ after the first season.




meateater said:


> What a great post, lots of great pics and info.




Thank you


johntroxel said:


> This is one of the most awesome threads ever.  Bookmarking this one for later.


Thank You

If I ever get my links working, I'll have it in my signature as well.


mballi3011 said:


> Great Post



Thanks




realtorterry said:


> WOW reading it all took nearly 20 minutes of drulling!!
> 
> Awesome post man. LOVE me some phillies, any style
> 
> ...


Thanks, yeah sometimes I love the Killians too much lol, so the wife says anyway.


ECTO1 said:


> You get my vote for best Q-view ever!!



Well thank you.




alelover said:


> Great post. Most detailed Q-View ever. Took me 11 minutes to get through it. Now I'm really ready for lunch. Love the broccoli rabe on the sammie. Never heard of that. Bet it's yummy.




When I ws doing research on the Philly Style PP some of the big dogs like Tony Lukes and Tommy DiNics were using Broccoli Rabe and spinach, referred to as greens from what I hear anyhow. I figure if they can do it so can I... without the drive and 2 hour wait.


LovinSpoonful said:


> OMG this just gave me this super strong flashback.I lived in Philly for 22 years and one of my favorite meals was a roasted pork, smoked provolone, and roasted pepper sandwich from DiNic's. Your sandwich is the spitting image of it and I am SO going to try this. Thanks for the amazing post!


Thanks, yeah read the post above, DiNics is supposed to be top dog for Pork Sandwiches. Do I hear Throwdown?


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## sqwib (Jul 27, 2011)

Don't want to make this post any longer, but wanted to share this with everyone.

_Here's a hot and juicy topic to sink your teeth in:_

_The cheesesteak is No. 2?_

_Funny, the things you stumble across on the Web._

_"I may never eat another Philly cheesesteak - not, at least, when I can have a roast pork sandwich," a writer opined some weeks ago in the Washington Post._

_Tim Warren, who lives in Maryland, was such a big cheesesteak fan that he often made food runs to Philadelphia and found he "wasn't the only idiot who had driven 100 miles for a $7 sandwich."_

_He sided with Pat's in the Pat's vs. Geno's debate._

_Now he's siding with the roast pork vs. cheesesteak._

_Because he fell in love._

_"The subtle interplay between the pork and the tart greens, between the provolone and the spices in the juices, is heaven compared with the sledgehammer-like cheesesteak."_

_Heaven!_

_"Going from cheesesteaks to roast pork sandwiches was like listening to whatever pop music was on the radio, and one day discovering a station that played Sinatra and Duke Ellington," he gushed._

_Warren also sampled the sandwich at John's Roast Pork and DiNic's, but pronounced Tony Luke's the best._

_But is Warren to be believed?_

_On the one hand, others have agreed._

_"It's time to retire the greasy, overrated cheesesteak and name this superior sandwich our official food," wrote Inquirer columnist Karen Heller last June._

_How superior?_

_"The roast pork Italian with aged provolone and broccoli rabe is one of the finest treats the culinary world has to offer," she declared._

_Tony Luke told the Washington Post many of his customers agree._

_And so did Gourmet magazine once, as quoted by tonylukes.com: "Philadelphia is famous for its sandwiches: hoagies, chili-sloughed Texas wieners, steak lubricated with molten Cheez Whiz. But nothing compares to the roast pork sandwich at Tony Luke's."_

_Then again, Warren may not be fully informed, just like Gourmet apparently was confused about those wieners._

_If a Tony Luke's cheesesteak was his basis for comparison, well, that's a worthy opponent, most locals would agree._

_On "best cheesesteak" lists, Tony Luke's often finishes high, along with the likes of John's Roast Pork, Chink's and others._

_But not Pat's or Geno's._

_They're basically tourist traps, many here agree._

_The biggest giveaway of Warren's gnawing naivete, however, is this remark: "Sharp provolone vs. Cheez Whiz? Please."_

_Uh, dude, you can put provolone on a cheesesteak._

_Indeed, most locals prefer provolone or American, according to a Philly.com poll._

_That Cheez Whiz stuff?_


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