Real BBQ?

It's getting close to my 9pm start time for a 20 hour low and slow cook of a couple pork shoulders on a ceramic grill. (for pulled pork)

Any BBQ aficionados out there in SFG land? I'd love to try some personalized 'can't go wrong' rubs and sauces from you experts down south.

Nothing like pulled pork that's been cooking for 12-14 hours. Most of the recipes and from experience is that 12-14 hours if enough for pulled pork. I have eo reload wood and charcoal in my smoker every hour so 20 hours is not on my schedule.

Some say to put a pan of water under the meat to keep it moist (especially if your using an electric smoker). I haven't noticed any difference when I do this.

Rubs are fun. All I use is Onion powder (from the SFG) and Garlic Salt. Rub this all over the room temperature meat. Comes out great. Might want to watch this short video on barbequing from Yahoo. Here is the link - Barbeque Experts. I also keep my temperature between 225 and 250 degrees religiously. Also, put the meat fat side up. No barbeque sauce until your ready to serve the pulled pork.

Wood-Search the web for types of wood used. I use Oak, apricot and plum. Apricot and Plum are more for fish but who cares. Misquote can give you a slight bitter taste. I don't use it unless I have. Soak the wood chips in water for some time and you get more smoke. I also have to use Kingsford charcoal to keep it going at time. No fluied starters. They can leave a weird taste at time.

My wife makes the best homemade rolls (buns) for the pulled pork. Have cold sweet coleslaw ready for the delicious meal. Most people in California that I've talked to about the serving of the pulled pork have not heard of putting the coleslaw on top of the pulled pork in the bun. I get some really weird looks about this but I make believes out of them.

Veggies-Roast some at the end. If you have any peaches or apricots-Cut in half, take the seed out and butter them lightly. Add brown sugar to the pit area and roast them skin side down for a short time. Fabulous.

Man, am I hungry now. To late to cook on the barbeque tonight. Tomorrow, chicken or whatever I can find that needs to be smoked. Let us know how it goes.

Enjoy the adventure.
Bruce

I have lived and traveled all over the south during the 80's and made business trips there for the next 25 years. Enjoying bbq was a driving passion then followed closely by finding fresh made boiled peanuts. But one of the best for bbq was south of Austin, Tx at Driftwood called The Salt Lick. They have a web site and sell quite a few items there check it out just for fun. Going there is an experience one will not forget. http://www.saltlickbbq.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=T101

I LOVE BBQ!! I like to rub down boneless pork butt with just salt and pepper and sometimes a little garlic salt and/or brown sugar and let it sit in the fridge overnight. I use Hickory whenever I can get it. I'll use Oak if I have to and its well seasoned. Applewood has a nice smoke too but my favorite is Hickory !! I do NOT care for Mesquite at all !! I too strive to keep the temp between 200 and 225, and I usually end up smoking the meat 14 to 16 hours. Next time I smoke I'm going to try something different. I'm going to put smaller chunks, maybe around 3 to 4 pounds on the smoker for 3 to 4 hours, and then finish it off in the pressure cooker and see if it comes off as flavorful and tender as some beef roasts I've done lately. If I could do pulled pork in about 5 hours I have a feeling we'd be eating it a lot more often !!

Here are a couple of web pages to go to that have really great information and recipes: Youtube BBQ Pit Boys and Amazing Ribs. Also, according to Country Cooking or one of their cooking magazine, they say that smoking it for only 3 hours and then cooking it in the oven for the rest of the time is a good as 12-14 hours on the smoker. I like the real thing-smoker.

Enjoy.
Bruce

barmstr wrote:Here are a couple of web pages to go to that have really great information and recipes: Youtube BBQ Pit Boys and Amazing Ribs. Also, according to Country Cooking or one of their cooking magazine, they say that smoking it for only 3 hours and then cooking it in the oven for the rest of the time is a good as 12-14 hours on the smoker. I like the real thing-smoker.

Enjoy.
Bruce

I've done that cooking magazine recipe. If you are a gas/propane griller, all I'll say is give it a shot, it's actually, really really good and doesn't take the entire day to do.

Well, the meat's on at 225°. I'm using cherry for smoke.

The variables are unlimited, and I find that rather daunting. Serious BBQers are as opinionated as gardeners!

Serious BBQers are as opinionated as gardeners

You'd better believe it, Buster!

I work more on my sauces and let others do the BBQing. No sauce on the meat until it is almost ready to serve. DH rarely believes me on this Most sauces with sugar will burn on the grill or smoker.

if you are a latino that has lived in texas then east coast then back in texas with many BBQ ethnicities influencing your style. boffer I don't mean to hijack your thread but i think you are going to enjoy this because you are a do it yourselfer(from what i have seen in the pics you posted). hopefully you will be inspired.

This is the "Caja China"/Cajun Microwave/El Ataur/Just Plain Yummy

70-90 lbs of pig in 2-3 hrs max

14 chickens in the box with 25 roasted corn and 50 hot dogs on top 1 and a half hours


Recipe

Step One: Buy wood. Buy metal. Call the frat bros for help. Make wood box. Line box with aluminum or sheet metal. Drink a beer.




Step Two: Take time to admire your contraption. Drink a beer. Take a picture. (DO NOT cook your curious 5 pound chihuahua. It doesn't make for good eating.)




Step Three: Take said contraption to the beach. Throw a slab of pig inside. Start fire on top. Drink beer.




Step Four: Take picture of 80lb pork chop. Drink beer. Eat!


If you don't partake in the swine, be a fowl person.

Step 1: Take box thingy to bro's place. Take picture. Have beer.




Step Two: Enlist the help of 14-16 chickens. Marinate them in beer. Start fire.




Step Three: Flip over chickens only once (same with pig).



Step Four: Sit back enjoy fire. Consume....you guessed it beer!


Step Five(optional for smoke flavor lovers): Place cooked birds on top of fire and char to taste. WARNING!!!!! Meat is extremely tender when cooked in the box. Handle with caution and lots of love or else it falls apart. Enjoy!!!



If you are interested in a random project I'll send you the instructions and diagrams on how to build a caja china. While it may not be a traditional BBQ style, it is how some latinos like to eat. The marinade (injected, rubbed, or soaked) tends to be the focus.

all the best,

cienfuegos AKA "one hundred fires"

oh and if you don't like liquid libations please insert "favorite SFG vegetable" in place of beer.

cienfuegos

That is really neat! I've not seen one of those before. Seeing the shelving unit used for a rack reminded me of when we used to turn the lid of a metal garbage can upside to use as a grill. We used the rack out of the oven and supported it with empty soup cans.

Can you post your favorite pork rub?

Food from SFG forum, and you are posting about BBQ pork? Now, how the heck do you get pigs to grow in an SFG?

I know hell is freezing over when pigs fly out of my, well you know.... So, is this like the Rapture? ...meaning it's getting close?

Looks good, guys. My family is asking me to make my Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin. Low and slow, for me, is about 45 minutes on the barbie!

Furbalsmom wrote:

I work more on my sauces and let others do the BBQing. No sauce on the meat until it is almost ready to serve. DH rarely believes me on this Most sauces with sugar will burn on the grill or smoker.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

My problem with BBQ is that I really dislike a lot of the added or artificial smoke flavours that you find in many store bought products. Maybe it is the mesquite that I don't like. I much prefer my own sauces and rubs as well. I have been trying to find a nice pulled pork recipe that does not have that store bought 'fake smoke' BBQ flavour.

Gwynn

All the side dishes can come from the sfg.
I'm planning a macaroni salad using my own onions and parsley and a big ole mess of turnips greens.

Kay

Sauces also crystallize caused the skin on the outside of the meat to burn, or at the very least take on that appearance.

Sugared sauces should not be on meat over the grill for more than about a minute or two.

But, I would contend that sauces on meat, period, ruin the cook's efforts....provided he knows what he's doing. If he burned/dried out the meat, by all means, douse it with sauces.

I'm crying from laughing so hard ..

(DO NOT cook your curious 5 pound chihuahua. It doesn't make for good eating.)

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:...Low and slow, for me, is about 45 minutes on the barbie!

That's called grillin' in the BBQ world! Sugar is often used in rubs. (sauces are for after the cooking is done)

Here's the rub I'm trying right now; I've got a beautiful bark.

Mix together thoroughly the following:
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup Paprika
* 2 tblsp coarse Salt (sea or kosher)
* 2 tblsp Black Pepper
* 1 tblsp Cayenne Pepper
* 4 tsp Cumin
* 2 tsp dry mustard
* 2 tsp Onion Powder
* 2 tsp Garlic Powder
* 2 tsp Thyme Powder
* 2 tsp Sage
* 2 tsp Coriander Powder

acara wrote:I'm crying from laughing so hard ..

(DO NOT cook your curious 5 pound chihuahua. It doesn't make for good eating.)

If you have what my Chinese friends call a "four eye dog" ..........you know how some dogs have light coloured eye spots of fur above their eyes giving them the appearance of having four eyes..........they say those are the ones to eat. At least that is what my friends told me. They say.. 'Ooooo! Foh-eye dog! Rots of meat on foh-eye dog!' And then they laughed.

Gwynn

Cienfuegos - I am a do-it-yourself gal - please PM or e-mail instructions for way cool fire box!

Old Hippie wrote:

acara wrote:I'm crying from laughing so hard ..

(DO NOT cook your curious 5 pound chihuahua. It doesn't make for good eating.)

If you have what my Chinese friends call a "four eye dog" ..........you know how some dogs have light coloured eye spots of fur above their eyes giving them the appearance of having four eyes..........they say those are the ones to eat. At least that is what my friends told me. They say.. 'Ooooo! Foh-eye dog! Rots of meat on foh-eye dog!' And then they laughed.

Gwynn

I'm going to bring this thread back from the dead
I am a low and slow bbq'er all the way. After having several different types and styles of smokers/grills and not being all together pleased with the results, I made my own of a 55 gallon drum. I didn't invent it. Just researched it. Some of the top bbq dogs in the country use them. Even in compitition. My favorite smoker would be a Big Green Egg, however, with three kids and all their critters on the farm, I just cant justify the price. Here is my Ugly Drum Smoker (aka UDS):


I built it for well under $100. One of the main things I love about this pit is its fuel efficiency. My coal basket can hold about 12 lbs. of wood and coal and easily burn for 12-13 hrs, with fuel left over. On my offset grill/smoker, I would go thru 20-30 lbs. for the same cook.
Here are some action shots!


mmm. Tenderloin:


little cornbread!


Giant 7 bone roast. Excellent for low and slow and dirt cheap!

Wow, nKedrOoStEr, beautiful job! (both on the smoker AND the BBQ shown on the grill) Questions: where did you come by the grill grate that fits the 55 gal. barrel; what is the circular fitting that appears to be about 6-7" below the grate and around the inside edge of the barrel; is the copper pipe that appears at the bottom, with the handle, for regulating air flow? Inquiring minds want to know. Nonna

@cienfuegos: I'm not Boffer, but I'd love a copy of your plans for the box. Beats the plain vanilla Weber I now have hands down!

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:Wow, nKedrOoStEr, beautiful job! (both on the smoker AND the BBQ shown on the grill) Questions: where did you come by the grill grate that fits the 55 gal. barrel; what is the circular fitting that appears to be about 6-7" below the grate and around the inside edge of the barrel; is the copper pipe that appears at the bottom, with the handle, for regulating air flow? Inquiring minds want to know. Nonna

Thanks Nonna! The best information for building an UDS can be found here: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23436
That is hands down the best bbq site on the web too in my opinion!
The grate is a 22.5" Weber grate which can be found at HomeDepot, Lowes, etc. The smoke exhaust is a 2" male copper adapter. I am a plumber, so I have lots of stuff like that laying around. Nowadays that copper fitting is waaaay to pricey to be used for such a purpose lol.
Yes, that is a brass valve at the bottom to regulate airflow. There are also 2 others on each side that have plugs in them. I usually remove one plug and open the ball valve part way and she hums along at a beautiful steady 220 for hours on end. There is also a temp gauge I purchased at Lowes.
Here are some pics of what is called a "fatty". Which is usually what you end up being if you eat to many of them lol!

Roll out Jimmy Dean Sausage and sprinkle with your favorite rub:

Stuff it with some tasty ingredients:

Prepare yourself a bacon weaveL

Roll up your fatty and wrap it with the bacon weave:

Sprinkle on a lil bit more rub:

Bbq them bad boys:

Enjoy every last bite!