Smokey and the Bandit

So, this weekend I've decided to fire up my little pot bellied smoker and char up some animal flesh. MMMMMM. Yum. I love me some 'Que. The critter of choice this weekend is the North American swine, otherwise known as a pig.

I drove around the burg here and tried to find myself a nice big Pork Shoulder, or Boston Butt, but couldn't find one. Not even at the so called "Meat Market". (this will hopefully be averted in the future as I plan to buy a pig straight from the farm in the near future) So I had to settle for a little bitty Pork Butt from my local Mega-Mart (but not Wal-Mart, blech). I got two, so that will give me about 7-8 lbs, pre cooked, of potential Pulled Pork goodness. I'm also going to throw on a big 'ol slab of spareribs and some pork bratwurst. I figure if the smoker is going might as well fill it up.

This pic is of the butts in the pot after I made up the brine. I stole the brine receipe from Alton Brown of Good Eats fame. I've used brines before for pork roasts cooked in the oven (after seeing him talk about it) and they really are the bomb for Pork. I won't cook pork without one now. They infuse a ton of flavor and help make the pork more moist. Have you noticed when you eat a chop or hunk of pork that it is dry and not very tasty, unless you have a sauce with it? That's because pigs have been breed over the past 30 years to be extremely lean and that makes them dry when they cook. The brine helps keep that dryness away, and brings a ton of flavor to the table too. Surprised you didn't know that.

This here is a pic of the ribs after a liberal coating of my "secret" rib rub. I'll tell you what's in it, but not the proportions. Brown Sugar, Paprika, Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, Onion Powder and Garlic Powder. Put it in a container and shake well to distribute. I wrap these in plastic wrap and set them in the fridge overnight to get a nice thick coating on them.

I plan to cover the butts in the same rub in the morning after they come out of the brine.

More to come tomorrow and Sunday as the smoking begins.

FGLB