BrewsandBlues
New member
My #3 arrives tomorrow, been busy prepping. I searched through all of the forums, huge help. I decided to make a simple plan by copying Tony's (divot) steps into a single document. I picked up 3 racks of ribs, and (3) 8lb pork shoulders. Pork shoulder on sale for $1.29 / lb, go big or go home.
I did manage to introduce one of my beer homebrew steps into the process. To cool the brine, I used my wort chiller. A wort chiller is just a stainless (or copper) length of tubing that you run water through to cool liquid. I place my wort chiller in the kettle, hook up the garden hose and run water through the coil.
Since I made a triple batch of the brine below, I used my monster brewing kettle and then cooled it with my wort chiller, took less than 5 minutes to cool below 40. You can find wort chillers for about $50 on homebrew sites, or you can make your own for those that make lots of brine. Thought I would share that!
I decided not to brine the ribs, but I did use yellow mustard as the binding agent and the memphis dust and will let them rest for for 40 hours or so.
The pork shoulders will stay in the brine for 24 hours. I will put mustard/rub on at lunchtime and let rest in the fridge for 8 hours.
My smoker arrives tomorrow, I should have it unpacked, cleaned and seasoned by 9PM tomorrow night. I have the Maverick probe and plan on smoking the 3 shoulders for 14-16 hours or until they come up to temp. I plan on running the smoker at 235. I will use 6-8 ounces of wood, I have some pecan that I will try. I only have 1 probe, so I plan on probing the lowest shoulder as I think that will be the lowest temp. Not sure about that...
That puts me until Thursday at noon, when I plan on removing the shoulders, and then reloading with the ribs for the next 5 hours, no peeky style, 235. I plan on using 2-3 ounces of wood. I think I will use hickory for the ribs.5
I will also throw bacon baked beans in and smoke for the same amount of time as the ribs.
I'll pull the pork shoulder after a 6 rest in the cooler, which is about the same time the ribs come out, Thursday evening.
I have some gitbox playing buddies coming over, hope this all works out. Its pretty ambitious for a first run.
If FedEx doesn't show up, I am in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please offer comments or thoughts on my plan, I really appreciate any feedback for a newbie. I'll try and take some pictures along the way.
Smoke Prep below:
Step 1 - Brine:
1 gallon water
1 1/8 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tblsp garlic powder
1 tblsp onion powder
1 tblsp cayenne
2 tsp black pepper
Put 1/3 of the water in a pan large enough to hold 1 gallon. Add the other ingredients, and heat on medium to simmer the brine. The idea is to melt all the salt and sugar, and help blend some of those spices into the liquid. I usually heat for 15-20 minutes, never bringing to a boil. Stir regularly.
Once the brine is blended, remove from heat and add the rest of the water in the form of ice cubes. I have a large sauce pan that has 1 gallon marked on the side, so I know the level - makes this much easier. This will immediately cool the brine. Once all the ice melts, I place the brine in the fridge to get cold. I don't take any chances by putting the meat in a brine that isn't below 40-degrees. Once the brine has chilled, place the pork butt in the brine. Let it brine for 12-13 hours.
After brining, rinse well, coat in yellow mustard and rub, and you're ready for the smoker! I know there are some that say you should never brine a pork butt, but you'll find it to be the most moist and flavorful pulled pork you'll ever have! Let me know if you have any improvements or variations!
Step 2 - Rub:
Memphis Dust Recipe
Yield. Makes about 3 cups. Store any extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.
Preparation time. 10 minutes to find everything and 5 minutes to dump them together.
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
Step 3 - Finishing Sauce:
The Finishing Sauce I use is as follows:
1 Cup Cider Vinegar
5+ Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Warm the Vinegar up enough so that it disolves the Sugar well. Then add the remaining ingredients. Increase or decrease the sugar or heat depending on your tastes....
I did manage to introduce one of my beer homebrew steps into the process. To cool the brine, I used my wort chiller. A wort chiller is just a stainless (or copper) length of tubing that you run water through to cool liquid. I place my wort chiller in the kettle, hook up the garden hose and run water through the coil.
Since I made a triple batch of the brine below, I used my monster brewing kettle and then cooled it with my wort chiller, took less than 5 minutes to cool below 40. You can find wort chillers for about $50 on homebrew sites, or you can make your own for those that make lots of brine. Thought I would share that!
I decided not to brine the ribs, but I did use yellow mustard as the binding agent and the memphis dust and will let them rest for for 40 hours or so.
The pork shoulders will stay in the brine for 24 hours. I will put mustard/rub on at lunchtime and let rest in the fridge for 8 hours.
My smoker arrives tomorrow, I should have it unpacked, cleaned and seasoned by 9PM tomorrow night. I have the Maverick probe and plan on smoking the 3 shoulders for 14-16 hours or until they come up to temp. I plan on running the smoker at 235. I will use 6-8 ounces of wood, I have some pecan that I will try. I only have 1 probe, so I plan on probing the lowest shoulder as I think that will be the lowest temp. Not sure about that...
That puts me until Thursday at noon, when I plan on removing the shoulders, and then reloading with the ribs for the next 5 hours, no peeky style, 235. I plan on using 2-3 ounces of wood. I think I will use hickory for the ribs.5
I will also throw bacon baked beans in and smoke for the same amount of time as the ribs.
I'll pull the pork shoulder after a 6 rest in the cooler, which is about the same time the ribs come out, Thursday evening.
I have some gitbox playing buddies coming over, hope this all works out. Its pretty ambitious for a first run.
If FedEx doesn't show up, I am in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please offer comments or thoughts on my plan, I really appreciate any feedback for a newbie. I'll try and take some pictures along the way.
Smoke Prep below:
Step 1 - Brine:
1 gallon water
1 1/8 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tblsp garlic powder
1 tblsp onion powder
1 tblsp cayenne
2 tsp black pepper
Put 1/3 of the water in a pan large enough to hold 1 gallon. Add the other ingredients, and heat on medium to simmer the brine. The idea is to melt all the salt and sugar, and help blend some of those spices into the liquid. I usually heat for 15-20 minutes, never bringing to a boil. Stir regularly.
Once the brine is blended, remove from heat and add the rest of the water in the form of ice cubes. I have a large sauce pan that has 1 gallon marked on the side, so I know the level - makes this much easier. This will immediately cool the brine. Once all the ice melts, I place the brine in the fridge to get cold. I don't take any chances by putting the meat in a brine that isn't below 40-degrees. Once the brine has chilled, place the pork butt in the brine. Let it brine for 12-13 hours.
After brining, rinse well, coat in yellow mustard and rub, and you're ready for the smoker! I know there are some that say you should never brine a pork butt, but you'll find it to be the most moist and flavorful pulled pork you'll ever have! Let me know if you have any improvements or variations!
Step 2 - Rub:
Memphis Dust Recipe
Yield. Makes about 3 cups. Store any extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.
Preparation time. 10 minutes to find everything and 5 minutes to dump them together.
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
Step 3 - Finishing Sauce:
The Finishing Sauce I use is as follows:
1 Cup Cider Vinegar
5+ Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Warm the Vinegar up enough so that it disolves the Sugar well. Then add the remaining ingredients. Increase or decrease the sugar or heat depending on your tastes....
