Pulled Pork

I love Big Butts!

Spring has sprung and it time to get out doors. I love to cook on my gas Lynx grill. There is nothing like eating grilled chicken or ribs on a nice cool evening. I also have a Weber kettle which I have been using to smoke ribs.

This year I wanted to learn how to cook perfect ribs and pulled pork. So I purchased a smoker with the intent of learning the art of Smokology. For a great over view of Smoking see Smoking 101. I did my research and decided to by a water smoker, the Pro-Q Excel 20 Smoker from Fred’s Music & BBQ Supply . I learned that a critical part of smoking is cooking and maintaining the temperature so I had to buy a Maverick Smoker Thermometer . You got to have the gadgets.

Let get down to Cooking

The Rub - Southern Succor Rub

1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup Brown sugar
2 Tablespoons table salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

The Mop

2 Cup Apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

2 Tsp crushed red pepper

3 Tbsp ketchup

1 Tbsp kosher salt

2 Tsp black pepper

Carolina BBQ Sauce by Chef Richard McPeake

(This recipe is not shown)

¼ cup oil

2 Tbsp Shallots

6 cloves fresh garlic

1 cup Apple cider vinegar

1 Tsp Celery Seed

1 Tbsp Dry Mustard

1 Tsp Chili power

3/4 Brown Sugar

1 ½ Ketchup

½ cup Water

1 Tsp crushed red pepper

Method

Gather your ingredients for the Rub
Mix all Rub ingredients
Prepare your Boston Pork Butt This is 2 Butts weighing 14.59 pounds purchased from Costco
Carve off the excess fat from the top
Prepare the Butt the night before 8 -12 hours. Coat the Butts in yellow Mustard Sprinkle the Rub on top and coat evenly. Make sure you cover all sides Refrigerate over night
Prepare your Smoker Fill your smoker with Briquettes and several large chunks of Hickory Chips Fill water pan with hot water Place Butts on grill and place in top rack Wait until Smoker reaches temperature 225 – 250 degrees
This is the easy part You need a lot of beer because you have a lot of time to cook No Peaking If your Looken your not Cooking Keep the lid closed Keep your smoker between 225 and 250 degrees Add coals as needed Cook ~ 1.5 hours per pound The butts will be done when the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees
Butts after 4 hours Notice the Bark starting to form Notice the digital probes at grill level and inserted into butt
Mopping Mopping is done to keep the meat moist There are many formulas as to when to mop. Here is what I like to did. It called the 50/50 method Start to Mop you Butt At the half way point. Then mop at every half way point going forward. So if the total cook time is 12 Hours 6 hours – Mop 9 hours – Mop 11.5 hours - Mop
The perfect cooking temperature between 225 – 250 degrees
The Butts are done
Remove from grill and cover with tin foil and let the meat rest for at lease a ½ hour
Start to pull the pork apart Notice the red smoke ring around the edges
Shred into small pieces. Make sure to chop up the barks and mix it throughout the pork

Southern Yellow Chicken Curry – Kang Kai Kole

Ingredients

3 lbs of Skinless boneless chicken thighs

2 19oz cans of Coconut milk – Mae Ploy brand

4 Extra large carrots

3 Large Potatoes

2 Tbsp Tamarind juice

Seasoning

5 Tbsp Tamarind juice

4 Tbsp Fish sauce

3 Tbsp Thai palm sugar

1 tsp salt

Curry Paste

Yellow Curry Paste

Method

Gather your ingredients
Grate the palm sugar and set aside
Make the Tamarind Juice Cut a nice size chunk of the Seedless Tamarind and soak in water fir 15 minutes Squeeze pulp to extract juices Repeat until Juice has a full consistency
Chop Potatoes and Carrots into medium bite size pieces
Technique: Cut carrots on a 45 degree angle and then roll the carrot ¼ turn cut again. This creates techniques creates unique shaped pieces
Cut potato into bites size pieces
Chop chicken into bite size pieces It is easy to chop the chicken when it is slightly for frozen
Gather everything next to your pot
Simmer 1 can of Coconut milk until the oils rise to the surface Then stir in the curry paste Add chicken and simmer of about 10 minutes Add Carrots and potatoes and second can of Coconut milk Simmer for approximately 45 minutes stirring constantly
When the chicken is almost done add all the Seasoning
Your done
Server with jasmine rice
I always make a extra for Lunch

Yellow Curry Paste

This is the Curry pasted used in Southern Yellow Chicken Curry - Kang Kai Sole.

It is very easy to make. I typically make a double batch so I can freeze it.

Ingredients

7 Dried Red Chilies
1/2 Cup shallots
10 Cloves Garlic
1tsp cinnamon power
1 tsp coriander seed powder
1 tsp Cumin power
1 tsp Powered Turmeric or Fresh Turmeric
2 t Shrimp paste

Method

Gather your ingredients
Soak the Dried Red Chiles in water for 30 minutes until soft
Peel and mince the Turmeric Use the power turmeric if you don’t have fresh
Skin the Garlic and Shallots
Slowly blend Chilies Garlic and shallots Add as much of the left over Chile water to blend the ingredients
Add Shrimp past and add remaining dry ingredients
Blend until Past until takes ona very thick consistency. Slowly add additional chili water to get the correct consistency
Your done