Time is essential because barbecue is slow cooked to dissolve and soften the connective tissues and fats in the tougher cuts of meat traditionally used (like pork butt). Smoke from hardwood trees like hickory, mesquite, oak, apple, and maple are used to impart flavor to the meat.

Pulled Pork Barbecue

About a week ago we looked at how to smoke in a charcoal grill. This is possible for cuts of meat, like ribs, that do not require many hours of cooking time. For a cut like pork butt, it’s best to use a smoker. The smoker will allow for a longer cooking time, better heat control, and  good smoke penetration.
For this smoking session, I bought a 7 pound pork butt, borrowed a smoker, made some North Carolina style vinegar-based sauces, and had a selection of Sticky Fingers sauces available.

There are a few different strategies when it comes to smoking a pork butt. I wanted to use the simplest method possible to let my friends compare the sauces so I just put the pork in the smoker and didn’t touch it for 14 hours. What did I get as a result of using the easiest, least intensive method of cooking? Fantastic pulled pork and a group of happy, well-fed friends.

Variations on the cooking method include brining, using a dry rub, and basting. I skipped all these optional steps to keep the preparation simple and the flavors consistent. A brine would have altered the texture, a dry-rub would have altered the flavor, and opening the smoker to baste the pork would have let the smoke out. The purpose was to compare the sauces, not to experiment with different preparation and cooking styles.

The most popular sauces were the eastern North Carolina ketchup and vinegar sauce, the Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet and the Sticky Fingers Habanero Hot. If you haven’t tried the vinegar-based sauces before, it’s worth making a batch. I have included two NC styles of barbecue sauce after the pork recipe.

Basic Barbecue Pulled Pork
Makes about 10 servings
Special equipment needed for this recipe: a smoker.
Almost any hard wood can be used. Wood from fruit trees, like apple or cherry, is popular as it lends sweetness to the meat. Hard woods, like hickory or mesquite, will result in a strong wood flavor. I used all hickory.

Ingredients
1 6-8 pound pork butt (either bone-in or boneless is fine, mine was bone in)
This is also commonly called a Boston butt, shoulder blade roast, or pork shoulder.

Directions

1. Rinse the pork and pat it dry. Remove most of the fat cap from the top –don’t worry, there will still be plenty of fat within the meat to keep it moist as it cooks. You don’t have to be very thorough removing the fat, much of it will render out of the meat.
2. Load the smoker with wood chips, wood chunks, or natural lump charcoal as directed by the manufacture’s instructions. If your smoker has a water tray, fill this with water, beer, or soda to impart extra flavor to the meat. I used about 1/3 beer and 2/3 water.
   

   Barbecue Pork Butt

3. Put the meat in the smoker with the fat cap facing up. Adjust the heat so that the smoker stays in the 225-250F range (internal meat temperature should peak at 190F). Cook the meat at least 8 hours. I let mine cook for 14 hours. I’ve seen some people smoke their pork for almost 24 hours. The key here is to cook the meat until it is tender, not just until it is cooked through. The extended cooking time ensures that the connective tissue softens and dissolves.   
   

   Get some friends to do the work pulling the pork.

4. Once you are satisfied with your cooking time, remove the meat from the smoker and let it rest on a plate tented with foil for 15-30 minutes. If it looks dark brown and crusty around the outside, you’ve done all well. That “outside brown”, as it’s called, is arguably the best part of the barbecue and should be well mixed in to allow everybody to get some.
5. To pull the pork, use forks or tongs to separate the meat. For chopped pork, pull it loosely and chop with a large knife.
6. Apply barbecue sauce and serve. Or leave the meat ‘dry’ and provide a selection of sauces to try.

Trays of Pulled Pork. They dissappeared quickly.

Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
This thin, liquid sauce made with vinegar and ketchup is representative of eastern North Carolina. This one was preferred of the two NC sauces.

Ingredients
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
1/3 cup ketchup
1/8 cup hot sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons salt

Directions

1. Combine everything in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Western North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
This thin, liquid sauce made with primarily vinegar is representative of western North Carolina.

Ingredients
1 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions

1. Combine everything in a small bowl.
2. Mix well and allow ingredients to blend for about 4 to 8 hours.

Sticky Fingers Sauces

We mentioned that we were fans of the Carolina Sweet barbecue sauce when we made easy crock-pot pulled-pork. As we had some trouble getting their sauce, Sticky Fingers decided to help us out and not only did they send us some Carolina Sweet, but we also were able to sample their entire range of sauces and their dry rub. Click through for a review of each of their sauces and see which ones we liked.

Memphis Original
The Memphis Original barbecue sauce is an excellent example of a tomato based barbecue sauce. A little sweet, tomato-y and thick, this is the vanilla of their line up–and that’s a good thing. They give you exactly what you expect, a quality Memphis style sauce that gets it right.

Habanero Hot
Fans of hot sauce rejoice! Spicy barbecue sauce! Based on the Memphis Original, this version makes chili heads everywhere happy by turning up the heat with habanero peppers. This sauce took a few of us by surprise as the heat seems to build with each bite. This one will likely find its way into a regular rotation of sauces.

Carolina Classic
This is the Sticky Fingers take on a South Carolina mustard based sauce. I initially really enjoyed it, but the more I had it, the less I was impressed. As none of us had much experience with mustard-based barbecue sauces, the novelty of it wore off and we quickly reached for the next sauce. We came to the conclusion that this would go well with chicken nuggets as a substitute for honey mustard.

Carolina Sweet
It is easy to see why Sticky Fingers claims that this sauce is the key ingredient in their most popular rib dish. The sauce feels like a sweeter version of the Memphis Original that somehow avoids overdosing on a good thing. This one was, and still is, our favorite of the bunch. (If only they would make a Habanero Hot version of this sauce…)

Tennessee Whiskey
This was the least liked of the barbecue sauces. We had high hopes for this as bourbon and barbecue seemed like an obvious match, but after tasting this combination, we’ll keep them separate. This sauce tasted the most manufactured of the group as it seemed to have a mild chemical taste. A few points for an interesting attempt, but they are docked immediately for poor execution.

Dry Rub
This was a great representation of a restaurant style dry rub. The combination of paprika, garlic, cayenne, salt and other spices is mild enough to let the pork flavor shine through on dry-style ribs, but pronounced enough to make you miss it if you forget to add it. Just heavily dust your ribs (or any other meat) before cooking it and you are good to go. For extra flavor, dust it one last time right before eating it.

Thoughts and Favorites
I’m big on making your own sauces from natural ingredients so the use of MSG in most of their sauces is a mark against them. In their defense, many barbecue joints use MSG, and even more store bought sauces contain it, so the fact that Sticky Fingers use it is not surprising. Many people would likely notice the exclusion of MSG as it has become standard fare in most barbecue sauces. Still, I’d like to see these sauces without this addition.

Overall, Sticky Fingers makes good sauces that go with a variety of meats–not just ribs or pulled pork. The flavors vary and they represent most of the major barbecue styles (the notable exception being the North Carolina vinegar based sauces). With the help of a group of friends all too eager to taste test, we were quickly able to pick out the favorites (those bottles were quickly emptied). The most used sauce was Carolina Sweet. This was, and still is at the top of our list as a thick barbecue sauce. When we saw people fighting for the Habanero Hot, we knew there was another winner in the group. It seems a lot of our friends can take the heat. And finally, the Memphis Original rounded out the group of favorites because it didn’t try to be anything else other than a classic, no nonsense barbecue sauce.

Disclosure
These barbecue sauces were sent to us courtesy of Sticky Fingers. The sauces can be purchased directly from Sticky Fingers online, other retailers like Amazon, or grocery stores nation-wide.

Memphis style dry ribs.

For dry ribs, it’s not strictly necessary to have a smoker to achieve perfectly good barbecue. You can get excellent results with a standard grill and some soaked wood chips. The reason a grill can produce such good results is that, compared to pulled pork, ribs are cooked hotter and faster–350F for an hour or two instead of seven, twelve or even eighteen hours for pork shoulder (aka pork butt). The one shortcut you can’t take is on the smoke. Without smoke, it’s not barbecue, it’s just grilling.

A plate of dry ribs.

Looks good doesn’t it? The only complaint I heard was that I didn’t make enough! Detailed instructions to making your own barbecue on a grill are after the jump.

I want to thank Sticky Fingers for sending me some dry rub to use on my first attempt at Memphis style ribs. Over the next week expect a full write up on their sauces and their dry rub.

The recipe makes enough for 4, 6 if you serve lots of side dishes.
Cooking time is between 2-3 hours.

Ingredients
2 baby back pork ribs (Also sometimes called “loin back ribs”, though loin back ribs are normally a bit bigger and meatier.)
dry rub mixture (I used Sticky Fingers dry rub, but see below for a recipe to make your own.)

Also needed
natural lump charcoal (Remember that this meat will be bathed in smoke, if you use self lighting charcoal the meat will be exposed to all the chemicals in the briquettes–not good.)
wood chips (Any natural hardwood, like hickory can be used)
Heavy duty aluminum foil

Instructions
The day before
Fortunately, there is not much preparation with baby back ribs. It’s mostly just meat and bone. The one thing that should be done is to remove the membrane from the underside of the ribs. Removing the tough membrane will allow for better smoke penetration and make eating the ribs easier.
Turn your racks so that the underside of the ribs (the concave part) faces you. Use a butter knife to lift and pull up part of the membrane. Then grip the membrane with a paper towel (it will be too slippery to grasp with your fingers) and gently pull upwards to peel it off. It should come off in one piece. If it tears, just use your butter knife to lift the membrane and start again.

Insert the butter knife under the membrade to seperate it from the ribs.

Grasp the membrande with paper towel and pull to remove it.

It should lift off in one piece.

If there are fatty bits or loose tissue at the ends of the ribs, you can trim these with a knife. You can also use your butter knife to remove any extra fat. This isn’t strictly necessary as most will render out during the cooking process anyway.
Liberally apply the rub over both sides of the ribs. Don’t be shy about it, this is the only flavoring you are going to use. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerated over night.

Dry rub applied (liberally).

Day of barbecue
Soak several large handfuls of wood chips in water for at least an hour (I’d guess about 4 cups of chips). Place them onto a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and fold the foil to make a pouch for the chips. Use a skewer or a fork to poke lots of holes in the top of your foil pouch. I split my wood chips into two pouches.

Hickory wood chips for smoking.

Use the foil to make a pouch for the chips.

Use a skewer to poke holes in the top of the foil.

While the wood chips are soaking, start your grill. If using a gas grill, turn on only one burner on low heat. If using charcoal, pile 10-15 briquettes in a pyramid and light them. Make sure any bottom grill vents are fully open. Once the coals have white ash over them, spread them on the very edge of the on side of the grill.
Set the foil packet over the metal v-racks of your gas grill, or directly on top of the coals. Place the ribs on the opposite side of the grill from the foil packet and close the grill lid. If your grill lid has a top vent, position it so that the vent is opposite the foil packet (to encourage the smoke to be drawn across the rib racks).

The ribs after an hour.

After 15 minutes, you should see plenty of smoke coming out of the grill vents.

Leave the grill alone for 60-90 minutes. No peaking! The smoke will escape.Your grill thermometer should register between 325-350F during the cooking time. Check the ribs after they have been smoked for at least 60 minutes in this temperature range. You can test the tenderness of the meat by giving one of the bones a pull, if it gives a bit without too much effort, the meat is ready. Remove from the grill, sprinkle a bit more dry rub on it, and serve.

During my attempt, I was a bit light handed with the coals in the beginning and after about 45 minutes, I realized that my coals were almost spent. I removed the first foil wood-chip packet and added more coals. Once these coals lit, I put my second packet of wood chips on the grill. In my eagerness, I overdid it a bit with the second batch of coals and my grill got a bit hotter that ideal. I ended up with ribs that had a bit more char than I wanted. Mind you, they were delicious, there was no harm done. They were not burnt at all. Some even said they preferred it this way, crispy and smoky on the outside and tender through the meat.

Homemade dry rub
To make your own dry rub, combine the following ingredients:
1/2 cup table salt
1/4 cup ground black pepper
1 tablespoon powdered garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground celery seed
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder

Cross section of the rib, the pink/red color is caused by the smoke.

Cuegrass Festival Poster

There was a “Pigs on Parade” auction featuring piggy banks styled by local artists. The banks ranged from the cute, to the irreverent, to the detailed, to the disturbing. Proceeds from the auction went to support Feed the Farm a non-profit for helping local NC farmers.

Some local breweriers showed up to support the festival; both Aviator and LoneRider were there in style.

Local bluegrass bands on stage played to a friendly crowd. The Filmore Vally Boys, Town Mountain, and Old Habits got children happily dancing to their music while the parents were drinking the beers and munching some on some of Ed Mitchell’s barbecue.

Cuegrass Festival

Speaking of the barbecue, Ed Mitchell’s restaurant, The Pit, had stands to buy rib racks, pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, and grilled corn on the cob.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a sunny, early-Spring afternoon than a few pints of beer, some good live music and some barbecue fresh from the grill. The first, of hopefully many, Cuegrass Festival was a great success. (See more photos at the Flickr pool.)

BBQ

This is a classic crock-pot recipe that takes maybe 10 minutes of real work. You just let everything sit in the crock pot for 6 hours, pull the pork apart with some forks and cover with the sauce of your choice.
The sauce of choice around here isn’t even a homemade concoction. Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet gets you where you need to go: BBQ goodness.

BBQ

You’ll notice I am very vague in the proportions of food in the recipe. This is because the recipe is extremely flexible and can be scaled up to nearly as large a crock pot as you have or as many people as you want to feed. And the timing does not need to be precise. As with most crock pot recipes, it’s very forgiving on time.

Click through for the recipe and more pics.

BBQ

Ingredients

Chicken broth
boneless pork ribs
BBQ sauce (Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet is our choice)

Recipe

1. Put the pork into the crock pot and cover it with about two inches of chicken broth (yes, you can even use bouillon cubes to make your broth).
2. Set the crock-pot to the low heat setting. After about 5 or 6 hours, turn the heat to the higher setting for one more hour.
3. Remove the pork and pull it apart using forks and put into a casserole dish.
4. Put the dish into a 350 F oven for 5 to 10 minutes to heat it through and dry it a bit.
5. Mix in your BBQ sauce and serve. (Or serve it dry with a choice of sauces.)

P.S. Jillian is a friend who showed me this method of making BBQ.