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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Gameday Recipe, Inaugural Edition

Every other week or so, yours truly will post a tried and true grilling recipe for your gameday consumption. You won't need anything more than a charcoal and/or gas grill, an oven, or a crock pot, and the recipes will be easy to follow. Enjoy and post a comment if you try one of these.

Today I give you my pulled pork recipe.....

Supplies
-charcoal
-a charcoal grill, preferably with a deep base such as a Weber kettle
-4-6 hickory wood chunks or a buttload of hickory wood chips
-disposable foil roasting pan
-an oven

Ingredients
-4 to 6lb bone-in pork roast (Boston butt)
-suggested rub mix: brown sugar, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt in whatever measurements you like
-whatever BBQ sauce you like

Prep time: about 2 hours
Cooking time: about 5 1/2 hours

1. Mix all rub ingredients in small bowl, apply to pork butt, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least an hour.

2. At least 1 hour prior to cooking, remove pork butt from refrigerator, unwrap, and let it come to room temperature. Soak 4 (3-inch) wood chunks in cold water to cover for 1 hour and drain. Meanwhile, light about 40 charcoal briquettes (use a chimney starter or electric starter, lighter fluid is not recommended) and burn until all the charcoal is covered with a layer of fine gray ash.

3. Empty the coals into the grill; build a modified two-level fire by spreading the coals onto one side of the grill, piling them up in a mound 2 or 3 briquettes high, leaving the other half with no coals. Open the bottom vents completely. Place the soaked wood chunks on the coals. Position the cooking grate over the coals, cover the grill, and heat until hot, about 5 minutes (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 2 seconds). Make sure the cooking grate is clean.

4. Set unwrapped pork butt in disposable pan and place it on grate opposite the fire like this:

Open grill lid vents three-quarters of the way and cover, turning lid so that vents are opposite chunks to draw smoke through the grill. Cook, adding about 8 briquettes every hour or so to maintain an average temperature of 275 degrees, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the roast.

5. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place roast in pan and wrap with heavy-duty foil to cover completely. Place pan in oven and cook until meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.

6. After the 2 hours in the oven, turn oven off and let the roast sit in the oven for about 30 minutes. Transfer roast to cutting board and unwrap. When cool enough to handle, "pull" pork apart by tearing it into shreds so that it looks roughly like this:

Place shredded meat in large bowl; toss with 1/2 to 1 cup barbecue sauce, adding more to taste.

Serve the pulled pork however you like - a lot of people like pulled pork sandwiches on a toasted bun with pickles, but I prefer a big ol' plate o' pork with some sauce and whatever side dish is available.

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