Award Winning Competition Barbecue Pork Butt Recipe

[lostclusters]

I saw this the other evening while searching for different rubs for pork. I could not believe the reviews it got! This one from Terry S. convinced me I needed to post it here: "I have tried alot of different pulled pork recipes, this one was by far the best! Everyone that tried it said it was awesome. I used it a few weeks ago in a competition and it was a huge hit with peoples choice. There were so many that came back for seconds and thirds that I lost count."

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/award-winning-competition-barbecue-pork-butt-recipe-recipe-1948219

Ingredients

One 8-pound pork butt
Brine, recipe follows
Garlicky Marinade, recipe follows
Dry Rub, recipe follows
Cider Mop Spray, recipe follows
Barbeque Sauce, recipe follows

Brine:

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Garlicky Barbecue Marinade:

1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Dry Rub:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup dry mustard
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons crab boil seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Cider Mop Spray:

1 cup apple juice
1 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Barbecue Sauce:

2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup smoked bacon, cut into rectangles about 1-inch long and 1/2-inch wide
1/2 cup sweet (Vidalia or Maui) onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup apple juice
Cider vinegar

Directions

Special equipment: 4 cups wood chips, soaked in water for 1 hour

Preheat a charcoal grill to 225 degrees F. Carefully edge the coals to 1 side and then add 1/2 cup drained wood chips. Place 1 cup of water in metal drip pan on opposite side.

Inject the pork butt with brine about every 2-inches and then rub with marinade and dust with Dry Rub. Place the pork on the grill, directly over the drip pan and cook. Be sure to replenish the coals as the temperatures drops, the chips as the smoke dissipates and the water in the drip pan.

After 6 hours, spray the pork with Cider Mop every half hour. Cook until a thermometer placed into the thickest part of pork reaches 195 degrees F. Transfer to a platter, brush with the sauce and let rest 30 minutes. To serve, slice into 1/2-pound servings, place on plates and serve with extra sauce alongside.
Brine:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl until the salt and sugar dissolve and then place into meat syringe for immediate brining or reserve, refrigerated, for later use.
Garlicky Barbecue Marinade:

Place all ingredients into a blender and puree. Remove to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until needed.
Dry Rub:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well and store in an air tight container for later use.
Cider Mop Spray:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well to combine and store in the refrigerator until needed.
Barbecue Sauce:

Heat the oil in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned and crispy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the onion, garlic, onion power, garlic powder, black pepper, and cloves. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and water and then bring to a simmer. Stir in the ketchup, mustard, honey, preserves and juice and then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and season with the vinegar. Remove the bacon with a spider and discard. Puree the mixture with a hand blender and then cool and reserve for later use.

Cook's Note
What to drink: American Lager Beer

This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional. It has not been tested for home use.

Recipe courtesy Adam Perry Lang from Daisy May's

[Huskee]

Soak the wood? Eek! Wow is that ever involved, if it tastes anything equal to the effort involved to make it, it'll be amazing!

[lostclusters]

Soak the wood? Eek! Wow is that ever involved, if it tastes anything equal to the effort involved to make it, it'll be amazing!

Yeah, there will be some elements to be ignored and/or transformed. But I think the general ideas are worth pursuing. I am trying it my next cook.

[EdF]

Be sure to let us all know!

[Huskee]

Awesome! It sure sounds good, I'll wait for your critique. Just might beat the pants off of the standard rub & smoke. I'd be all for trying out everything but the saucing.

[JCGrill]

Brine, marinade, rub, sauce. Lots of work. Let me know how it goes.

[lostclusters]

Brine, marinade, rub, sauce. Lots of work. Let me know how it goes.

I will most likely combine the brine and marinade to a brinerade, being mindful to keep the salt to a half a tsp per pound and inject it. The rub minus the salt will be used like you would think. I'll use the spray to get more smoking goodness and flavor to the meat. And the sauce I'll reserve to the end on the side. That is what is bouncing around in my head now.

[CandySueQ]

Good plan!

[lostclusters]

I just did some digging on the recipes author Adam Perry Lang. This guys is no slouch: http://www.adamperrylang.com/about

[dtassinari]

That dry rub is what, 12-15% chili powder? I hope you like your pulled pork on the spicy side...

[dtassinari]

Good point: it's just a bit hotter than I usually see around here. Then again, the kind of chili is just as important. Thanks!

[DeusDingo]

i went looking at various rubs for pork and there are A LOT of rubs that are primarily chili powder. i was surprised.

[lostclusters]

I have not looked that closely at the ingredients yet except for the salt. I will most likely reduce the chili a bit. Don't like it too hot.

[Jon Solberg]

Nice post. Thank you for the share.

[lostclusters]

I really appreciate the critique of the recipe. I am just a beginner here and do not have the experience some have. I do not want to kill it in a bad way.

[dtassinari]

Whoa, hey, that was just my impression! Like Meathead says, if you trust a source, the first time you should try it as presented. I'm definitely not as knowledgeable as whoever wrote the recipe!

[lostclusters]

So I took the plunge and did a cook Adam Perry Lang style. How would I describe it? Involved and time consuming. Too much so? No. Results - Pretty darn good! I will be doing all my pork butt this way from now on. Did I follow the recipes exactly? No. I adapted them as closely as I could to fit the methods prescribed on this site.

Recipes used:
Main Recipe - Bone-in Pork Butt with Green Apple and Crushed Hot Red Pepper.

Recipe for the APL BBQ sauce ingredient in main recipe - APL BBQ Sauce.

Recipe for the Apple/Cider Mop Spray is in this recipe - Award Winning Competition Barbecue Pork Butt Recipe.

I will be posting my adaptation of these recipes in my next post later today. I just wanted to get this posted now before I start cleaning up from my cook yesterday. I chose this over the Award Winning Competition Barbecue Pork Butt Recipe because it looked like I would like the results better.

[ecowper]

I've got one of Adam Perry Lang's cookbooks, Charred & Scruffed, and I intend to start in on some of the recipes now. I spent a bunch of time reading and absorbing his approach to BBQ/grilling.

The marinade/rub looks really interesting lostclusters. Typically, I am a "less is more" kind of guy and keep my rubs and such very simple. Letting the meat and smoke stand on its own is my normal approach. BUT I am intrigued by Lang's cooking and willing to try his ideas to see if I can take it all to a new level.

[lostclusters]

Ok here we go ...

.25 tsp salt per pound of meat rubbed on 24 hrs ahead of cook. There is plenty of salty stuff in the recipes that you will not need any more. I used 27lbs of pork butt. If you do not have one get a food grade spray bottle before you do this, if that matters to you.

Injection - Did not use Maggi sauce, could not find any. I used soy sauce.

Seasoning blend - Used garlic powder not salt. Did not use any of the salt here. Did not use the oil. I used Ancho Chile Pepper. I do not like stuff too spicy. I do not consider this spicy at all. I made the apple juice spray from the recipe noted above. I also used some of the combination mixture of the Mustard Moisturizer and Wrapping Mixture (M&W) to spray as well.

Mustard Moisturizer and Wrapping Mixture (M&W) - I was pretty sure I was not wrapping (but I ultimately did) so I adjusted them and combined these into one. I did not use the mustard or butter. Instead I squeezed mustard on to the meat like you see in videos and rubbed it in. Then I spooned on the M&W combo and rubbed that in. It did not run off like you would imagine. It pretty much stayed put. If it runs off you used too much.

I then sprinkled on the seasoning blend and rubbed that in. It was not a heavy application. Medium to lightish. Sorry, I can not be more precise than that. Then off to the smoker, my KBQ! Which did a superb job. I used a mix of hickory and cherry wood. When the meat starts to dry on the surface, for me it was somewhere between 2-3 hours, I sprayed with the apple juice spray. And then sprayed again every time the surface became dry again. I sprayed twice with the apple juice spray and then twice with the left over M&W mixture, and then back to the apple until it came off the smoker. I smoked for 8.5 hrs. I was running out of time so I took it off the smoker, wrapped, and in the oven it went at 325 F, convection bake. I took it out the oven when it reached 200 F, about 2 hrs later. Then I was off to my dinner engagement.

While the pork was smoking I made the BBQ sauce.
APL BBQ sauce - Also used Ancho chile pepper. No jalapeno.

Recipe BBQ sauce - I only used .5 tsp crushed red pepper for a double recipe. That was enough for me. Your mileage may vary. I did not use any salt.

The dinner guests could not stop eating it. I heard things like "My goodness this stuff is addictive!" and "Wow! I have not had anything like this before." and my favorite "This is the best BBQ I have ever had, period". Out of the 27 lbs I smoked I have only about 5 lbs left, and that is what I did not take to the dinner and what was not used to appease my neighbors. Yes, I guess you could say it was a hit.