Fortunately we live
out in the country and are right next door to my mother-in-law, in
fact we share a property line. As she is in her late 70's she really
just does not like to cook much anymore, so when the family gets
together, my wife and I cook most of the meals. Occasionally my
mother-in-law throws a frozen lasagna in the oven or has someone go
to town for pizza or barbecue and she picks up the tab. Last month
when some of the family was here, she sent my brother-in-law to town
to buy chopped barbecue brisket. I was shocked to find out that 3lb's
of chopped brisket with 16oz of barbecue sauce was $51.00 ($17.00 per
pound with the sauce). In fact, I almost fell out of my chair when I
saw the receipt, I mean that is crazy expensive.
As you can see from
this example, sometimes the downside to living in a small town can be
higher prices for some consumer items due to a lack of competition
(only one barbecue place in Canton). Before I went to culinary
school, I worked for a few years as a manager for Colter's BBQ and
Smokehouse here in North Texas. I learned everything there from
selecting the best wood and cuts of meat for smoking, to running the
pit as well as managing the staff. Now, I am no 'pit master', but
there is no way chopped beef brisket should cost this much. So I
needed to find a barbecue solution to my mother-in-law's craving for
the quick and easy 'Q'.
As always when we
are shopping we are looking for good deals on meat. We came across
some 10 to 12lb bone-in pork butts marked down to $1.19 lb, needless
to say we bought both of them for a total of $25.59. The goal was to
make barbecue pulled pork from these pork butts and them vacuum seal
them in 1lb packages and place them in the freezer for when the
family gets together next time. On average, the yield from a beef
brisket or pork butt is about 60% of the actual weight of the
uncooked meat give or take 10%. So even if these pork butts only
yielded 50% of their original weight (21.51lbs), I would still have
10.75lbs of cooked pork butt which comes out to $2.38 per pound
(without the sauce or spice rub).
The Recipe
This recipe is
pretty simple, take your pork but out of the cryovac package and then
apply your barbecue rub of choice. Now a traditional North Carolina
pulled pork rub is somewhat different than a Texas style rib rub.
Having said all of that, I prefer to use my rib rub recipe on my
pulled pork. I know, I can hear the so called 'BBQ' connoisseur's
screaming blasphamy… So shoot me, I like my rub better, and I am
cooking for me and my family. Having said that, I have included two
rub recipes from the 'BBQ Smoker Cookbook' that I am writing as well
as two different styles of barbecue sauce. So you can choose to go
for the more bold flavors of Texas barbecue, or a more traditional
North Carolina style pulled pork rub. The choice as always is yours.
1 bone-in pork butt
(10.5lb)
1 to 1 ½ cups
barbecue rub of your choice (see below)
1 to 1 ½ cups
barbecue sauce of you choice (see below)
Take your bone-in
pork butt and coat it thoroughly with the bar-be-cue rub of your
choice. Then place the brisket in a dutch oven or large roasting pan
of your choice. Place the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 225
degrees for 10 to 12 hours or until the internal temperature of the
meat is greater than 170 degrees.
Chef's Note: I
prefer to use my enamel coated cast iron dutch oven as it has thick
walls and heats evenly helping to regulate the temperature more
evenly than thin walled roasting pans. You could throw the pork butt
in your slow cooker if you have one big enough and cook it overnight.
According to the 'Crock-Pot' website a 6-7lb pork butt takes 9 ½
hours on low and 7 ½ hours on high so you will have to adjust your
cook times depending on the size of roast you are using.
Texas Style Rib Rub
(The One I used)
This is my own
version of a Texas style rib rub that I developed after working for
years in a local Texas barbecue
establishment and lots of experiment. It is my “go to” rib rub
when preparing ribs for my friends and
family. I have found that this rub compliments my own Texas style
barbecue sauce very well and I use them in combination to make my
favorite ribs as well as the pulled pork in this article.
1 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons chili
powder
4 tablespoons garlic
powder
4 tablespoons onion
powder
4 tablespoons
paprika
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black
pepper
2 teaspoons red
pepper
2 teaspoons cumin,
ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon,
ground
Mix spices together
and store in an airtight container until ready to use. Makes about 1
¾ cups of dry rib rub, store
in a cool dark place and shake jar well before each use.
Carolina Style
Pulled Pork Rub
Pork is a mild white
meat that really absorbs subtle flavors well. This is my version of
Steven Raichlen's North
Carolina pulled pork recipe from his book “The Barbecue Bible”. I
lived in Raleigh-Durham North
Carolina (known as the Piedmont region) for about eight months in the
mid 1990's and I believe that this
dry rub is a good representation of the NC style of pulled pork. Of
course, I had to make a few minor
changes to Steven's original recipe, but I guarantee you will find
this rub both authentic and
delicious.
½ cup paprika
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated
sugar
¼ cup celery salt
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon black
pepper
1 tablespoon white
pepper
1 tablespoon dry
mustard
1 tablespoon chili
powder
Mix together and
store in an airtight container until ready to use. Makes about 1 ½
cups of dry rub, store in a cool dark place and shake jar well before
each use.
The Sauce
While the rub is
your foundation of flavor, your sauce rounds out, or finishes off the
overall flavor profile of the meat you are cooking. Don't get me
wrong, this pulled pork is great just as it is without the sauce, but
if you are going to eat it in a pulled pork sandwich or in tacos, you
will need some form of sauce to fully enjoy the flavors of the
sandwich. As with the rub, I prefer my own Texas Style barbecue
sauce, however I have also included a North Carolina style 'piedmont'
sauce (also from the cookbook in which I am writing) for a more
traditional style North Carolina style pulled pork.
Texas Style Barbecue
Sauce
This barbecue sauce
is not only great, but it is the foundation or basis of many of
variations of ketchup or tomato based barbecue sauces that I have
created over time. It is my go to sauce because it is quick and easy
to make.
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
½ cup apple cider
vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons
Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
2 teaspoons
cilantro, dried (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili
powder
½ teaspoon mustard
powder
½ teaspoon black
pepper
½ teaspoon red
pepper
In a medium saucepan
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover
and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thick and coats the
back of a spoon. Remove sauce from heat and cool, makes about 3 cups.
If you like a thicker sauce, decrease the amount of water to ½ or ¾
cup or you can just cook it down until it reaches your desired
thickness.
North Carolina Style
Barbecue Sauce
I first encountered
this style of barbecue sauce when I lived in the Raleigh-Durham area
of North Carolina. Like
everything, most cooks have their own particular take on this vinegar
based barbecue sauce that
is most often used on pulled pork. My particular variation includes
the addition of garlic, onion and
chili powders which I feel gives it an enhanced flavor profile.
However, if you want a more basic or I hate
to say “traditional” sauce simply omit these. This thin vinegary,
tangy sweet barbecue sauce is
great on pulled pork and other smoked meats, and can generally be
found in both North and South
Carolina and is often called “Piedmont” or “Lexington Style”
barbecue sauce.
1 cup apple cider
vinegar
1 cup water
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon onion
powder
1 tablespoon garlic
powder
2 teaspoons red
pepper flakes
2 teaspoons brown
sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black
pepper
½ teaspoon chili
powder
½ teaspoon paprika
In a medium saucepan
combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10
minutes, then remove from heat and cool before bottling in a squeeze
bottle. Makes about 2 cups.
Cost Comparison
I am not going to do
an in depth cost comparison when it comes to making your own pulled
pork. Overall with rub and sauce, it is safe to say you can cook this
pulled pork for less than $4.00 per pound at home. Here in North
Texas are just a few barbecue place's and their price for one pound
of chopped brisket or pulled pork.
Backwoods Barbecue
(Canton) $17.00lb for chopped brisket.
Bodacious Barbecue
$16.25lb for both chopped brisket and pulled pork.
Colter's 'Texas
Style' Barbecue $13.95lb for chopped brisket.
Dickey's Barbecue
$10.95lb for both chopped brisket and pulled pork.
Spring Creek
Barbecue $14.95lb for chopped brisket, $13.45lb for pulled pork.
So $4.00lb for home
made pulled pork versus $17.00 a pound for chopped beef is quite a bit
of difference. So in the worst case scenario such as with Backwoods,
the chopped brisket was 76% more expensive than making it at home.
The best price was at Dickey's Barbecue and even at $10.95lb they
were still 64% more expensive than cooking you own pulled pork at
home.
Conclusion
Making your own
pulled pork at home is easy, delicious, and way cheaper than if you
purchased it at your local barbecue joint. The only downside to this
recipe is that you do not get that smokehouse flavor. If you really
want that smokehouse twang, you can add ½ teaspoon liquid smoke to
your barbecue sauce. While I have a couple of smokers here on the
homestead, and I prefer the flavor of smoked meats, not everyone has
access to a smoker, so I wanted to provide you with a recipe that
most of you could make.
Most of the
ingredients here are recommended in our minimalist pantry series and
most of you will have them in your pantry or refrigerator. So your
outlay to make this recipe should only be the additional cost of the
pork butt. Anyway, this is one of the recipes that my family loves
that I just do not make enough of, and I hope it will become one of
your families favorites as well. As always, if you have enjoyed this
article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send
us a friend request on our 'CulinaryYou' Facebook page and follow us
on Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.
Resources Used In
This Article:
BBQ Smoker Cookbook,
By Todd Gamel (currently in editing phase)
Other
Money Saving Articles On Our Blog:
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