Pulled Pork and Ribs

Before I begin the post I am going to give a community service announcement for home BBQ'ers:

Go easy on the wood chips. A little smoke goes a long way. No one likes the taste of ashtrays, and that is what your food will taste like if you use too many wood chips or do multiple rounds of wood chips. You are allowed one double handful of woodchips per day.

Yesterday I fired up the smoker for some pulled pork and ribs. The furriest little one stood guard as things were smoking.

Smoked Pork Shoulder

You need a 7 or 8 pound pork shoulder, butt portion.

Ye Olde Rub
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup brown sugar
2 T salt
2 t dry mustard
1 t cayenne
1 t celery salt
1 t ground ginger
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder

Rub the pork down with the rub and sit it in the fridge overnight.Baste pork with melted butter every 1 to 2 hours during the smoking, or whenever you have the lid off for another purpose. It will take about an hour to an hour and a half per pound. Smoke until the meat hits 180 degrees.

When the pork hits 180 degrees it will be fall apart tender. In the photo above you can see that the pork fell apart because of its own weight in the smoker. Let the pork cool a little bit and then shred it. Remove the fat as you are shredding.

Mr. Duck posed with the pork.

A really good BBQ sauce for this pork is my new favorite sauce - honey mustard BBQ sauce. I've been working on this recipe for some time. I love it but it is a hard sell up North here because people are more used to ketchup based sauce of Kansas City fame.

Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce
1 cup vinegar
½ cup prepared yellow mustard
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic
1 ½ t salt
½ onion, minced
1/3 cup water
1 t paprika
½ t cayenne
½ t fresh ground black pepper
1 t ground ginger
½ T soy sauce
2 T butter

Combine everything, bring to a simmer. When onions and garlic are soft, blend in the blender until smooth. While sauce is till in the blender add:

¼ cup honey
Sugar to taste

How to Trim Spare Ribs

I like spare ribs better than back ribs. Spare ribs have more meat on them but require a little trimming. I found a good video on youtube that explains how to do it. Check out how good this guy is with a knife!

Smoked Spare Ribs

Rib Rub

Enough for 1 slab

1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup paprika
1 T black pepper
1 T salt
1/2 T chili powder
½ T garlic powder
½ T onion powder
1/2 t cayenne

These require about 4 1/2 hours in the smoker. During the last hour, baste with some BBQ sauce.

Here is the recipe for my Kansas City style BBQ sauce. Most people like this sauce pretty well. I'm not saying what DS stands for. My friend Raff eats it on his mac and cheese!

DS BBQ Sauce

Makes a squeeze bottle worth or about 2 cups.

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
2 T molasses
1/3 c vinegar
1 t paprika
2 dashes cayenne pepper
1 t black pepper
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t celery salt
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t MSG
5 T sugar or more or less to taste

Mix everything up in a bowl. The sauce tastes better as it ages, so make it up a day or two in advance. It should keep as long in the fridge as ketchup would.

Last night we had company up. NJ and Easy E really like Uncle Ben's so I served some. I love Uncle Ben's because we must have had it like 4 times a week when I was growing up. In the photo above you can see how I like my pulled pork. I like the slaw on top of the pork. You need to make a vinegar slaw if you want to try it on the bun. Creamy slaws don't work. Here is my recipe:

Celery Seed Coleslaw

1 large head of cabbage, finely shredded
1 medium bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium sweet onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated

Dressing:
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup cider vinegar


Combine coleslaw vegetable ingredients; chopped cabbage, chopped bell pepper, chopped onions, and grated carrots in a large serving bowl.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved; pour over vegetables and toss well. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Enough slaw for 8 to 10 servings. Delicious with pulled pork!