Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Pork Butt

"One of the traditional cuts of meat used for barbecue is the whole pork shoulder or more commonly in California, the Boston Butt. Despite the name 'butt' the cut is from the shoulder of the hog, not the butt, where the hams are located. "

Even though I am from California (can I say that here?) I did not know what a pork butt was (well, I thought I did but was wrong) when I first came here. We had just moved in our house and that weekend, the neighbors put together a "welcome to the neighborhood" barbecue. While enjoying the friendliness that was uncommon to us in our previous home, I began to wonder if we had chosen the right place to live.

On the one hand, I didn't want to hurt them by refusing their wonderful offer, but on the other, I had to question the sanity of anyone who would eat something that was from the nether regions. Kind of like I wonder why anyone would want to eat liver. Get my drift?

My reservations not withstanding, we went, and I gamely tried the pork butt (it had been smoked all day) and found it to be quite palatable. Ok, I really loved it and even had a second piece but that's not the point. As the wine flowed, and the tongues loosened, I mentioned something about the fact that I didn't think I would have liked anything having to do with a butt. When the laughter died down, my neighbor wiped the tears from his eyes and proceeded to explain to me the parts of a pig, and how that related to the names of meat.

Doh.

From that point on, I was hooked and was later introduced to "pulled pork." Luckily I cut my imagination just short of picturing Billy Joe and Beauregard, each standing at the end of the pig (front and back) and pulling the pig. Phew. I love pulled pork. It's even better when you have a large heaping spoonful of cole slaw to go with it. I was taught by my co-workers to eat the two of them together. On a side note, I didn't realize how much I loved cole slaw until I moved to the south. It's a lot different that what I'm used to. I also love to put it on my hot dogs and my pulled pork sandwiches. But I digress, which if you are one of my three loyal readers, shouldn't surprise you much.

I stay away from collard greens and fried chicken gizzards, and black eyed peas are something that should be thrown at your brother, but I've certainly found plenty of different foods here that I enjoy.

I wanted to try my hand at making my own pulled pork so I began to search the web. I wanted to see if it could be done in a crockpot. It had to be easy to make. A lot of the recipes called for rubs and such. Bah. Too much work. I ended up compiling a couple of recipes, and the following is my take on "The California Girls Guide to Making Crockpot Pulled Pork." I apologize in advance because the pictures don't do it justice.


The Butt



This one was right around 6 pounds or so. I cut off all of the visible fat I could before I started to prepare it.

Adding the garlic



After determining that it was difficult to get all of the fat off, I went on to the next step, which was adding the cloves of garlic. For most recipes, they used about 4-6 cloves but that was mainly for about 4 pounds of meat. We love garlic, so I decided to go out on a limb and put more on. It's a simple step. Just take a knife and put holes in the butt and stuff the clove into the hole. Just remember that your hands are going to smell like garlic for the next few days. Most recipes call this "studding the butt." (that's not a good visualization I know, but hang with me here, it will get better)

Slicing the onions



I don't think I have to go any farther with this one. Slice two onions for this recipe, and it doesn't matter what the thickness is. I would recommend making them thicker as they will be easier to remove when you are ready to "pull."

At this point, sprinkle the butt with salt and pepper, and put the onions away in a sack (this is, of course, if you prepare it the night before, which is what I do because I like coming home to work to find dinner already done.

The first layer



When you are ready to begin cooking, place one of the onions in a layer in the bottom of your crockpot, and then lay the butt on top of them.

The second layer



Place the second onion on top of the butt, in another layer and add at least two cups of water. For a six pounder, I added about 3 cups.

Pulling the butt



After cooking it on low all day, it's time to go to the next step. Pulling the pork. I found that working with two forks is the best method. I also used tongs to pull the meat out. It will be really tender and will fall apart when you do this. Use the forks to pull apart the meat or "shred it" and put it in a separate bowl as you work. While going through this process, remove and discard the garlic and onions.

The sauce



Here is where the recipe can vary. You can add the sauce now, or let your guests choose what they want to add when you serve it. My family tends to like the sauce added in it so that's what I do. You can also add chopped onions at this point but since I have a child who can spot an onion on the 40 yard line, I skip this step.

The finished product



This is what it looks like if you add the barbecue sauce right away. Heat it up and you're set to go. I made some cole slaw (the easy way) to go with it, and served it with toasted buns.


The cole slaw



Taking care of two children, and working full time, tends to make me simplify things. For my cole slaw I used the bagged variety, and buy our favorite brand of cole slaw dressing. I add a little celery seed, mix it up and am set to go.

Enjoy!

7 Comments:

Blogger Moogie said...

I must confess that I would probably be one of those who would bring an empty plate to the bbg. :) Thanks for responding!

6:45 AM  
Blogger Sharon said...

Moogie, I loved this post and I am going to try this recipe, absolutely!! Thanks for sharing this!!

6:56 AM  
Blogger Moogie said...

You are quite welcome Sharon. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was thinking of perhaps posting recipes from time to time, perhaps making a blog about it where anyone could contribute.

7:05 AM  
Blogger Sharon said...

I think that is an excellent idea...I would certainly read it!

6:06 PM  
Blogger Moogie said...

Do you think I should put it in a separate blog or keep it on the one I have now?

6:56 PM  
Blogger Sharon said...

I think a separate blog would be fun to play with...that's just my opinion though...

6:20 AM  
Blogger Moogie said...

Sounds like a plan. I think it will be fun if we can get people to participate and send in recipes to add.

8:01 AM  

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