Backyard Pork-a-thon: January 2012
Today was just about perfect: it snowed in the morning, later my son declared on his own "Daddy, i'd like to shovel the rink," the smoker was fired up at noon, we went for a road trip to get a kitten from a shelter, then I went for a night-time skate with the fresh smell of the final hour of a pork shoulder melting away in the smoker, and finally a barbecue feast of chopped pork sandwiches w/ coleslaw, vinegar sauce, baked beans, and my wife's canned pickles form the summer. Now that's a damn fine day.
I love to barbecue, and i love to shoot a few biscuits around the ice. Tonight I got to do both in my own backyard. I fired up the smoker around noon, and by 7 that night the shoulder was creeping up to 185. So i decided to lace up the skates and tool around the backyard rink while the shoulder got up to 190/195. There were a gazillion stars out, but even better was the overwhelming smell of pork and wood wafting over the rink:
An hour or so later i checked the temp gauge and the shoulder was at 193, here's what i found:
After letting it rest inside for about 20 minutes, I decided to chop the shoulder instead of pulling it. Probably 80% of the pork sandwiches I eat from barbecue joints are chopped, so I figured it was worth a shot at home. I noticed no difference in texture and taste, but it only took a third of the time to prepare it.... so it's hard to imagine i'll ever go back to pulling. Here are a few shots of the process:
And the final sandwich:
Awful lighting on that last shot... but a damn fine barbecue sandwich to end my storybook winter day. Now onto my Pork-a-thon review:
Meat Solo: Tender, smokey, great bark. Totally happy with it.
Cole Slaw: Tried a recipe out of Planet Barbecue from a place in South Carolina. It was fine, but Lori's slaw kicks its ass.
Sauce: Still in love with my carolina red!
Bun: easily the worst part of the sandwich... picked up some kaiser's from price chpper which were slightly stale and devoid of any real flavor. Wish I brought up the stack of Martin's rolls we had in the freezer.
Total package: Forgetting about the bread this sandwich was absolutely delcious, and a fabulous treat on a cold January day. Pork was tender, juicy, and smokey... slaw was average but very crispy, and that bright vinegar sauce really draws flavor form the shoulder. Great dinner, great day.
