I did me up a pork butt this weekend - 9 pounder - nice and marbled. It
was my contribution to a potluck kind of get together. The friends
involved have previously complained about the Eastern NC style pulled
pork they'd had - "not smoky"- "sauce is yucky too hot too
sour"-"tastes like roast pork from the oven" etc etc...
I got to thinking - why not do it all 'wrong' - as contrary to the
traditional pig pickin style as I could get - and see how it turned
out.
Wrong step #1 was to concoct a rub of 2 parts brown sugar one part salt
and about 1tsp each of onion powder and hot paprika.
Wrong step #2 was putting it in the K fat side down.
Wrong step #3 - no deflector no drip pan. Direct.
Wrong step #4 - mesquite chunks.
held her at 225-250F all night until the magic 200F internal. While it
rested I whipped up
Wrong step #5 - a recipe I'd found for "Basic Western North Carolina
Barbecue Sauce" consising of:1stick butter,1 large onion-chopped,6
cloves garlic-minced,1 cup white wine vinegar,1 teaspoon cinnamon,2
whole cloves,1 tablespoon dry mustard,1 teaspoon chili powder,1/2 cup
brown sugar,2/3 cup ketchup,1 cup water,salt and pepper all simmered
together.
I doused the forked butt with a dab of the sauce and just to be as far
from the bemoaned and denigrated Eastern NC Barbecue pack it into
Wrong step #6 - Whole Wheat Buns!
Results?
The mesquite's natural bitterness mixed with the carmelized sugar in
the rub to creat a nice thick crunchy bark with lotsa smoke flavor
which permeated the meat wonderfully-and the spices in the sauce played
off of the sweetness.The stuff went down pieholes at supersonic
speeds-seconds-thirds-empty bowl. "You will be making this again,
right?" The guinea pigs had spoken and pronouced it good. One friend
(not long from living in Murphy, NC) said "it's better than any
barbecue [he'd] ever had from back home."

monroe(6 wrongs made it right)