Re: [CH] Christening the new smoker...

=Mark (mstevens@exit109.com)
Sun, 04 Jul 1999 19:09:45 -0400 

At 05:17 PM 7/4/99 -0500, Renee Watson, Minneapolis ,Minnesota USA USDA
Zone 4a wrote:
>Great looking roast, =Mark!
>
>And, BTW, why is it that pulled pork seems to taste better than sliced pork?
>

I'm not totally sure, but I believe it is the cuts of meat used as well as
the cooking method.  Pork roasts commonly cooked and sliced are much leaner
than they used to be and are more often sold boneless.  Most cooks agree
that bone and fat account for much of the flavor in cooked meats.  Also,
roasting in an oven for a couple hours adds no additional flavor.

The cheap cuts of meat used in making pork BBQ contain a lot of embedded
fat and are usually smoked with the bone in for many hours.  The 5 lb pork
butt I used smoked at about 250 degrees for a little over 7 hours.  If you
look at the first picture you can see that it is pretty heavily marbled
with fat.

Although it was likely done cooking 4 or 5 hours into the smoking session,
continuing the smoking process serves an important function, even though it
does not add much more smoke flavor (Most of the smoke is absorbed in the
first hour and a half.  After the surface of the meat passes about 130
degrees it does not absorb any more smoke).  If you were to take the roast
off the pit after it was technically "done" you would not be able to pull
it and it would seem very gristly and fatty.  Holding it at an internal
temp of 160 to 170 for 3 to 6 hours after it reaches these temps (Depending
on the size of the roast) causes most of the fat to render off, self
basting the meat.  Also, more importantly, the collagen and connective
tissue breaks down into gelatin, also making the meat more moist and
tender.  This plus the flavor added by the bone and the smokey outer "bark"
adds to the flavor and texture.  I used no sauce on my resulting pulled
pork BBQ, but some folks like to add in a little North Carolina type sauce
using cider vinegar with a little black and red pepper and maybe a little
apple juice.

This seems to be a consensus of folks on the various BBQ mailing lists,
though differences of opinions of meats, times, direct heat Vs indirect
heat, regional opinions, sauce Vs no sauce, and what constitutes "True" BBQ
has resulted in more arguments and flames than a discussion of chili in
Texas...


                    =Mark "Runs With Scissors" Stevens

                @ http://www.exit109.com/~mstevens @
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