Memphis in May? Nah! It's March, and the Heat is On!

Here's the question. What do you do when it is a beautiful March day that is already promising to be sunny and in the mid eighties? Firstly, you sit there and wonder why it is sunny and in the eighties in March. Then you shrug your shoulders, pull a couple large sources of protein out, and slap them on the barbie. Meet Tom & Porky.

Ready for a day at the spa!

Ok! I know you can't just instantly pull out a couple of large chunks of protein like these. Both of these were taking up precious space in my fridge for days. Let's just call it poetic license and move on, shall we. I have been looking forward to weather like this since the last time I used this grill. That would be November of last year. I usually smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving as my official last act with the large grill. Today was going to be an all day treat, though. I throw these babies on the grill about 9am, and have turkey for lunch and pulled pork for supper. It was certainly going to be a wonderful day.

You might be wondering how I prepared these beauties before putting them on the grill. (I know you're probably not wondering that, but humor me. I don't know why you always feel you have to be so difficult!) I'm a briner. No. I didn't say I was a shriner. I said, "briner". I like to soak big pieces of meat in a brine solution overnight before cooking low and slow. Brine can be as simple as salt and water, or you can add other things to it for flavoring. Brining is a great way to add moisture to a large piece of meat. Whatever flavorings you add to your brining solution will lightly permeate throughout the meat. My brine consisted of salt, water, sugar, apple juice, bay leaves, thyme, and garlic. I put it all in a stock pot, and heated long enough to get the salt and sugar dissolved. Then I put the boston butt and turkey each in a brining bag, and poured half the brine into each bag. Finally, into the fridge they go for the night. The key is that the piece of meat MUST be completely submerged in the brine. The cool thing is that overnight, nature works it's magic and uses the brine to add the maximum amount of moisture each piece of meat can hold, without making the meat taste salty at all.

Most true BBQers would probably gasp at the idea of me brining a boston butt. Most people would put a layer of mustard or oil on the meat, then completely cover in a dry rub, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. However, I find that brining penetrates the meat and adds flavor much better than the dry rub method. Besides, it really is no different that injecting with liquid just before cooking, which is how most of the pros do it. I do use mustard and dry rub, but only just before smoking begins. You might notice some dark areas under the skin of the turkey. I can't be for sure, since the turkey was already frozen when purchased, but I don't think it was in a bar brawl just before packaging. The darkness is from applying dry rub between the skin and the breast meat. I don't normally do this, but since I had a large batch of rub made, I figured, "Why not?"

About three hours into the smoking, and things were looking really good.

The tears in the turkey skin are due to me loosening it up to put the rub between it and the breast meat. I'm not really worried about it. We won't be eating the skin on this turkey. (By we, I do not include my son Joseph. He actually enjoys eating the skin) When doing a smoked turkey like this, the skin will usually have such an intense smokey flavor, that it borders on acrid. However, it is a worthy sacrifice for the juicy meat being protected inside.

There is probably some purist out there somewhere reading this blog, and preparing to add a comment about the fact I have the temperature probe in the wrong spot. All the cookbooks talk about putting a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. Do you know what? Every time I do that, I end up with a turkey with a finished thigh, and a pink breast. Therefore, I put the probe in the breast. When it says it has reached the proper temperature, put the probe in the thickest part of the thigh for verification. Sometimes, those purists just need to get a life.

Anyway, another hour later, and my thermometer is beeping. Tom is cooked.

I love the deep red coloring smoking gives the skin

It was hot smoked turkey sandwiches for lunch. Then I had to pull out every weapon in my arsenal to ensure some turkey was left for another meal. Otherwise, Joseph would be going to town on that sucker.


Mystery Question
Here is a question I posted on Facebook. What is pictured below?

There were several neat guesses, but none correct. Are you ready for the answer? Are you sure you can handle the truth? It is smoked salt. The next time you decide to smoke something on the grill, fill a foil tray with kosher salt and set it on the grill as well.

It's like having your own homemade liquid smoke...without the liquid. The smoke will permeate the salt, adding it's flavoring to it. You will need to stir the salt every half hour or so to make sure the smoke hits every piece. If you want to add a slightly smoked flavor to your favorite dish, just add a pinch or two of this salt. It really is like using liquid smoke, but a whole lot cheaper. This works great with hickory. Today I used apple. I love to smoke using hickory, when I am smoking a turkey. However, when I smoke a boston butt, I prefer a fruit wood, such as apple. It imparts a slightly sweeter, less intense flavor to the meat. the fact it is less intense is important, since the boston butt will be on the grill considerably longer

Another five hours later and I was ready to pull the last piece of meat off of the grill. Why does it take so long? Pork is ready to eat at 160 degrees. However, it will not be easy to pull for "pulled pork". For this to happen, the connective tissues and collagen have to break down. This doesn't begin to happen until about 170 degrees, and is completed when the butt is between 190 and 200 degrees. Don't worry. A boston butt has fat marbling all through it. It can handle cooking that slowly, and still be moist. It is important that you only do this with a boston butt, or picnic shoulder. A pork loin is way to lean, and needs to be taken off at the 160 degree point.

The lovely bark you see is the result of the rub and basting with apple juice every hour. I also added another layer of dry rub about two hours before finishing. This made for an extra thick crust bark. When pulling or chopping the pork, do NOT through away the bark. When you pull the pork, the pieces of the bark create little bursts of intense flavor while eating the pork.Trust me on this one. Do NOT through that bark away!

After letting the meat rest for half an hour, the final product looks like this.

Boy howdy! That was good. I am soooooo glad BBQ season is here!