Eastern North Carolina BBQ

Welcome to the Cookshack nation.

We have a strong group here in Fl and are happy to welcome another.

Read Smokin's Butt 101 and then ask some questions.I believe he even has some Carolina sauces in it.If not,go to the recipe forum.

Butt is very forgiving,especially in your CS.

After you read 101,find you about a 7-8lb. bone in butt.

Trim any large chunks of fat off of the exterior.

Put a heavy coat of rub on it,the night before and again before you put it in the cooker.

Leave out the top and bottom racks and place butt on the center rack.

Insert an internal probe[like a Polder,etc.] deep into the butt.Stay off of the bone.

Set the cooker at 225� and plan on leaving it alone until it hits about 195� internal.

This could run around 2 hrs/lb.

Open door and wiggle the bone.If it is a little loose and butt has almost a jello feel,remove it.

Double wrap in heavy foil and place in a dry cooler,until you are ready to pull it.

I usually mix a little vinegar sauce in, as I am pulling,and correct my seasoning with a little more rub.

You'll amaze yourself with this first effort.


Smokin'Okie's Pork Butt 101

Walfinco, welcome! Are you doing smoked mullet over there at Yankeetown? Bay wood smoking country.

Interesting commentary by you and Tom. You remember mopping constanly over an open pit. Tom puts on a rub, and slams the door. If I read this right, you want to refrain from opening your Cookshack door for just about the whole time.

So, is there a downside here? Can't mop with a CS? Tradition out the window?

One thing you can do to not have to open the cooker and mop causing the longer time for the cook, is to inject the butt with the mop. You will find that you will have the flavor your looking for and the meat will be very moist. Agree with Tom, you want to take the butt off the cooker at 192 to 195� internal.
Hope this helps.
Jim

Howdy,Jim-where ya been?

Have you got more involved with your catering side?

Sounds like ya been hangin' out with them MIM guys again.

They do cook some good shoulder.

I didn't get involved with all the techniques, that we all like to play with,since it will be his first butt on a new cooker.

I figure it's best to try one straight up and then see what you can do to it ,next time.

Hey,i2.

Tradition is a wonderful thing.

Kinda like ridin' a mule to town on Sat'day aft'noon.

The CS handles a bunch o' them problems, for us lazy folk.

drbbq tries to make me a decent cook and he keeps sayin' things like,"if you lookin' ,ya ain't cookin'".

He also likes,"openin' that door all the time,is just an excuse to play wit' you meat"

I'm not sure about the technical explanation of that,but he repeats it enough that it must be important.

Tom
Been crazy busy, cooking competitions and catering. Just picked up a couple of whole hog jobs and a few standard BBQ gigs. Have not been posting anywhere much lately.
The catering is starting to limit the number of competitions I can do.
I figured if he likes the flavor of mopping with vinegar sauce injecting would give some of the flavor without opening the cooker. But your right about overload people with info on the first time out.
Jim

quote:

I'm not sure about the technical explanation of that,but he repeats it enough that it must be important

Ok, Ok, let's not go there. And, I'm convinced a good rub (dang, am I drifting yet again...?) will do as good as a Raliegh/Durham mop. But,it's worth noting, for a CS to work right, do not open the door.

But...........eat more mullet...

Jim Minion, are you aware of mullet? Simple fare, but come on over, and we'll show you some good chow. You've never heard of a hushpuppie, I betecha...

And I think BBQ was invented in the Florida peninsula.

Sauces, now we're talkin'

You wanting the first one below?

There are 3 basic NC sauces:

North Carolina - Eastern : BBQ: pork. Sauce: Vinegar, hot peppers, mustard.

North Carolina - Piedmont/Lexington: BBQ: pork. Sauce: Thin tomato and vinegar: about 1 part tomato to 2 parts vinegar

North Carolina - Western: BBQ: pork. Sauce: More tomato, less vinegar: about 2 parts tomato to 1 part vinegar

Thanks, everyone! I guess the lesson is keep the door closed, and inject if necessary. I'll try my first butt that way, and I'll post the results. Expect to receive unit next week.

W,

You didn't confirm which sauce? do you already have a sauce in mind or are you still looking?

Smokin'

The sauce is the vinegar/pepper/brown sugar one(without mustard) that was on one of your pages. That is Southeastern NC sauce prevalent around Goldsboro, Kinston, Greenville etc. Again, thanks to everyone for their responses.

R Walters(walfinco)

I think it's this one:

Vinegar Mop for Pork

Right on, Smokin Okie.

CS unit has arrived - first 2 butts smokin' as we speak. Will post results later.

First try with CS. Two pork butts - say 11 lbs total. Used CS rib rub over night - smoked 10 hrs @ 225 - did not open door - when meat temp got to 190 my family couldn't stand it any longer. Used vinegar sauce after pulling. Meat was excellent but we did not achieve the SE North Carolina BBQ taste. Next time we may marinate in NC sauce overnight with rub. If anyone out there has achieved close to that superb SE NC BBQ taste, please let me know how you did it.

Well, it's really hard recreating the regional tastes, as we all have different memories. The odds of finding a CS owner who has recreated that exact taste you're looking for may be rather slim.

The best option is to help you recreate it.

So, tell us what you thought the differences were, didn't taste this or that, or didn't look like this or that?

A few details and we can probably help.

Okie:

When the pig is mopped regularly during the 12 hour or so cooking process over an open fire, the vinegar sauce cooks deeply into the meat, and the meat itself doesn't really need much additional sauce when served. The problem is getting the vinegar into the meat. We have thought about marinating the meat in a bag for a couple of nights, then rub for a night before the smoking. Also, I'll plan ahead a little better next time and cook until I get around a 205 meat temp.

Howdy,walfinco.

I'll skip any whole hog discussions,because we won't do one in the Smokette.

I've never had memorable successes marinating the front end of hawgs,but there is
probably somethin' I'm not doin' right.

I would say on your butts,that you inject-as Jim Minion suggested above.

I have picked out a thread from one of our earlier discussions,as a guideline.

The injection that Stogie passed on is pretty typical.

A more typical eastern NC approach might be 1 cup cider vinegar,1 cup water,2 T.kosher salt,2 T. brown sugar,2 tsp cayenne.
Heat to dissolve and let return to room temp.

I'd suggest injecting it the night before and then see if it wiil hold some more in the time before you place it on the pit.

Let us know what works.

butt injections

Hey, walfinco, I tell you what, if you track down this phantom Carolina essence, this ephemeral vapor of the salt marshes, you better have us new neighbors over to partake! This is some serious research, and passionate. Only the CS Forum lets you get so close to truth.

what about rubbing the butt, smoking as usual, then pulling it and adding the vinegar sauce to the tray/pot with the meat, and holding it for a while... letting the mop be absorbed by the meat?

Mornin',woodburner.

That's what I suggested up at the top and apparently that didn't hit the spot.

I figured maybe try the MIM "show whole shoulder on the cooker" approach.

great add ins guys.

One more thing. I would inject the day before "liberally" and then again about 2 to 3 hours before finishing, the reason being that a lot of the injection tends to lose flavor for some reason.

I've injected the way you suggested and for me, I really don't notice a HUGE increase. That's why I'm working on the modified injection method I posted earlier. I'm not satisfied and I'm on a hunt myself.

Smokin'

Well, fellow smokers, it appears that I am looking for the elusive Holy Grail here. My next attempt will be tonight and for the past 36 hrs I have marinated the butt in a bag filled with the NC sauce and rubbed as well. I intend to inject also before starting the smokin' process. Then perhaps 2 hrs before finishing, I plan to open the door, mop and inject again. This time I will wait until I have an internal temp of around 205. I'll post the results.

Results id not inject initially because of the 36 hrs sauce soaking prior to smokin. Smoked 12 hrs at 225 to internal temp of 205. Two hrs before finishing, opened door and mopped but the injector clogged up because I forgot to strain out the pepper. The results were much better than before and very good, but I didn't catch the brass ring yet.