Smokin’, Part I
Posted By Russ Emerson on July 5, 2003 at 11:20 am
Tonight is the party a bunch of us are having for the Independence Day weekend. Ya, ya, yesterday was the Fourth, but the party is tonight.
As previously discussed, I’m providing the barbecue.
Yesterday, I brined the newly-acquired pork.
Note: barbecue is pork. Not beef, not chicken – pork. Furthermore, “barbecue” is not a verb, it is a noun. You “cook barbecue” and “eat barbecue,” you do not “barbecue some hamburgers” or steaks or hotdogs. You grill those particular foods. (They’re good, oh yes, but they are not barbecue.) A backyard event where cooking is done is a “cookout” or a “pig-pickin'”, not a barbecue.
Furthermore, barbecue implies low and slow – low temperatures – I try for between 225° and 250° – for a long time – all day, in this case. Yes, you can grill pork – a grilled pork loin chop is excellent – but it’s not barbecue.
Sorry, got off track there…. So anyway, I brined the pork in salt- and molasses-laden icy water. A 12-hour bath, guaranteed to pump up the flavor of the pork. Went to bed.
Got up at 6:45 this morning. Egads, what a surprise – I can’t think of the last time I was up this early on a Saturday. I even managed to wake up before the alarm clock annoyed me out of my sleep. Made a pot of coffee.
Lit the real-wood-chunk charcoal at about 7:30. There’s something almost transcendental about building a fire in the cool of the morning with a good hot cup of coffee in hand.
While the coals were settling into their home in the bottom of the smoker, I applied a rub to the pork. No, I won’t tell you what’s in the rub. Well, there’s chili powder, but that’s all I’m saying.
By 8:30 the coals had settled down to a comparatively gentle and steady glow, I added mesquite chunks for the smoke to start the day with – I’ll be finishing later with hickory – and inserted the pork.
As of right now, the temperature in the smoker is holding steady at 237°. Perfect.
I have to check it periodically – can’t let the coals die. It’s going to be a long day, but so well worth it.
Comments