Mid-Michigan Dining

I hope everyone did their civic duty today and voted in all the non-races in the Lansing area.  I haven’t yet, but I do plan on it before the polls close.  It’s a little wierd.  I haven’t voted on Election Day in a few years.  Illinois has early voting or what the Reform Michigan Government Now (which I strongly oppose) calls No Excuse Absentee Voting.  Our polls were also automated, so I figured I’ll use today as a practice vote for November since I hear Michigan still use paper ballets or optical scan maybe?

Anyway, since it is Election Day, it’s a good day for a BBQ, huh?  I know that’s bad logic, but everyday is a good day for a BBQ.  My girlfriend actually isn’t going to be able to leave work for dinner, so we’re being nice and smoking some pork butts for the whole office.  I’ve never blogged about my cooking, but I thought I’d share the journey since I know some people at her office read this, it’ll just get them hungrier and then, as a negative side effect, hype up my pulled pork and give me expecatations I can’t possibly achieve.

Anyway, we got two Levandowski pork butts from L & L last night.  We went with two smaller ones instead of one big one hoping to cut the cooking time down some.  I put my rub on last night and threw them in the fridge.  I used a Bobby Flay rub and this is one of the few I don’t stray from.  It is so freakin good.  I used to use my own brown sugar based rub, but this one is so much better.  Just a little bit of heat.  I cut down the measurements so I only make what I was going to use today.

4 teaspoons Ancho Chile Powder
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Chile de Arbol powder

This is what my two pork butts looked like when I threw them on the grill at about 1:45

I used this on a pork tenderloin one time and thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I pulled the meat out of the fridge and fired the grill up about 1:30.  I use natural hardwood lump charcoal instead of briquettes so the fire got going pretty quickly.  I added some hickory chunks and chips to the coals and threw the butts on the grill.  I’m trying to keep the temperature down around 250, but it’s not always easy with a Weber Kettle grill. 

Keep checking back between now and 6:00 or so.  I’ll update with pictures as we go along.  It’s so sad that Lansing doesn’t have a real BBQ joint.  This stuff is so easy to do with a little patience and the result is incredible!

Make sure to click on the READ MORE link every hour or so for updates

The pork butts after about an hour on the grill

Update 3:05 PM – One hour has passed.  I just cracked open the grill to add more charcoal and some more hickory.  My clothes now officially smell like fire and I love it!  The butts are taking on the smoke and they’re starting to get darker.  They’re still soft, but tough.  There’s a good bit of smoke coming from the grill so I should be good for another hour.

Update 4:10 PM – I’m two hours into the smoke now.  The meat is really getting dark and taking on color, but it’s not starting to fall apart yet.  It looks delicious.  I also made a sauce to go with it.  No way in hell I’m giving someone pulled pork and a cheap, thick KC style sauce.  The sauce I make is pretty much the Neely’s BBQ sauce except I leave out the lemon and add a lot more vinegar and cayanne.

My take on the Neely’s BBQ sauce…close, but a few different ingredients

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tablespoon onion powder
1/4 tablespoon ground mustard
1/2 tablespoon cayanne pepper
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

 

Hour 3

Hour 4

 Update 5:38 PM– It’s getting close.  I just stuck a probe in both of the pieces of meat and they came out done, but it’s not tender enough to fall apart yet, so I’m going to let it go a little while longer.  I still have 40 minutes or so before I have to pack it up and bring it to my girlfriend’s office so I’ll see if I can get it a little more tender.  I ripped a few pieces off though for a taste test….it’s pretty good.

The temperature test halfway through hour 4.

 

Update 7:10 PM – I just got back from voting and dropping off the meat.  It turned out almost like I had hoped.  I could have used another hour.  It was done and it tasted it delicious, but pulling it was hard.  I enlisted the help of a couple forks instead of the traditional pull to help me rip it apart.  Some of it fell apart like butter.  Other parts of it I almost got out a knife.  The spices didn’t burn and there was a great smoke ring just under the spice rub.  Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out.  Usually, I use pork loins because they’re cheaper and I usually have one on hand.  The loin is a little bit tougher to eat, but cooks faster.  The pork butt made for a better sandwich, but took longer and I didn’t quite get it all the done.

The final product sitting on my cutting board waiting to be pulled.

Pulled Pork sitting on my cutting board waiting to be packed up and delivered

P.S. – Ok, so now that I’m done with the food, I just want to throw a thought about voting out there.  I went to my polling station to vote and since it was my first time voting in Michigan, I was a little lost.  The photo ID thing was wierd and all the papers you had to sign.  In Illinois, they cross check your signature.  Also, the ballots.  If I were a candidate in Ingham County and I lost, I would protest the results automatically.  Luckily, they use the Optical Scan machines which saves most people, but I can’t imagine how many ballots were spoiled before the Optical Scan if they did things the same way.  Again, I refer to Illinois since that’s the only other place I’ve voted in.  During the primary, you declare your party with the election judge and they give you only the ballot you choose.  You don’t get both ballots like I got in Lansing today.  I keep reading stories about voters not understanding that you can’t cross vote.  If you can’t do it, why the hell is it on the ballot? I can totally see their frustration and I could protest on the grounds of confusion if I were to lose a race.  That’s just stupid to put both parties on the ballot.  I took a good hard look at the ballot to make sure I was marking on the right side before I ever put pen to paper, but I follow politics and I did a little research before voting.  Most people don’t do that. 

Ok, political rant over…sorry about that