Smoked Boneless Pork Butt
Smoked Boneless Pork Butt
Smoked Boneless Pork Butt - I can't remember the last time I smoked a boneless Pork butt but I know it's been too long! Pulled pork is so delicious that I wonder why I waited so long. As you can see from the photo above a mixture bark, smoke ring, and pork makes for a strong luscious visual impact of the true beauty of pulled pork. I will say that IMHO there is no difference between a boneless and a bone-in pork butt. I've read and heard that some pitmasters claim that bone-in pork butts are better but I have not known that to be true. Those same pitmasters often rely on manually pulling the bone out to check when the butt is done. If the bone comes out easily and is clean then the pork butt is done and ready to Foil, Towel, Cooler (FTC).
Pork Butts are probably one of the most forgiving pieces of meat. As I often say ... "You can't hurt it cause it's already dead!". Started out with an 8 pound boneless pork butt from Costco which I trimmed a few months ago and vacuum sealed and froze. Gotta love the beauty and simplicity of vacuum sealers these days. Months later I can enjoy products with no freezer burns and the quality of the meat is just as good as the day I bought the meat.
Rubbed the boneless pork butt with roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil to act as the glue for the heavy application of Jan's Original Dry Rub. The rub creates a bark on the butt to kill for. Before wrapping the seasoned pork butt with plastic and refrigerating it overnight I used Cooking Bands to keep the roast in one piece.
Preheated my wood pellet smoker-grill, a MAK 2 Star General, to 225ºF with hickory pellets. It's really hard to beat Hickory when smoking/cooking pork. Apple pellets are also a good choice to use with pork. For planning purposes only: Took 6½ hours from turning the MAK 2 Star ON to turning it OFF ... Add another 3 to 4 hours of FTC on top of the smoking/cooking time.
- Place the seasoned pork butt on a Frog Mat and smoke at 225ºF with hickory for 3 hours
- After 3 hours, increase the pellet grill pit temperature to 325ºF and roast until the Internal Temperature of the pork butt reaches 160ºF
- Remove the pork butt and double wrap in heavy duty foil
- Return the foil wrapped pork butt to your wood pellet grill and cook until the Internal Temperature reaches 205ºF
- Remove the smoked/cooked pork butt and wrap it in a towel
- Place the towel wrapped pork butt in a cooler for 3 to 4 hours
- This procedure is better known as FTC - Foil, Towel, Cooler
- Smoked boneless pork butt is now ready to be pulled
- Be careful as the pork butt will still be extremely hot at this point
I highly recommend you consider foiling your wood pellet grill grease pan. As you can see from the photo below each cook usually ends up with grease, oil, and residue. It's easier to replace foil than to scrape the gunk off!
Leftover Stuffed Smoked Meatloaf
Leftover Stuffed Smoked Meatloaf
Leftover Stuffed Smoked Meatloaf - Don't get me wrong, I dearly love leftover meatloaf sandwiches but it's also great as a entree. Raided my freezer and opted for half a Cheese Stuffed Smoked Meatloaf I cooked in September. Barbecue is the gift that keeps on giving! I like to vacuum seal my leftovers and enjoy them down the road here at home or in our RV on the road.
Last night's dinner consisted of leftover cheese stuffed smoked meatloaf, a side of corn, and steamed sweet potatoes. Course you must have brown gravy when enjoying meatloaf and yesterday was no exception. Took the Money $Shot photo with some brown gravy drizzled on the meatloaf and potatoes ... but once I put the camera down I drowned the meatloaf and potatoes with a ton of brown gravy. Can't ever have too much gravy!!
The key to safely vacuum sealing leftovers is to make sure that it's important to remember that cooked food must be cooled down to at least room temperature before vacuuming or you run the risk of bacterial growth.
So the next time you smoke your favorite meatloaf make sure to vacuum seal the leftovers ... if there are any!!
Leftover St Louis Ribs and Beans
Leftover St Louis Ribs and Pinto Beans
Leftover St Louis Ribs and Pinto Beans - The beauty of leftover ribs is that if you vacuum seal them properly you can enjoy them many months later. When I do St Louis ribs I always smoke 3 racks since I'll use the same amount of pellets for 3 as for 1. But seeing as there is only the two of us left we'll do good to eat half a rack between us. I therefore vacuum seal the rest in half rack increments. This half rack was from September and as you can see these ribs looked as inviting now as they did when they first came off the MAK.
Used the Instant Pot pressure cooker to cook up some pinto beans and baked a few corn bread muffins ... the rest, as they say, is history ... Good chow!!!
Smoked 17 pound Turkey
Smoked 17 pound Turkey
Smoked 17 pound Turkey - Before leaving my Nephew to fend for himself, after giving him a few tips and tricks for his new Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone, we smoked a fresh 17 pound Butterball Turkey for Thanksgiving. As you can see the gobbler turned out golden brown and if I may say so myself it was smoked/cooked to perfection. If you've never had smoked turkey then you don't know what you're missing. Best of all, it's extremely simple and wood pellet smoker-grills will provide you with fantastic results!
Not a big fan of allowing the drippings to cake on the bottom of the grill so we used what I call a "V" rack inside a foil turkey pan. If desired I can use the drippings for making gravy the old fashioned way rather than using a turkey gravy mix. Either way, it's all good - gravy for the smashed taters, stuffing, and smoked turkey.
- Trim any large excess fat chunks and some of the overlapping skin
- Rub extra virgin olive oil under and on the skin
- Rub McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Seasoning and Fagundes Seasoning under and on the skin
- Carefully wrap the seasoned turkey in plastic and refrigerate overnight
- Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill to 225ºF using Hickory wood pellets
- Remove the turkey from the fridge while grill is preheating
- Smoke the fresh turkey for 2 hours at 225ºF
- After 2 hours, bump the pit temperature to 335ºF
- Pull the smoked turkey when the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast reaches 170ºF
- Rest the turkey loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before carving
For planning purposes only: The 17 pound turkey took approximately 6 hours from start to finish (preheat, smoke, roast, rest) to reach 170ºF
Bacon Pork Loin
Bacon Pork Loin
Bacon Pork Loin - Another opportunity to test drive my Nephew's new Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone wood pellet smoker-grill. As I've said many times ... you can cook/smoke great meals on any pellet smoker-grill as long as you take the time to learn your grill. Having said that, I must confess that not all wood pellet smoker-grills are created equal - some are just better than others when it comes to controllers and overall design but once you've mastered your particular pit the results will be scrumptious. For their price range, Green Mountain Grills are a great value, their technology is first rate, and their support is very responsive and helpful.
Picked up an 8 pound Swift Premium Boneless Pork Loin at Costco and decided to roast the pork loin two ways. Half the old fashioned way and the other half wrapped in bacon. Let's face it, bacon always makes everything taste just that much better!!
- Cut 8 pound pork loin into two 4 pound roasts
- Trim excess fat and silver skin from both roasts
- Rub roasts on all sides with extra virgin olive oil and season with Head Country All Purpose Championship Seasoning
- Create a bacon weave using 1 pound of thin bacon
- Wrap one of the roasts with the bacon weave
- Wrap both pork loins in plastic and refrigerate overnight
- Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill to 350ºF
- Use toothpicks to keep the bacon weave in place
- Roast the pork loins for about 2 hours until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF
- Rest roasts loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before slicing again the grain
