Preparation:
First off, the secrets are not mine. I owe Mr. Motley a debt of gratitude for sharing them, even if it was in a purchased book. He recommends using a scale to weight the dry ingredients for consistency so I'm giving both the volume and dry weight of them. He figures the yield of a Boston butt to be 60% to 65% of the original
weight. This is for 6 pounds of finished meat.
Put the dry ingredients in a pot and as you add the vinegar a little at a time. Do not let it come to a boil. Slowly add in the vinegar and stir to dissolve the solids as best you can. All you should see is some black pepper if it is well mixed.
Vinegar has a lower boiling point than water and if you boil some of it off the ratios will change. This should be ready when you take the meat off the fire to process it.
The secret is to process the meat while it is hot. The hotter the meat is, the easier it is for the seasonings to penetrate it. This allows the seasonings to penetrate better. The meat should be chopped and all the fat that is left on is, including any fat that is running out while processing. The skin should be chopped by hand until it is a mush consistency. The skin is full of flavor and smoke. Scrape all the fat off of it and start chopping.
After mixing the meat and seasonings, put it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Then gently heat it in a double boiler. Overheating will vaporize the vinegar.
Cooking the meat:
Most BBQers here cook a picnic with the skin up so the fat will render and baste the meat. Ryland does his skin down so the skin is crisped up a bit and has a better flavor.
Hope this helps some. It is not easy to condense a dozen pages to a few paragraphs and maintain the authenticity of the author |
