Brined, Jerked and Smoked

RhumAndJerk

The brined butt experiment finished up on Saturday around 6PM. The process that I used was to first Brine a 6.5 Boston Butt in Jamaican brine for 24 hours. Then I applied liberal amounts of Eaton’s Wet Jerk Rub to the rinsed butt and let the butt sit for another 24 hours. [p]I started the cooking process on Friday night at 10PM in the midst of some pretty nasty weather. For smoking wood, I used a chunk of Apple and a chunk of Guava. Before I put the Butt in the Egg, I used some Island Spice Dry Jerk Spice as a rub to the meat. The purpose of this was to increase the sugar content of what would become the crust. I dumped a can of beer in the drip pan.[p]By 1AM, everything was progressing nicely with the dome temp around 230 and I went to bed. When the kids woke me up at 7AM, I jumped out of bed to see if the fire had made it through a night of gusty cold rainy weather. To my surprise, the dome temp was hanging around 210 with thin wisps of smoke coming from the dome. I plugged in my polder and the temperature read a wonderful 160. I did very little to change the vent settings and let it go as it. KennyG’s New Improved Turbo Grate helped greatly (grately ha).[p]I had forgot to make the Slaw the night before so started that task. I prepped the veggies and my five-year-old son ran them though the chopper, he loved it. I was all out of both white and cider vinegar due to little hands, so I dug deep and found Malt vinegar to use on the slaw.[p]As the day progressed, I became increasingly hungry. Sometime around 4PM, the butt was up to 180 so I kicked open vents to finish it off. The dome temperature would not get beyond 300, so I stirred what was left of lump (not much). Instead of adding more lump, I decided to let it go. By 6 PM, the polder read 194 and declared the battle over. It was simply time to eat.[p]As soon as I got the butt inside and the egg closed, I started pulling. As usual the meat fell apart and was extremely tender. The texture was only slightly different for what we know pulled pork to be. The key difference was a noticeable salty ham type flavor to the pulled pork. This was not bad, just different. I feel that this is what the brine contributed. The flavor of everything combined was delicious. I promptly ate two sammies with slaw and the all-important Red Stripe beer; it just is not jerk without. I did not make a sauce, I used Mama Mirl’s Jamaican BBQ Sauce, one of my favorite commercial sauces.[p]Next time I make Jerked Pulled Pork, I will skip the brine and just jerk for 48 hours. The next time that I make regular Pulled Pork, I will go for the injection experiment. What this experiment brings to light is the possibility of starting with a Pork Shoulder and making Ham. For whatever reason, I does not seem that we concern ourselves with how to make ham. Maybe it is worth a try.[p]Happy Smoking,
RhumAndJerk[p]

Nature Boy

RhumAndJerk,
I love reading your stories!! And appreciate the time you take to explain your steps. I have been wondering about trying the brine on a butt....or injecting...but I definitely am not looking for that ham flavor. Do you think it is the sugar, or the salt in the brine that causes haminess???[p]Seems like injecting the same ingredients would also give you a similar flavor...though it would penettrate much deeper.
Thoughts??
NB

BluesnBBQ

RhumAndJerk,[p]It sounds great! Another experiment you might want to try is brining again, with some of the jerk mix in the brine.

KennyG

RhumAndJerk,[p]I can attest to the excellence of the finished product. I was able to tweedle a couple of sammichs from R&J when he came to pick up the mini Egg I had been babysitting for him.[p]I loved the flavor and the bite of the shredded meat and the sweet hot bark. Mama Mirl's is a must to experience. I don't think I will ever again be satisfied with traditional PP. He even included a generous portion of slaw and a bottle of Red Stripe.[p]My friends, it doesn't get better than this.[p]K~G

Wise One

KennyG, to paraphrase your last statement. Jamaican BBQ pork, slaw and a Red Stripe, "My friends don't get any better than this one."[p]

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
I feel that it was the salt in the brine that contributed to the hammieness. My experience with injectable marinades is that they do not have the salt content that brine would. I would not expect similar results with injecting, but until we try we will not know.[p]Happy Smoking,
RhumAndJerk

RhumAndJerk

KennyG,
The Chili that your wife made never got cold, the family and I wiped it out watching the rest of the Browns game. I guess that it really is fall with Football, Cold Rain, Hot Chili and Cold Beer.[p]I made stock from the bone and fat from the Jerked Pulled Pork last night. Today it will become bean soup. If you throw away the bone from a Boston Butt after it has become Pulled Pork, you are missing out on a very flavorful soup base. The leftovers from the Jerked Pulled Pork are going the soup as well.[p]Happy Grilling,
RhumAndJerk[p]

RhumAndJerk

BluesnBBQ,
An Excellent Idea. If I do decide to brine again, I think that it would be poultry. I have been thinking about Jerk Turkey Breast. [p]Happy Smoking,
RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy

RhumAndJerk,
I bought an injector over a year ago that is still in the package. Where might I find some good injection recipes?? I am willing to give it a go.
The road is filled with espearmints!
NB

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
I have not actually made any injectable marinades. I use the Chef Williams line of products with great success. [p]Injecting is not something that I do a lot of, mostly when I deep-fry a turkey but you could inject anything that you cook.[p]Happy Grilling,
RhumAndJerk

KennyG

RhumAndJerk,[p]You just don't know unless you try a new recipe, but I thought that the chili was just so-so. The next time I run a batch of Hasty-Bake recipe smoker chili, I'll make a point of getting some to ya. IMHO, it can stand toe to toe with any concoction ever dreamed up.[p]<img src="http://gajda.home.mindspring.com/chileside.gif:>[p]

RhumAndJerk

KennyG,
The turkey Italian sausage was interesting.
Did I mention that I add shredded cheese to the bowl? The level was just right for me, but the fam thought that it was a little hot, but ate it anyway.[p]Happy Grilling,
RhumAndJerk[p]