Smoked!

Some of you have requested that I share my secrets for pulled pork and pulled beef, so here goes; and even more of you have never savored my pulled pork so you can't even begin to guess what all you have been missing!
First of all, the first very important step is to get the right cut of meat. Yes, I know some of you will argue with me until you are blue in the face, but you ASKED for MY SECRETS! *WINK* The first secret is communication! Chances are you won't find what you are looking for at the super store in the meat display case so you will need to talk to the individual in the white (well probably mostly white with some bits of red on the front) apron. I know some of us can be slightly uncomfortable talking to someone holding sharp knives and covered in blood, but all the ones I have talked to have been quite nice. For pork I prefer a bone in pork shoulder and for beef I prefer beef brisket(Fresh not corned), now when talking to the butcher mention that you are planning on smoking the meat for pulled meat sandwhiches. This should light up their eyes and they might start asking questions like, "Do you make yours Carolina style?" "What is your favorite Texas style recipe?"; that is when you know you are talking to a true Butcher who knows exactly what you are looking for, well at least for a cut of meat. Typically they will hand you a shrink wrapped cut of meat that will have a USDA inspection decal, as these cuts of meats come from the slaughter house and do not require the Butcher to do anything other than price the cut.

Now we have made the first leap, talking to the Butcher and getting the right cut of meat. What is that you say? Of course the meat will have fat on it, that is what we want for our process; you will have to toss all those tips 'Your Mamma' taught you about picking out quality cuts of meat. Now comes the preparation of the meat, some people like the meat to warm to room temperature, but in consideration of the bacteria's feelings I tend to keep mine refrigerate right up until I plop it in the smoker. Now for the Never EVER, EVER NEVERS! DO NOT MARINATE THE MEAT, DO NOT INJECT THE MEAT and MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT TRIM OFF THE FAT!!! Sorry for yelling, but like I said, "You asked for my secrets!" I am going to assume that most everyone knows how to run their smoker, so I won't get right down to the fine details of smoking. We will start by cutting the beef brisket into sizable chunks that will fit on the smoker racks, remember bigger is better! The pork shoulder won't need to have any carving done, so it will be ready to go right out of the package. Once you have the beef cut into thirds, we will use a dry rub to season the beef. I have my own secret dry rub recipe, but one can find a recipe for a pepper based dry rub in Joy of Cooking. Some like to slather the cut of meat in oil before rubbing, but I have found that applying the dry rub and than spraying a light coat of Olive oil cooking spray works just as well.

Now we will load the smoker, I tend to cook one type of meat at time, but that is not a requirement. Always load the meat onto the smoker racks fat side up, we want all the fatty juices to drain through the meat. I like to place my remote thermometer probe in the piece of meat that is located on the center rack of the smoker. Selecting wood chips for smoking can be a daunting task with the variety that is available. I prefer to use mostly hickory chips with a side of fruit wood. For pork, Half hickory half apple works pretty well; for beef mostly (85-90%) hickory with some apple. Of course, here is where we all can develop our secrets; sometimes I use cherry when no one is looking. NEVER use mesquite if you are planning on slow cooking, as the flavor is too strong and bitter for extended duration smoking. It should take about 6-8 hours to slow smoke these meats, so be prepared to babysit the smoker. We are looking for an internal meat temperature of (180°F Pork, 170°F Beef), which will not only smoke the meat but cook it as well. For the first couple of hours I like to keep the smoker temperature around 120°F and than steadily increase it to 250°F for finishing; all the while increasing the smoke concentration in the smoker.

The remote thermometer is beeping like crazy which would mean the target temperature has been reached. Place the cuts of meat into a large pan and allow to cool. I like to vacuum seal and freeze the meat at this stage of the process for later cooking, but that is not necessary if you are going to slow cook the meat the next day. I find that it is easier to smoke extra meat and vacuum seal and freeze the smoked meat for later use than it is to just smoke a single cut of meat, same amount of work to have the smoker half full versus full; and it works well to freeze the meat between the cooking steps.

Now for the final cooking stage of the process, this is typically done the day of enjoyment. While the meat was completely cooked during the smoking process, the cut is not tender enough to pull. This slow cooking process can be done in a roaster pan in the oven or in a slow cooker. Word of caution, using a slow cooker is not my preffered method since it takes a long time to heat the large cuts of meat. I find that it takes at least three-four hours (Longer for large cuts) of slow cooking, during which the smoked meat will be cooked with a collection of spices. Carolina style is typically a vinegar base, which helps to flavor and tenderize the meat. A tomato based sauce can also be used and is sometimes substituted with commercially available BBQ sauce. I lean towards Carolina style for pork and have my own concoction for beef. After about three hours of slow cooking, the meat should start to become tender enough to pull apart with forks, which I like to do as early as possible during this process to help the flavors intermix and mellow for a nice consistent flavor. A big concern during this slow cooking process is to make sure the meat is not dried out, add water as necessary but we don't want it to be really wet either. I like to give everyone an option on their flavor of BBQ Sauce so I don't mix the pulled meat with a BBQ sauce, but one can always use their favorite sauce during the slow cook process.
And that would be some of my secrets...