Besides beef, pork is the most popular meat that people love to barbecue with. From juicy pork ribs to yummy pulled pork sandwiches, the possibilities are endless.
Unlike beef, there is generally no grading system to apply to different qualities of pork. The common sense thing to do is look for the color of the meat and smell. Fresh pork will not have any foul smell. Also, the color shouldn’t look greenish. Sounds obvious, but some folks don’t check these things.
Same advice as for beef, since it takes a while for smoke flavor to infuse into meat and barbecue is all about low and slow, you want to choose pork shoulders, pork roast or ribs and not a thin piece of pork chops that could burn and dry out easily.
What are some of the most popular pork people barbecue with?
RIBS
Pork ribs are by far the most popular item that people order in a barbecue joint. Typically, to bring out the excellent taste of pork ribs, you want to put some sweetness to it. This actually applies to pork in general. Some people like to marinade the ribs with barbecue sauce ahead of time, smoke it and keep putting on more layers of barbecue sauce in between smoking.
For us, we dry rub our pork ribs with our own seasonings. Let it sit overnight, then we smoke it at 275 degrees for about 2 ½ hour or until it’s almost falling off the bone. We DO NOT put any sauce on it while smoking. Instead, we put a coat of our own sweet barbecue sauce on it right after the ribs are out of the smoker. It’s absolutely delicious!
PORK BUTT
Don’t be alarmed, when we say pork butt, we don’t mean pork’s butt. Pork butt really refers to pork’s shoulder part of the meat and people use pork butt and pork shoulder interchangeably.
Typically, you can buy pork butt/shoulder either boneless or with bone. We personally love those bone-in pork butts. Why? Because the bone adds an extra dimension to the taste and keeps the meat juicy and prevents it from drying out. Also, if you have dogs who eat bones, they love those big pieces of smoked shoulder bones.
Another secret to keep a pork butt juicy, tender, and delicious? When we smoke our pork butt, we surround our pork butt with an aluminum foil shaped like a bowl at the bottom of the pork shoulder. The purpose of this aluminum bowl is to keep all rendered fat from draining away from the pork butt. This way, it will keep the meat moist throughout the whole smoking process.
How long did we smoke our pork butt? 12-14 hours depending on the size of the pork butt at 225F degrees. Like all our meats, we never rely on just time or temperature. We individually check each one to make sure they are good and tender before we take them out of the smoker.
PORK BELLY
One thing we thought about often and wished we had offered to our customers is hickory smoked pork belly. Routinely in our restaurant, we would try different cuts of meat and decide whether it was worth presenting to our customers or not. Pork belly was one of the meats we smoked that’s truly divine. The layered fat and meat on the pork belly infused with wood smoked flavor creates a perfect texture for our palate.
Among the three different types of pork mentioned, pork belly is one of the most expensive by the pound. However, it’s something worth considering if you want to aim for creating a BBQ event with something unique that you don’t see in everyday BBQ.
How do you smoke pork belly? Easy! Dry rub the pork belly with your favorite pork rubs or seasonings. Let it sit for a while. Since we always do a lot, we ended up letting it sit overnight. However, at least 3-4 hours should be sufficient.
When you are ready to smoke it, you put the pork belly in the smoker directly on the rack. Smoke at 275F degrees for 2 hours. Then take the pork belly out, wrap it in aluminum foil then put it back in the smoker for another 1 hour. The temperature of the pork belly should be around 180F degree when it’s done.
DON’T FORGET PORK WHEN YOU BBQ!
As you can see, pork is one of key stables that created the whole BBQ culture in America. Some barbecue diehards would assert that a BBQ without pork is not a true BBQ. I can truly understand why. Pork is so versatile to smoke with. It’s delicious and easy to feed an army of people. With a full bone-in pork butt, you can easily make many pulled pork sandwiches out of it. Adding yummy pork ribs and to die for smoked pork belly, that’s one BBQ party I would not want to miss!
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