GRITS

yet another reason to go back to NC.

Oh me oh my. You got enough $$ in your budget to fly me up to Nashville from Miami? I am ADDICTED to pulled pork (in my parts, we call it bbq and thats the ONLY thing we call bbq. Everything else is grilling). You sound like you are set, my friend. I have cooked about 3 butts now - the third with wonderful success. Of course, I couldnt use a smoker, I used my oven, but I didn't pull it out of the oven or start pulling it until it was 190*F at the bone. Let me tell you something. That stuff shredded like heaven served on a platter. I doused it with my Charlotte, NC Vinegar Sauce I bought when I was back home and ate like the GRITS girl that I am. I have firmly come to believe that when I die and go to heaven, I will float on a cloud of pulled pork doused with vinegar sauce served on a bun with a side of brunswick stew and flatbread. I just don't think there is anything better on the planet or for that matter, the universe. I wish you the best of luck.

If the barbecue sauce has ketchup or mustard in it, I don't eat it. I only like vinegar sauce - so much so, I take a swig of it straight from the bottle!

Thanks!! It turned out GREAT~!!! I did not remove it from the oven until 190* internal temperature. The bone pulled right out and I am enjoying delicious barbecue! YUMMY!

okay - so I have officially tried it again. I cut most of the fat off and I soaked my pork butt in a brine of molasses. kosher salt and water for 6-8 hours. I patted it dry and put a pork rub spice mixture all over it. And now it has been in the oven since 2pm (it is 5:10pm) now and the internal temperature is 160*. I want to make sure it is at pullable stage at 190*, so when do I take it out of the oven? Oh yes, I put aluminum foil loosely over it when it got to 160*. I hope someone reads this quickly, otherwise I am at the mercy of my ignorance! I will tell you how it turns out! (yes, I know I shouldnt be doing it in the oven).

Southern Traditions, -What's important to you, other than Barbecue? 1. I am in Miami. That being said, the most important thing to me in life is Eastern NC BBQ with tangy vinegar sauce. Meat pulled from the whole hog (yum!). It is all I think about. One of my good friends - who happens to be of the Cuban culture here in Miami, is going to find out her Mama's recipe to prepare the pulled pork - her exact technique. So many people have helped me with techniques. THANK YOU!!! When it all comes down to it, its hard to do it when you can't really"cookout" and all you can rely on is the oven. I know I need a big aluminum pan and a lot of aluminum foil, a dry rub and a tangy vinegar sauce. I cook it low and slow. Anyways, what is important to me - in the Southern Tradition is: home-canned beets, pickles, peaches, corn, tomaotes, green beans, vegetable soup. Spending my summers as a youth stringing and breaking green beans. I remember looking on with sheer horror at my Momma's huge bushel of green beans she had just harvested in the garden that summer's day. Looking back- it was an awesome experience. Hanging clothes on the line to dry. My sheets smelling like sunshine. Persimmons, Figs, Apples, Muscadines, Pe(cahn)s, Barbecue, Grits, Country-Ham, Saw-Mill Gravy, Buttermilk Biscuis (with a hint of leftover Mashed Potatoes added in), raspberries, blueberries, stawberries) Eggs, Sausage, Gravy, CHICKEN-FRIED STEAK, Homemeade strawberry jam, picking strawberries in the NC Mountains. Driving along I-40 in the NC Mountains looking with awe at some of the oldest Mountains in the world. Even after all through my life of seeing them and playing in the waterfalls along the Parkway, picnicing, visiting family, family reunions in the midst of the mountains - I never tire of it. How my ancestors migrated from England and Ireland - (my roots also doused in Cherokee blood), Where bluegrass got its roots (Ireland). That is what being Southern is to me. I an proud to be from the South. You can call me a redneck, a hillbilly, a simple person - whatever - it doesn't matter to me -I know who I am, I know who Bubba is, I love my Mama, my family, my grits, and finally, my red eye gravy that I drink out of a Mason jar! You can't change a Southerner. That's tradition!

MMMMMM....Big Hoss, my Miami friend's down here where I live now, thought I was crazy eating #4!!! But, in reality it is sad that they have never experienced that! I even went as far as to eat a tomato like an apple. They thought I was one short of a dozen! The HORROR!! lol! Poor people!

When I read your post Big Hoss, I had the same thoughts as Rachel said above me. You really are on par with Alton Brown and you know your stuff. I can see this whole process you spelled out in my head, thanks to Alton doing this on his show, "Good Eats". Wanna take a trip to Miami and cook me some good cue? You sound like you know what your talking about, and with a sign name such as BigHoss, I am pretty sure that you do~! Thanks for all your insightfulness! I am licking my chops already!

Thank you, Varmint!!!!! for taking the time to respond to me. I still have a broken arm so it's hard 4 me 2 type. I fondly remember pigs roasting in the slow-cooker outside. Lord, I remember them pig pickins!!! Maybe I just need to move BACK to NC!!!!!!! DON'T TEMPT ME!!!

I lurve that song!

Oh, and yes, you HAVE to be from the South to be a GRITS girl - although, I am sure we can take some of y'all's applications!

oh, I'm a GRITS girl through and through. I wanna swim in an ocean of red-eye gravy and sop up the suds with homemade buttermilk biscuits. Honey, you can count me in.

mmmm thanks for the info! 190*f pullable stage! <3 u! Man that sounds real good. The only thing I might dispute is the 170ºf. I like to go 190ºf for an easier pullable stage. What time is dinner. woodburner ←

Bill Spoon's in Charlotte, NC cooks the whole hog in a pit. . . And its dayum good.

I just wanted to thank everyone for your responses. I love it here at egullet - as food is my career and my life. Glad I found all ya'll nice people!!

BigHoss, thank you so much for responding. I know what a Webber Grill is and I shall take your advice. Please excuse the short response as I am typing with one hand due to a broken arm The only local barbecue place down here serves sauce that taste like an ashtray - I kid you not.. And they call this BBQ and sell it, no less. It is an atrosity beyond belief! I live in an apartment complex so therefore, I do not really have access to grill for that long a time (low & slow). I really just wanted to know if it was possible in city standards to cook it in the oven and get some kind of decent results - especially what cut you would use to smoke a small cut of the pork. The Butt seems to have too much fat. I grew up in NC where I would attend cookouts and pig pickins' regularly - so you can feel my pain here. Thank you so much for your help. I will have my fiance get us a Webber Cooker ASAP!

Alton Brown is my Culinary God. I did, actually find his recipe for pulled pork on the net earlier today! Gotta love Alton Brown. mmmm..... goodness!! Thank you! Anyone else have a recipe?

Can someone please help me? I am from Eastern NC and now I live in Miami. I never realized how I much I took for granted all the wonderful things Southern until I moved here. You'd be hard-presed to find good 'cue down here. Here is my delimma. Last time I was in NC, I bought 6 bottles of tangy Eastern NC vinegar sauce at my local 'cue restaurant. Now I am back in Miami and have tried and failed 4 times of cooking pulled pork. Can someone here give me a fool-proof recipe on cooking pulled pork in the oven or the crockpot? I mean the whole process. I am determined not to give up. Thank so much everyone!