Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [36]
4. Place the pork on the grill over the drip pan. Now put the lid on the grill with the vent directly over the meat. Place a long-stemmed thermometer through one of the holes in the vent. Your goal now is to keep the temperature between 200 and 250 degrees F for the rest of the day. You do this by adjusting the vents. Open them wider if the temperature falls, and close them a bit if it gets too hot. Keep checking every 30 minutes or so, and add fresh charcoal and wood chunks as necessary. (If the heat gets really fierce, put a small pan of water on the grill.)
5. About 6 hours after you started cooking, prod the meat with a fork to see how it’s coming along. It will probably look cooked, but will not feel very tender. It is not done. In my experience it takes between 8 and 10 hours before the meat is ready. You’ll be able to tell because it will almost fall apart when you push at it with a fork.
6. Toward the end of the cooking time, mix the ingredients for the vinegar sauce in a medium bowl.
7. Lift the pork onto a platter, wrap in foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
8. Transfer the pork to a wide bowl, unwrap, and shred the meat. If it’s too hot, use rubber gloves or a wooden spoon to separate the pieces and break them down into shreds and chunks.
9. Pour the sauce over the meat and toss well. Serve immediately with soft sandwich buns (I like Francisco-brand Crustini rolls) and barbecue sauce on the side. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to five days and used in sandwiches and spaghetti.
Serves at least 20
DR PEPPER BARBECUE SAUCE
I like bottled barbecue sauce, but if you’re going to hover over a haunch of pig for 12 hours, you should make your own. This is a modification of a Bruce Aidells recipe.
Make it or buy it?: Make it.
Hassle: Trivial compared with producing barbecued meat
Cost comparison: Homemade: $0.91 per cup. Sweet Baby Ray’s Original: $1.89. Everett & Jones: $3.00.
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
½ cup finely chopped onion (from half a small onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons mustard (yellow, Dijon, homemade—doesn’t matter)
1 teaspoon hot sauce
⅓ cup Dr Pepper
1½ teaspoons chili powder
Kosher salt
Pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. Serve immediately or store in a covered jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Makes 2½ cups
BARBECUE SPAGHETTI
When you tire of pulled pork sandwiches—or even if you don’t—try this easy spaghetti, much loved in my house.
Pinch of kosher salt
1 pound spaghetti
¾ cup barbecue sauce
2 cups pulled pork
1. Heat a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then drop in the spaghetti.
2. While the spaghetti cooks, in a large skillet over medium heat, warm up the barbecue sauce and pork, stirring to break up the clumps of meat.
3. When the spaghetti is cooked al dente, add a large ladleful of cooking water to thin the sauce. Drain the spaghetti. Toss the spaghetti with the sauce. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6
BRAISED BEEF
I have to silence myself when someone I’m eating out with orders a braised meat entrée. To braise meat, you put a fatty, inexpensive cut—lamb shank, chuck roast, pork butt—in a big pot, add liquid and maybe an onion and a few herbs. You place a cover on the pot, place the pot in a low oven, and go get a pedicure or prune the pachysandra until the meat is fork-tender and ready to serve.
Make it or buy it? Make it.
Hassle: This cooks itself, though it takes its sweet time to do so. Not a 30-minute meal.
Cost comparison: To make: $2.50 per serving. I once dined at