Pulled Pork

8 lb Picnic Shoulder Before Cooking

After cooking it is fall off the bone tender

Butt Rub:

¼ Cup Sweet Paprika

3 TB Kosher Salt

2 TB Ancho Chile Powder

2 TB Garlic Powder

2 TB Turbinado Sugar

2 TB Mexican Oregano

1 TB Coarse ground Black Pepper

1 TB Thyme

2 TS Cumin Powder

2 TS Onion Powder

2 TS Mustard Powder

2 TS Cayenne Pepper

½ TS Celery Seed

Instructions: Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Makes Approximately 1 Cup

Prep Work:

One day prior to cooking, Trim the skin off the pork shoulder leaving a layer of fat on top. Rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Cover the pork shoulder with Butt Rub and refrigerate overnight. Take it out of the fridge one hour before cooking to knock the chill off the meat.

Cooking Instructions:

I have a Holland Grill so you may have to change it up a little if you don't have one. The key to the tenderness in the meat is getting the internal temperature to 205 degrees.

I used Hickory wood pellets for smoke flavoring from BBQr's Delight to add some smoky flavor to the pork. You can use an aluminum foil pouch(directions on their website) or they sell a cast iron pot.

Once the grill started to smoke, I put the pork shoulder on. I cooked it for one hour per side to put a little crust on it. After the two hours, I inserted a probe from a digital thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and double wrapped the shoulder in Heavy Duty foil. I then cooked it until the internal temperature was 205. Prepare a cooler by putting an old towel on the bottom. When you remove the pork shoulder from the grill, I put mine in an oven bag so if it leaked that the towels are not stained. Then surround the pork shoulder with towels, leaving the end of your temperature probe hanging out of the cooler. I left mine in the cooler for 3 more hours and the temperature was still 179 degrees. The procedure using the cooler will keep the meat in the temperature range that breaks down the connective tissue. Remove from the cooler and foil, save any juices to pour on the pulled pork. The meat should just fall apart. Pull/chop the meat, put a teaspoon of rub into the meat as you are pulling it and mix it up, put pork on a toasted bun and serve. I personally don't put BBQ sauce on mine, but I usually make one or two varieties for the rest of the crowd.

The total cooking time of the meat was about 4 hours, then another 3 hours in the cooler. Your time may vary depending on your grill and the size of the pork shoulder you buy.

Smokin Wood Pellets

Not too long ago I was surfing the web looking for more recipes and grilling gadgets. I stumbled upon a site that sells 14 different flavors of wood pellets for adding flavor to your food. The company is BBQr's Delight, and they use 100% hardwood in all of the pellets. I bought a sampler pack that had 20 single serving packages, some BBQ rub samples and a cast-iron smoker pot to use with the pellets. The advantage of pellets over wood chips is that pellets don't have to be soaked prior to use. I use the pellets in the iron pot when I want a heavy smoke on Pork Shoulder, Brisket, Whole Turkey. Below I have a picture of the volume of smoke from the pot, it usually lasts for a little less than 15 minutes, but adds a really good smoke flavor to your food.

Buffalo-Garlic Drumsticks

Here is a recipe I made last weekend, I was really craving Buffalo wings on Superbowl Sunday. I used five drumsticks, but they could be substituted with wings or thighs. I brushed the chicken with olive oil and cooked it at 425 Degrees on my Holland Grill for 45 minutes, with a handful of Hickory Flav-o-buds for some extra flavor. I then applied the sauce and let them let them cook for about another 10 minutes.
This recipe could be made in an oven at 425 Degrees or in an outdoor grill using indirect heat.


5 Chicken Drumsticks
Olive Oil

Hot Sauce Recipe:(was plenty for 5 drumsticks with a little left over)
1/4 Cup Louisiana Hot Sauce
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Crushed Red Pepper

Mix all ingredients except butter in a non-reactive sauce pan and simmer on medium low for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir the butter into the sauce. The sauce can be applied to the chicken by a basting brush or by putting the sauce in a rubber-maid container with the cooked chicken and shaking it.

My New Grill

For about 6 years now, I have been cooking with a Char-Griller Charcoal BBQ Pit. I have recently decided to go to Propane, don't get me wrong I love cooking with charcoal, but its just takes entirely too long and too much cleanup for my busy schedule. Propane has the edge when it comes to just putting something on the grill when time is tight. I have made many Brisket, Boston Butt, and Ribs on my BBQ pit and have loved all of it.
When researching Propane grills, I was looking for something with a large cooking surface and something I could still use wood chips in, because I love the smoke flavor. I was looking at many different kinds but couldn't decide, until one day a friend told me about "The Holland Grill". I did some research and it is more like an outdoor convection oven than a "Grill", all meals are cooked by time or temperature. Smaller items like steaks, chicken breasts, burgers etc are are cooked by time, because it cooks like an oven you just close the lid...flip half way through then your done. Larger cuts like brisket, whole chickens, turkeys, and pork shoulders are cooked with a meat thermometer to ensure that they are thoroughly cooked. The design of the grill keeps the flame isolated from the food, so burning the food is very unlikely. I have the Apex model which is Stainless Steel and has a 15 year warranty. Instead of using lava rocks like a standard gas grill, it has a drip pan below the entire cooking surface, the drippings from the meat smoke when they hit the pan giving it the "outdoor flavor". I have cooked a variety of things on it so far and i am pleased with the results. One thing odd about the grill is that there is only a "ON or OFF", there is not a temperature setting. By design it keeps between about 350-450 degree temperature(Medium to Medium High). For slow cooking meats, there is a drain valve on the drip pan, you just close the valve, fill the pan with water and it drops the internal temperature of the grill to about 275 degrees. I just refill the drip pan every hour to keep the temperature low.

Memphis Barbecue Sauce

This is a recipe I found on the web at Recipe Zaar, I altered it slightly, and it seemed to be hit. I made this as a dipping sauce for beef brisket but It could be used for about anything, its a semi-hot sauce with a little vinegar bite from the mustard. Its always best when making barbecue sauce to use a non-reactive pan, such as stainless steel because reactive pans like aluminum and copper have a chemical reaction to the acid in the sauce, and it can cause the sauce to have a metallic taste.

Prep Time 10 min | Total Time 40 min

Makes 3 Cups

2 Cups Ketchup
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 TB Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Celery Seed
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Cup Prepared Yellow Mustard
1 TB Chili Powder
1 TB Course Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp Liquid Smoke
3 TB Worcestershire Sauce
2 TB Unsalted Butter

1. Combine all ingredients, except Butter
2. Bring to a low boil, stirring often
3. Cover the pan, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes
4. Remove from heat and stir in butter until blended.
5. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator(if there is any left!)
6. Don't ask me how long its good for, I have no idea.