BBQ Pittmasters “When Pigs Fly”
Meat: Spare Ribs and Pork Butt
Myron Mixon: “Vinegar, some apple juice, salt and sugar. That would be my injection for this Boston Butt.”
Grill Master: Eric Thomas
The Rolling Grill
Atlanta, GA
“First thing I start on is the pit, nothing else matters until you get that pit hot.”
“Those guys over there, from California and Oklahoma, cooking with pellets and electrical gadgets are wasting their time. This is Georgia, and in Georgia we throw sticks.”
Uses Oak for heat, Hickory for flavor, and Cherry for flavor and color.
Keeps heat between 250 and 275 degrees
Uses a meat thermometer in Pork Butt
Boston Butt:
Injection
N/A (“has a little kick to it”)
Rub
Brown sugar
Chili powder
“We don’t measure, we’re not makin’ cookies here. Bakin’ is a science, BBQ is a feel.”
Pulls pork butt out at 140 degrees internal temp. Cuts off “money muscle” and wraps separately to get “bark” all the way around it. Wraps rest of meat and puts both in smoker to bring internal temp to 190 degrees.
Spare Ribs:
Worcestershire Sauce (“Meat Glue”)
Rub
“The flavor profile of this rub is salt, garlicy with a lot of chili powder in it. Not sweet at all”
275 degrees for 3 hours
Pulls when color looks right. Wraps in foil with butter, brown sugar, own spicy BBQ sauce on bottom. Then repeats process on top and finishes cooking 250 to 275 for 30 minutes.
Gear:
Weber chimney starter
Reverse flow off-set smoker (Forces smoke and heat to flow underneath and then back over the top whatever is being cooked.)
Grill Master: David Bouska
Butcher BBQ
Chandler, OK
“We use these hickory pellets on our pork butts, because of the smoke that is puts out. We like the flavor on our pork that way.”
“With this (pellet smoker) you can concentrate on the cooking process and not the cooker”
Uses Hickory pellets
Boston Butt:
Injection
White Grape Juice w/ Peach flavoring added (Base)
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Some phosphates
“I like the flavor profile, its not distinctive but its easy to combine with a rub.”
Rub
Salt
Sugar (White)
Paprika
Garlic
Honey powder “This is what gives our rub it’s special flavor”
“The flavor profile for our rub is a sweet heat.”
Wraps pork butt in foil. Does not probe because he doesn’t want to let any juices out. Temp should be about 140 degrees win pulled from cooker. Wraps with brown sugar underneath pork butt and more on top. Puts liquid butter on top of brown sugar. Puts back in smoker for a minimum of an hour.
When done cooking, cuts off “money muscle” and cover with a sauce made with tomato, molasses, vinegar, and undisclosed ingredients.
Check out the three different final presentations he has for the “money muscle”.
Spare ribs:
Marinade
Water (Super secret sauce)
Rub:
Garlic
Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Let set for a couple hours in ice chest
260 degrees for 4 hours
Wraps spare ribs with brown sugar, rub, honey and a little butter on bottom. Bastes ribs with sauce and “proprietary items” on top. “We expect to get a sweet heat out of this.” Puts ribs back in a 260 for 50 minutes.
Gear:
Pellet smoker (Used for port butts)
Grill Master: “Big Jim” Modessiit
Big Jim’s BBQ
San Francisco, CA
“Too much Hickory with give it too much of a smoke flavor.”
Combination of pellets, 75% Applewood and 25% Hickory
Boston Butt:
Injection
Organic apple cider with some peaches
Pulls from smoker at about 170 degrees. Puts in pan covered with foil with apple juice and peach juice after cooking for 4(?) hours and cooks for one hour aiming for internal temp of 195 degrees.
Rub
Cayenne chili powder
Himalayan sea salt
Secret competition rub. “Has some heat to it”
Use mortar and pestle to grind spice together
Uses shaker to apply rub
Spare Ribs:
Rub
“Our spare rib rub has a sweet taste, a little heat to it and the judges are goin’ to love it.”
“…we want the seasoning to work into the meat for two hours.”
270 degrees for 4 hours
Pulls when it has a nice mahogany color. Puts in pan and covers with BBQ sauce. Cooks at 235 – 240 degrees for 30 minutes.
Uses a finishing dust (Turbinado, brown sugar, and white sugar) to finalize ribs.
Gear:
Pellet smoker
What Grill Masters are saying.