Modified Amadillo Willy's rub/pork baste and sweetness?


 
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Kevin J

TVWBB Member
Well, I just entered the WSM club with a once used WSM for $50. Are you jealous or what /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Anyways, I'll be doing my first Q this weekend and have a couple of questions:

Plan so far: Do up a pork butt using the "Pork Butt - Slathered with Mustard & Rub" method off the cooking section.

Questions

#1 Is the Armadillo Willy's rub sweet? I see it has Turbinado sugar in it, but it has lots of salt too. If I remember, Turbinado is less sweet than table sugar. My wife does *NOT* like sweet Q so I'm wondering how this will come out.

#2 Is this a good cook to start with? I figure pork butt is the way to go and this looks to be a pretty straight forward method. However, any other suggestions will be considered.

Thanks!
Kevin
 
You are going to get a ton of posts, but I am going to add my $.02.

Butt is the perfect first smoke. It is very forgiving and can take a few temp spikes and turn out great.

Armadillo Willy was not sweet. With the smoke and mustard, it gets rid of any sweetness. The sugar really helps to create great bark (the outside part of the pulled pork).

My only suggestion is that you plan your timing well. I royally messed up my first butt cook, but it taught me a good lesson. Don't be afraid to foil if it looks like you are running out of time and go ahead and open the vents to increase the temp if you are really in a bind. Otherwise, have a great smoke and make sure you post your results.
 
I agree with your wife to a degree. I prefer a little less sweet BBQ. When you pull your but, consider dividing it into to two batches. One where you mix in a little sweetened rub, one where you add a little less sweetened rub. Or have a little sweetened sauce on the side to flavor to taste.

Both of you can be happy. Or so the theory goes.

Chet
 
I agree with her as well - sweet BBQ isn't my thing. However, she is much less tolerant than I, so just trying to make sure her first go around is a pleasing one.

That brings up another question (and no I haven't bought any books yet): Are certain Q styles sweet as a rule and others are, well, something else? Kansas City, vs NC vs Texas...

Thanks
 
Hi Kevin, and welcome to TVWB. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

I would start with a butt for a 1st cook as well ~ Very forgiving. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

This site might answer some of your questions about diferent styles of bbq. Enjoy
 
Kevin

If you don't want sweet bbq then go dry or look at vinegar or mustard sauces.

Scott
Your selling yourself short, you called it.
When barbecue'n more than other styles cooking I've done you must be willing to adapt to the conditions.
Jim
 
I was never a fan of sweet BBQ.

However, I think that I have changed my opinion over the last couple of years.

I believe for a sauce to be well balanced it needs to have some sweetness. Nothing overly sweet but there has to be a hint.

Also, I think that the spicier the sauce is, in terms of bite or heat, the more sweet that it can handle.

Maybe the sauces that you have been trying just haven't been very complex in terms of flavors?
 
Mrpopgun,

As a rule Memphis Q is usually sweet. Texas, is heavy on smoke and many times served dry. Carolinas are vinegar based sauces and KC is tomato based. Each region has a very distinct version of their Q.

Keep in mind that these are generalizations and that you'll find all kinds just about anywhere you go...
 
Well, my cook went fairly well (for a first timer) and the meat was well appreciated.

Put the butt on at 7:30AM, pulled at 1:00PM the next day at 182

I had problems controlling my temps as my access door was letting in too much air. Even after shutting all the way down, My temps were up around 260-270 to begin with. Finally came down sometime between 12:30 and 5AM to 200 so I had to heat things back up. At that point, I was able to get the temps to stay at 230-235, but the meat temp seemed to have stalled out. The meat was up to 182 at 1:00 and looked really dry on the outside. It seemed to be still be juicy inside, though, so I pulled it.

Turned out the inside was tender and nice. Not as juicy or pull apart as I would have liked, but good enough and tasty. The bark, though, was tough and seemed to reach a little deep into the meat.

Questions:

1) I assume it was the higher heat that really dried out the outside of the butt. But I also read that higher temps result in more fall apart meat. Can you help me understand this and what happened to me?

2) The Armadillo Willy resipe I was using calls for basting cider vinegar, apple juice and veggie oil with a spray bottle. Just what is it for - flavor, rendering, bark?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
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