Monday, October 26, 2009

Smokehouse



Some things are just better smoked and pork meat has to be the meat that most benefits form this long dry cooking process. A few weeks ago while youtubing the night away we stumbled on to a clip from food network TV´s "Good eats", the host "Alton Brown" brines and then smokes a boston butt and the makes himself a pulled pork sandwich. He smokes the pork in a terracotta pot with nothing more than a grate, an electric burner and some wood chips. We found this method irresistible and wanted to try it out...our plan was to give it the whole 10 hour cooking time but we just couldn´t wait and ended finishing it up in the oven. What´s important is we proved that indeed you can make a ceramic cooker/smoker out of a couple of inexpensive flower pots and a 15 dollar electric hotplate. The results were phenomenal and has got us all excited about smoking everything from bacon, to fresh tuna. This recipe is our take on a classic American technique while using Mexican spices and ingredients.
We start off with a whole bone-in boston butt and a dry rub.

dry rub

1 tablespoon cumin
1/ 3 cup coarse sea salt
1/3 cup ground piloncillo or brown sugar
3 toasted guajillo peppers
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/3 cup ground coffee

Grind up all the ingredients together and rub the meat generously all over and place in a plastic bag . Let the meat marinade for 24 to 48 hours. once you are ready to smoke just place the chunks of hicory on the metal dish right on top of the electric hotplate, place pork on the grate and cover. make sure to keep the temperature no higher than 220 degrees Fahrenheit and smoke for 10 to 12 hours.
I have tried this in tacos and quesadillas and is truly delicious, also a very inexpensive cut of meat that really benefits from a little extra cooking time and care. I´ll be sure to post a few more smoked items as I try to conquer this intense and complex cooking style.