Smoked Boston Butt with homemade BBQ Sauce

Whenever we go to the South, our (my) first order of business is to find a good place to eat a pulled pork sandwich. When we landed in New Orleans last month, we found a little hole in the wall place where the locals eat. Our plates were heaping with ribs, pulled pork and brisket. Yum. The next day we went to a family favorite, Corky's. They're famous for their barbecue.

Making delish pulled pork at home is really simple. I love Paula Dean's recipe for Boston Butt. It has smoky flavor, without barbecuing or actually smoking the meat. Now, It's not quite as good as authentic Southern barbecue, but it's a close second. In my opinion, pulled pork needs sauce. Don't make this unless you can commit to the sauce too. Making your own sauce takes one pan and less than 5 minutes. Please tell me you would not compromise the integrity of your pulled pork with a store bought bottled sauce!

A little warning- First, get at least two roasts. Everyone, and I mean everyone loves this, and it will go fast. Dick's (useless info unless you live in B-town) puts this on sale a few times a year for $1.29-$1.69 a pound. I buy several and throw them in the freezer. And pick up some food handlers gloves either in a restaurant supply store or your grocery. Sometimes you can even get the deli people (in your local grocery) to sell you a package. They have 100 uses, especially if you are a germaphobe, no names, please- and will keep your hands from smelling like smoke flavoring. Uh, wait, maybe you WANT to smell like smoke flavoring. I heard a news story the other day about men loving food smells as opposed to flowery perfume scents. Interesting. Maybe just put a little behind your ears while you are preparing the meat. Oh, one more thing. My kids, especially the boys LOVE it when I make this. Not only because they love the dish, but they also love saying "I am So excited to have BUTT tonight" or "I love it when you make BUTT" or "Pass the BUTT".

Mature.

I know.

Smoked Boston Butt

printable recipe

1 4-5 pound Pork Butt Roast

1 Tablespoon seasoned salt

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1 tablespoon pepper

4 tablespoons liquid smoke

1 large sweet onion, sliced into rings

1 cup water

foil

homemade barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Place gloves on hands, if using. Sprinkle all of the seasoning on the roast evenly, both sides. Rub into the meat. Repeat the process with the liquid smoke. Place the meat in a large roasting pan, or if you don't have one use a 9 x 13 pan. Remove the gloves and discard. Chop the onions, and throw over the meat. Pour the water into the pan. Make sure not to pour over the meat, or you will wash away the flavorings. Cover the meat with foil. Seal to edges of pan, so steam won't escape. Place in oven and cook for 3 hours at 325 degrees . You can remove at this time, but I like to turn the oven off, and just let it sit in the oven for another couple of hours. Do not open the oven until ready to remove. When ready to serve, pull away excess fat, and either chop or pull pork apart with forks. Place on a serving platter and drizzle with sauce. Serve extra sauce on the side.

Tips:

-Serve with hamburger buns, or white bread slices.

-great side dishes are : (click here) coleslaw, baked beans and potato salad.

-After cooking the meat - Don't cut the meat and "mix" with bbq sauce. It will get mushy and have that yucky consistency of frozen bbq meat. Just carefully lay the meat in a pan or serving platter and pour a little sauce over the top.

BBQ Sauce:

2 cups Ketchup

1-cup brown sugar

5-8 drops hot sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

1 clove garlic (optional)

3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

ground pepper

Heat all ingredients in pan on stove. Add more sugar, hot sauce or garlic according to your taste.

Tips:

-You can substitute honey for the sugar. If you like onions in your sauce, saute half of a chopped onion and add to the mixture.

-Without onions, this will keep in the refrigerator for at least a month.