Cooking & Brewing

Feb
6
2010

Amazing Pulled Pork - Smoked Pork Shoulder - Boston Butt

I owe my inspiration to pursue smoked meats to my Jerry Long my Uncle who is probably the most renowned custom meat processor and sausage maker in Southeast Michigan. The following recipe is a combination of several that I found through research, although the primary influence for the brine and rub is Alton Brown I've tweaked them a little. It's important to note that a properly brined meat beats marinade injection any day of the week, by the way this is also my secret when it comes to my amazing Thanksgiving turkey.

Ultimate Brine, 8-12 hours...

  • 4 ounces of dark brown sugar
  • 12 ounces (1 jar) molasses
  • 24 ounces of salt
  • 1 Gallon bottled water
  • 2 x 8lb Boston butt - for all the trouble 1 just isn't enough!

Ultimate rub, apply liberally after brining with latex gloves optionally on a base of spicy brown mustard...

  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon ground fennel
  • 1/8 cup chili powder
  • 1/8 cup onion powder
  • 1/8 cup garlic powder
  • 1/8 cup paprika
  • 1/8 cup ground pepper
  • 1/8 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat smoker to 225 degrees with mesquite or similar, smoke meat until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees. For a final twist spritz your meat every hour or so with a mixture of 2 parts 100% apple juice to 1 part Captain Morgan spiced rum. Once its done let it rest under a tent of aluminum foil for a half hour then pull the meat apart with two forks, then enjoy with liberal application of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce which is literally the best BBQ sauce known to man. If you are assembling pulled pork sandwiches make sure you have the freshest buns and top it off with true homemade coleslaw.

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Nov
21
2008

India Black Ale - Black IPA - Brewing Craft Beer

This is a personal adaptation of a recipe I got from the guys at Ballast Point Brewery which turned into not only the best beer I have ever brewed but the best beer I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Rather than just post the beer recipe, I am going to go into a little more detail than normal... answering some of the the questions I had when I first started brewing.

  1. 2 gallons of tap water into a brew kettle - tap water is critical for the mineral content to feed the yeast.
  2. Into a steeping bag...
    1. 24oz 10L Crystal
    2. 16oz Carapils
    3. 8oz Carafa II
  3. With steeping bag submerged but off the bottom bring almost to a boil.
  4. At 170f rinse grain over kettle with 2 pints of tap water - do not wring bag out!
  5. Add 1oz Centennial Hops and 9 lbs of Coopers Light Malt Extract into kettle and bring to a boil.
  6. Once a boil is reached add 2oz Columbus Hops.
  7. After 30 minutes add 1oz Centennial Hops.
  8. After 15 mire minutes add 3 teaspoons Irish Moss for clarity.
  9. After 15 more minutes add 1oz Simcoe Hops
  10. Pull off burner and immediately add 1.5 gallon of purified water - to dilute the tap water for correct balance.
  11. Wash your carboy with low sud detergent then rinse and wash with iodine and rinse.
  12. Pour 1.5 gallons of purified water into the carboy to keep it cool followed with your wort (un-fermented beer).
  13. Once the temperature drops to 80f add...
    1. 1oz Simcoe Hops
    2. .5oz Amarillo Hops
    3. White Labs California Ale Yeast
    4. White Labs Burton Ale Yeast
  14. Ferment for 10-14 days at 60-70 degrees ferenheight.
  15. Rack into your keg and chill for 24 hours with no pressure.
  16. Apply 30 pounds of pressure then tip keg back and fourth till you don't hear it taking any more CO2.
  17. Let rest a week or more gradually reducing the pressure for the CO2 to fully absorb into the beer for the proper mouth feel.
  18. Dispense at 6 pounds of pressure (my preference) and Enjoy.

I know this could be improved on with all grain or using a wort chiller but I wanted to balance quality with simplicity, but if you do want to go all grain trade the malt extract for 14lbs Domestic 2 row. Please let me know what you think!

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