The Pork Barrel BBQ Competition BBQ Team is pleased to announce that Pork in the Park in Salisbury, MD will be our first contest of the 2010 season.

Pork in the Parkis sure to be a great time with over 100 competition teams expected to participate April 16-17 at Winterplace Park in Salisbury, MD.  Pork in the Park is the largest KCBS event on the East Coast and will see some of the best teams in the nation compete.  If you’re in the neighborhood stop by the Pork Barrel BBQ site and say hi.  While there you’ll also be able to visit Cool Smoke of TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters Fame.  It should be a great time for the whole family!!! 

More contest announcements coming soon!!

Leslie came up with the idea for Grill Charms at a dinner party she was hosting when her husband served her an extra hot Jamaican Jerk piece of chicken instead of the mild one she had requested – he had forgotten which piece was which on the grill.  Since this event goal has been to “insure every American gets what they want – how they want it – hot off the grill.”

How do you use Grill Charms?  Grill Charms can be used prior to grilling by placing the charm in the meat or vegetable to indicate temperature, level of food seasoning and spice or to address health or allergy concerns.  Leslie likes to say that, “Your food is personalized before, during and after it’s cooked.”

Grilling season is just around the corner – make sure you check out Grill Charms.  Pork Barrel BBQ and Grill Charms are a perfect combination for any great BBQ!!!  Check out Leslie’s appearance on Shark Tank!

Check out this video on Wagshal’s AMAZING Prime Smoked Brisket!

Here Part II on our series of the most important BBQ tools:

Rib Rack – We love to cook ribs – they are easy to cook, and with a little bit of Pork Barrel BBQ’s All American Spice Rub – they are guaranteed to be a big success at the party. A major part of grilling or cooking is space management. We’ve talked about a lot of important tools on this blog – if you bbq a lot, epecially bbq ribs on your bbq smoker or grill – a rib rack is a key tool of the trade. Read more.

Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker – We have a number of events and BBQ competitions coming up this summer and needed to increase our capacity to cook a lot of great BBQ!  What is really amazing about the Smokey Mountain Cooker (we got two of the 22.5 inch models) is that it can hold 12 slabs of ribs, 4-8 pork shoulders, 3-6 briskets, and even 4 turkeys!  Read more.  And even more here.

The Country-Style Pork Rib are blade chops that come from the shoulder end of the loin and are meatier than the traditional spareribs and baby back ribs.

The Beef Short Rib are approximatley a 4-inch segment of beef attached to a piece of rib bone.

Try your favorite braised rib dish on the grill next time you fix it and fix half the recipe with Country-Style Pork Ribs and the other half with Beef Short Ribs.  If you have a great recipe for barbecued-braised ribs send it to us at porkbarrelbbq@gmail.com and we’ll pick the best one and post it to the blog and in the recipe section at www.porkbarrelbbq.com.

Charcoal Chimney –  Besides your BBQ grill, the single most important BBQ tool you need to be a successful pit-master is a charcoal chimney!  What’s a charcoal chimney you ask?  A charcoal chimney lets you quickly light your charcoal without having to use any lighter fluid.  Ensuring from the start that your BBQ food won’t taste like lighter fluid is a good thing!  Read more.

Meat Thermometer – Many of the best BBQ Pit Masters can tell when the meat on their smoker is done just by sight and touch.  For those of us that don’t have BBQ ESP we have to rely on a meat thermometer.  When cooking a pork shoulder, brisket or chicken a meat thermometer is an essential tool for the BBQ backyard griller.  Read more.

Hardwood Lump Charcoal – Lump charcoal is the end product of the process of burning chunks of hardwood in the absence of oxygen. It is almost like your sticking a piece of oak or hickory in the grill so it is the most natural and pure form of charcoal you can buy. We think lump charcoal gives BBQ a much better flavor than BBQ briquettes and it lights easy, burns hotter, and produces far less ash than briquettes.  Read more.

The Holistic Moms Network is a non-profit organization connecting parents who are interested in holistic health and green living.  If you are interested in taking part in the Arlington Alexandria Holistic Moms Network Chapter – be sure to visit http://arlalexva.holisticmoms.org/ or their blog at http://holisticmomsarlalex.blogspot.com/.  Special thanks to their leader Jessica Haney for letting Pork Barrel BBQ take part in celebrating their first anniversary!

Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce at the Holistic Moms Network Arlington/Alexandria Anniversary Party

Ah, pulled pork – how I do love thee pulled pork?  Let me count the delicious ways.  We have a lot of folks ask us via email, twitter, or at food shows how to smoke pulled pork.  We almost always make the following pulled pork BBQ recipe – its simple, and turns out perfect BBQ’d pulled pork every time! We are big Kansas City BBQ fans, but this pulled pork recipe should make folks from all BBQ regions happy!

We researched the origins of pulled pork – some folks say pulled pork originates from Mexico – known as Carnitas.  Of course, don’t even get Americans started in which region pulled pork was created – Memphis pulled pork, Alabama pulled pork, Kansas City pulled pork – it quickly sounds like a scene from Forrest Gump.  Whatever the origins of pulled pork – we love it and here is our recipe:

Easy Smoked Pork Shoulder / Pulled Pork Recipe

1 – 7 pound pork shoulder (also known as Boston Butt – bone in or boneless work great)

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4-6 tablespoons Pork Barrel BBQ’s All American Spice Rub

6 cans of beer

1 aluminum drip pan

5 chunks of hickory wood

3 chunks of oak wood

1 Bag of Lump Hardwood Charcoal

Get your smoker’s temperature up to 225-250 degrees. When lighting your charcoal, be sure to only use hardwood lump charcoal and always start with a charcoal chimney starter. If you are using a BBQ grill, you can still smoke! Just place the charcoal in a pile on one side of the grill, and place the meat on the other side.

There are several keys to making great pulled pork.  While the smoker gets to temperature rub 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the first side of your pork shoulder and then rub 2-3 tablespoons of Pork Barrel BBQ’s All American Spice Rub into the meat. Repeat on opposite side. Allow meat to rest with rub on it for at least 30 minutes (this can be done ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours).  Be patient – amazing pulled pork is only a day away!

Place your drip pan into the smoker directly under where the pork shoulder will be sitting and pour the beer into it. If using a grill, simply put your beer into a disposable aluminum pan and place under your pork shoulder. Since we are both from Missouri, we like grilling with (and drink!) Bud Light (but we sometimes use PBR)!  We like to have Bud Light around when we actually eat our Pulled Pork – Pulled Pork and Bud Light – a great combo.

Place the wood chunks onto the hot coals in your smoker and then place the grill grate in the smoker. Place your meat directly above the drip pan and close your smoker. If cooking in a smoker, I place the wood into the coals, but if I’m cooking on a BBQ grill, I soak the wood for 30 minutes to allow it to have a longer smoke (you can’t go wrong either way!).  Making sure your pulled pork has great smoke is a key to great taste – whether your pulled pork is just for cooking in your backyard, or are entering the pulled pork in competition.

Make sure the temperature remains in the 225-250 degree range throughout the smoking process. Every couple of hours make sure you have enough fuel on your fire to maintain the desired BBQ smoker temperature. A pork shoulder should remain in the smoker for 11-13 hours – and will yield amazing pulled pork. Here’s what it looks like when you put it on the grill:

And here’s what it looks like when its done! The internal temperature (always use a meat thermometer) should reach 195 degrees F – be sure to wrap it in foil immediately after cooking and let it rest for at least 30 minutes – this is one of the keys to juicy pulled pork!

Once its had a chance to rest, it should pull very easily – I just use some forks and pull away! Don’t throw away the brown exterior shell – its the best part – known as “bark” it tastes like candy!  Look at the crazy delicious pulled pork below!

I serve the pulled pork on a kaiser or potato roll with Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce and a side of slaw or some sauce – enjoy!!