Rotate your phone for full version
BBQ Smokers, Pig Roasters, Chicken Cookers, and Grills From Meadow Creek

Welcome

I'm Lavern Gingerich, advocate for Meadow Creek barbecue equipment and editor of StoryQue magazine. Take a few minutes to discover our blog, recipe library, StoryQue Magazine, and revolutionary barbecue equipment. You can find us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Posts Tagged ‘smoked pork butts’

Meadow Creek PR60GT Pig Cooker Story

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Smoked Ribs

We just returned from a vacation up north, visiting family and friends. Part of our trip included a family reunion on my wife’s side in upstate New York. We borrowed a friend’s Meadow Creek PR60GT Pig Roaster and I cooked 5 pork butts, 4 chickens, and 2 slabs of baby back ribs.

The event was on Tuesday and I cooked on Monday because I didn’t want to cook all through the night or deal with meat in the morning while I could be relaxing with family. It was rainy the day I cooked, so we put up a tent with one side panel to block the breeze, and it worked very nicely.

My friend who owns the pig roaster ordered it custom without a drip pan or a stainless steel grate. Instead he has a pan with a slanted bottom, and he uses it mostly for whole pigs. I didn’t want to fry the meat, so we laid it on several oven racks inside the pan. He doesn’t have a chip tray, so I filled foil pouches with wood chips and chunks to make my smoke. The pouches worked okay once I figured out how to make it work, but it’s not the ideal way to make smoke in a Meadow Creek Pig Roaster! However, it was a fun challenge and I enjoyed cooking another batch of outrageous barbecue.

(more…)

Pulled Pork (and Jamin’s Birthday)

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

In my opinion, it’s almost impossible to beat juicy, well-done pulled pork—smoked the authentic BBQ way. And believe it or not, this stuff is very easy to cook and hard to mess up!

So if you’re just learning how to smoke low and slow, a great place to start is with a bone-in Boston butt. I just can’t describe how delicious, fun, easy, and great this whole process is. You have to experience it for yourself to really know what I’m talking about.

Last month, I cooked a couple pork butts for my son Jamin’s first birthday party. Now I want to share some pictures and tips for cooking delicious pulled pork everyone will love.

Some experts will tell you to use fresh butts that were never frozen and some tell you to inject or marinate the meat overnight and some will tell you to let them rest for 30 minutes or so after they’re done before you pull them. This is great, and if you feel like doing the extra work, waiting, etc, you should probably do it.

But I can tell you, some of the best pulled pork I ever had was from a thawed pork butt, and I applied the rub just minutes before I set them on the smoker, and we were in no mood to wait half an hour to eat. And I promise it was extremely edible.

So my favorite theory in barbecue is this: barbecue is easy! (Once you have someone to teach you and you get some practice.) Of course, there are extra things you can do to make it better, but don’t let this stuff intimidate you. It is NOT rocket science, even competition style barbeque.

BBQ is about having a great time with family and friends, making memories, and producing some of the most delicious food on the planet.

Here are a few pictures from Jamin’s birthday barbecue and the train birthday cake my wife made.  🙂

Click a photo to enlarge it.

How to Smoke Pork Butts

Here are a few quick tips on how to make your own outrageous pulled pork.

  • Get your smoker up to 225–250 degrees F.
  • Start with fresh or thawed pork butt with some nice fat marbling. The fat adds a lot of flavor and helps keep the meat juicy.
  • Unwrap the meat, rinse it, and cut off any bloody, nasty-looking stuff.
  • Cover it with yellow mustard (the kind you’d put on a hotdog). Sprinkle a generous layer of your favorite pork rub over the entire surface (edges, cracks, and all). Pat it down with your hand. Disposable gloves are handy for this.
  • Load the meat onto the smoker grate and close the smoker.
  • Add some fruit wood or your favorite smoking wood to the fire to kick up the smoke at the beginning. We smoke mostly with 100% hardwood charcoal briquettes and add a few pieces of wood at the beginning to create more smoke. The meat takes in more smoke when it’s cold than once it’s been in the heat for a while.
  • Maintain your smoker at 225-250 degrees F.
  • Spray the meat with apple juice about every hour to help keep the meat moist throughout the cook.
  • Cook the meat for about 1½ hours per pound or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches about 200 degrees. This can easily take 8 hours or even 12 hours depending on the size of the meat and what the weather is like, etc.
  • Extra tip: If the meat reaches the 170s and just hangs there for an hour or two, your butts might be ready to pull off. Sample it for tenderness and see how well it pulls apart. You want to be careful not to dry it out. Ultimately, you will need to determine when it’s done. This takes some skill, but remember, pork butts are easy to cook and hard to mess up if you keep the temperature fairly consistent.
  • Pull it into small chunks or strips with forks or gloved hands.
  • Eat it with hamburger buns (or homemade bread), cheese, and your favorite barbecue sauce. I enjoy coleslaw (finely-shredded) on my pulled pork sandwiches too.

How to Store Left-Over Pulled Pork

Here’s a great way to deal with left-over pulled pork. Freeze it in quart-size freezer bags. When you’re ready to eat some, thaw one bag in the refrigerator, and then put it in a kettle of water over medium low heat.

Indescribable!

Lavern

Credit Cards We Accept
Struggling to choose the right cooker for your needs? Check out our Meadow Creek cooker comparison charts. If you would like to discuss your dream cooker over the phone, call Marlin toll-free at (877) 602-1568 to get some good, friendly advice. Or if you're close by, come visit our display lot in Pikeville, Tennessee to check out these fine barbeques! We offer a 30-day money back guarantee on all our Meadow Creek barbeque equipment (except the Ultimate Caterers—sorry, too much risk). Please realize that we (Yoder’s Smoky Mountain Barbecue) are a dealer for Meadow Creek. This promise applies only if you buy from us. If for any reason you are not happy with your unit, you may return the cooker to us within 30 days of the delivery or pickup date, and we will refund the purchase price minus the shipping and handling. You are responsible to pay the return shipping.
What did you think of the videos? Meadow Creek makes some amazing smokers, pig roasters, chicken cookers, and grills. All this equipment is made in the Amish Community of Lancaster County, PA. The talented craftsmen at Meadow Creek hand-make each unit. They seriously go the extra mile to make sure you’re smoked pink. What really puts the sauce on the brisket is all the revolutionary features and options that make barbecue fun and easy, and even a money-machine, if BBQ is your business.
Integrity: Meadow Creek cookers are made in a culture of Godly ethics—honesty, diligence, and fairness. Whether it’s a Shoo-fly pie or a barbecue smoker, you will be treated right.
Stainless Steel Grates: Every Meadow Creek barbecue cooker comes standard with non-rusting stainless steel grates. This eliminates the hassle of scrubbing rust and the danger of possible rust contamination on your meat.