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My brother Jaybill has perfected southern style smoked pork.  He finally showed me how to do it, and it really got my faithful readers excited.  The 20 hour process involves brining, rubbing, smoking, roasting and only about 15 minutes of actual work.  Most of it is a drinking waiting game.  The night before you’re going to smoke, you need to get your pig in the brine. I used two six or seven pound boned-out boston butts. Jaybill swears by the bone-in cut, and I tend to agree with him.  I think the bone adds flavor as it cooks, and my dogs just love those things.  So you’ve got your meat, now crack a beer.  The brine is a simple recipe, taking just a few moments to prepare.  Whisk the ingredients together then sink in your meat.  Make sure the pork is covered with the flavorful liquid.  Optimal brining is about 12-14 hours.  Any longer, it might get too salty.  I floated mine at 6 pm the day before I was going to smoke, and pulled ‘em out at around 7:45 am the following morning.  Pat the meat dry to remove any excess moisture.  Now comes the rub.  As a cook, there have always been certain jobs that I’ve found naughty, almost erotic, and spice rubbing meat is certainly one of them.  Prepare your rub and go to town on that meat.  Every inch of that sucker should be crusted with spicy goodness.  When the meat is enrobed in deliciousness, get the smoker ready.  The genius of Jaybill’s smokers comes from their simplicity.  The parts for which can be found at any home and garden store, the heating element at your local Fred Meyer.  These things are everywhere. Fellow Alton Brown fans the world over embraced this DIY set-up, and our recipe featured here is adapted from his “Q” episode. Jaybill taught me to smoke the butts for four hours.  You’ll need at least a 12-pack of crsipy Longhammers for this part.  When four hours is up, remove the pork and tightly wrap it in tin foil.  Roast for an additional four hours in a pre-heated 300 degree oven.  Don’t be tempted to raise the oven temperature to shorten the cooking time.  All of those delicious juices you’ve worked so hard to create are going to escape.  Don’t you know, that with the pork bro, slow and low that is the tempo?  After 8 hours of cooking you’ll be well brined yourself no doubt and ready for the fun part, pulling.  After proper resting (about 20 minutes)  pull back the foil and take in the sweet smelling steam.  A pair of latex gloves will ensure your tender skin won’t get too warm as you pull apart the porky goodness.  At this point, the entire neighborhood will be lined up to sample your pork.  The smoke signal was sent out hours ago.  Don’t  Jersey up your meat with store bought barbeque sauce.  I recommend a North Carolina style vinegar sauce and some srirachanaise.  You can find AB’s original recipe here.  For our adapted ones read on.

Brine:
1/2  cup molasses
24 ounces kosher salt
1 gallon water
2- 6 to 8 pound Boston butts

Rub:
2 tblsp whole cumin seed
2 tblsp whole fennel seed
2 tblsp whole coriander
2 tblsp chipotle powder
2 tblsp onion powder
2 tblsp paprika

Combine molasses, pickling salt, and water in large bucket.  Completely submerge pork in brine, cover, and let sit in refrigerator 12 hours.Grind all spices to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.

Remove pork from brine and pat dry.

Rub them shits!!

Smoke them shits!!

Eat them shits with Foie Gras Baked Beans!!