HOW TO PICK PARTS OF THE PIG FOR BBQ.
Pork pickin’ parties are widespread in the South, notably the Carolinas and South Georgia. However, they are not as common in the Northeast and Midwest.
A whole hog is roasted over an open fire for many hours, and these gatherings are centered on it as a centerpiece. When the pig is taken off the grill, diners may pluck the soft flesh directly off the bone.
Although it is becoming a dying skill, whole-hog cooking can still be seen in many restaurants across the South. Pork shoulders, rather than the whole pig, maybe smoked at barbecue establishments located outside of eastern North Carolina.
Check out the meats on the right and on the following pages to learn how to make real pulled, chopped, or sliced pork at home, or fire up the grill for hot and fast pork chops and other cuts that are designed for rapid preparation.
Because they are the most sensitive, I like loin back ribs. The expression “living high on the hog” is probably familiar to you. Because the ribs on the loin are higher on the animal, they are more sensitive than those on the shoulder.
SPIP STEELE, PAPPY’S SMOKEHOUSE, ST. LOUIS PORK SHOULDER, and others
Authentic, slow-cooked barbecue pork is made using this cut of meat. This is due to the fact that hog’s shoulder meat has a high concentration of connective tissues, which causes the flesh to become tough when cooked at high heat.
While cooking it low and slow, the tissues dissolve and allow the meat to be basted in its own fluids, resulting in moist and tasty barbecuing meat. Whole pig shoulder may be tough to come by at the grocery store; instead, look for a smaller Boston butt, which comes from the top section of the front leg, above the shoulder blade, and has a lot of fat and marbling.
Take nothing for granted: this isn’t the kind of ham you’d slice for sandwiches or serve as the centerpiece of a holiday dinner. This cut, which is also known as “picnic,” is made up of the lower region of the hog’s foreleg and has more fat than the shoulder, resulting in a meat that is very flavorful and succulent. When cooking with low and moderate heat, such as with pulled pork, grinding, or braising, the picnic is the ideal method of preparation.
PORK SPARERIBS ARE A DELICIOUS Delicieux
They are sliced from the bottom of the hog’s rib cage and are often accompanied by brisket, which is a bony piece of meat that hangs from the bottom of the slab. Despite the fact that spareribs take a longer cooking time than tiny baby back ribs, they are often tastier due to the higher fat and marbling content of the meat. They are at their finest when cooked low and slow, with the last hours of cooking being basted and covered in foil.
CUT RIBS FROM ST. LOUIS.
This cut of the rib is also known as the Kansas City cut, and it simply refers to the removal of the additional rib tips from a standard rack of spareribs, leaving a flat rectangular slab of meat. When cooked on the stovetop, St. Louis cut rib bones brown beautifully because they are straight and flat.
BAKED SPARERIBS IN A COUNTRY STYLE
There is a greater meat-to-bone ratio in this cut of ribs than in any other. However, they aren’t really ribs in the traditional sense of the phrase.
Cut from the front section of the baby’s back ribs, near the shoulder, they’re best cooked like pork chops or braised in the oven or slow cooker to get the greatest flavor.
RIBS OF THE BABY BACK
Baby back ribs are the meatiest and most tender of the ribs, and they’re also the shortest and tiniest, making them ideal for serving as appetizers. Their form is more curled than that of spareribs since they are cut from below the loin muscle of the animal. Because the meat is thin and mild, these ribs should be cooked low and slow, then basted and wrapped to get the most exquisite results..
PORK CHOPS
There are many various sorts of pork chops to pick from, and they are all delectably tender and tasty.
You can cook them quickly on the grill, or inside on the stovetop if the weather is less than ideal, or you may slow smoke them for added flavor if the weather is very bad.
MEAT CHOPS FROM THE LOIN.
T-bone chops, which are also known as porterhouse chops, are chops with a T-bone in them that include the hard flesh of the pig loin on one side and the tenderloin on the other side of the bone.
RIB CHOPS These are pork chops that have been sliced from a rib roast and are either boneless or bone-in with a baby back rib connected to the end of the pork chop. They are very lean, making them great for bringing, stuffing, or rapid cooking on the grill.
A soft cut of pork, the loin spans the full length of the hog alongside the ribs and is offered as pork loin chops or as a pork loin roast. PORK LOIN CHOPS When it comes to stuffing, boneless loins are good, but to prevent drying out, they should not be cooked to an internal temperature higher than 140 degrees.
THE PORK TENDERLOIN
While the pork tenderloin is the softest and most flavorful cut of pork available (and the most expensive), it should not be mistaken for the pork loin roast, which is less tender and less expensive. Located below the loin and beginning just below the final rib, the tenderloin is a long, slender, and tapering muscle. He or she is around the size and weight of a 10-year-old human’s forearm and weighs approximately 2 pounds. Grilled or roasted, then sliced into medallions, it is exceptionally soft and delectable.
Pull, chop, or slice your chicken?
It’s likely that if you come across a barbecue establishment in the South, you’ll be able to estimate what kind of barbecue will be served depending on where you’re located. The pork will most likely be coarsely minced in North Carolina. Pulled barbecue may be found in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama (as well as many other Southern locales).
Pitmasters either pull the meat by hand (while wearing heat-resistant gloves, of course) or with two forks in order to produce the long, juicy strands of flesh that are characteristic of their craft. Sliced pig is also available on occasion, although brisket, particularly in Texas, is more often sliced than hog.
Then, after you’ve decided on whether you want the interior flesh to be wet or drier, smokier, and crunchier on the exterior, you may select whether you want the bark or the inside meat. Choosing your own barbecue sauce is common at many establishments, and you can’t go wrong either way.
Choose ribs that have not been modified with any kind of flavoring or marinating. Ribs packed in murky water are often augmented with a nitrate or salt solution, which is why they are so flavorful and tender. Aside from that, go for the meatiest ribs you can find—about 2 pounds each.