Deck Dad BBQ - Favorite Pork Recipes

When I make pulled pork I am working with a bone in pork shoulder or Boston butt. There is no doubt that getting your meat from a local source often yields a much higher quality  which translates to flavor. Don't be afraid to venture out to your local butcher and expand your meat comfort zone from the aisles of your big box store. 

Remove your pork cut from the packaging and pat it dry with a paper towel. Next sprinkle your favorite dry rub generously over the entire cut. I don't typically use a binder such as mustard on pulled pork like I may on a smaller cut of meat like ribs, but some do. Pat the rub into the meat and let it come to room temp while you are getting your smoker warmed up. 

Once you have your meat figured out it's time to get your pit fired up and ready for a long smoke. You want to get your smoker to 225 - 250 degrees and maintain that during the cook. This usually takes about 20 minutes with a charcoal smoker. I typically use natural lump charcoal and hickory wood for the smoke with my pulled pork. Once your coals are warm and your meat is ready to go on add a few large chunks of your hickory wood to the fire. The general rule for large cuts of pork is 1 and 1/2 hours per pound cook time. A good meat thermometer is worth its weight in pulled pork, and a remote thermometer that can be probed directly into the meat will help avoid opening the smoker more than necessary during a long cook like pork butt. The old adage "If you're looking, you aren't cooking" is not just an old pit master's tall tale. For a 6-9 lbs average pork butt I would expect the total cook time to be between 10-13 hours. 

When setting up your smoker, depending on the type, plan for a long smoke and if necessary be ready to add more coals if your temp starts to dip. Remember, when smoking meat there is a certain time period in the beginning that your meat is actually retaining smoke and the flavor that goes along with it. After that time period it is about the temperature and retaining the juices that make smoked meat so good. Once the meat reaches an internal temp of around 165 degrees I wrap the butt in tin foil and place it back on the smoker for the remainder of the cook and the internal temp reaches 203 degrees. 

After removing the wrapped meat I will take it out and let it sit for about 30 minutes. From there it's pull out the bone (which should just slide out at this point) and shred whatever meat hasn't already fallen apart. I drizzle some BBQ sauce over the pulled meat, and it's ready to serve!

• 1 6-9 lbs Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt
• 4 Tablespoons pork dry rub
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce

These are hands down my favorite campfire snack! They really should be called Brandon’s Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños because my good friend introduced them to me as a staple at Princess Campouts (no its nothing weird, think a program for dad’s with daughters taking their kids camping to teach them to love the outdoors.) About an hour before dinner at camp Brandon knows I will be wandering over looking for that signature skillet and bacon smell, and he hasn’t failed me yet. If Brandon is around, have him make them for you. If he is not (which is far more likely) here is my take on them for you to try

Start by coring a dozen jalapeño peppers and cutting them in half the long way. Discard the seeds and extra membrane. It is wise to wear gloves during this process especially if you plan on rubbing your eyes in the next five years. 

Next, mix 2 8 oz  Philadelphia cream cheese packages that have had time to soften with an 8oz package of shredded cheddar cheese. Add in a tablespoon of garlic powder and a tablespoon of chili powder and stir until blended. 

Take your cored jalapeño halves and lay them on a tray. Mound a spoon full of the cream cheese mixture onto each pepper. Then wrap a slice of bacon tightly around each pepper to keep the filling from falling out while cooking.

Heat up your cast iron skillet by placing it directly above your heat source, about 18 inches away if its a fire pit grate or on medium high heat on a grill. Place the bacon wrapped peppers into the skillet to cook and turn them over once the bottom starts to brown. repeat the process until the bacon is browned on all sides being mindful to avoid losing as much filling as possible while turning. 

Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes (if you can wait) and dig in!

• 1 dozen fresh jalapeño peppers 
• 2 8oz packages of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1 8 oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon of chili powder
• 2 packages of bacon

There isn’t a cut of meat that is more synonymous with BBQ in the hearts and minds of most people than ribs. Today I‘m talking baby back ribs. The workhorse of the BBQ world. There are no shortage of techniques on how to prepare them, or rubs  and sauces to pair with them, but at the end of the day if you bite into your creation after hours on the smoker and think, ”Damn that‘s good!” Then you nailed it. Now lets warm up the smoker and get down to it.

The first question you need to ask is “am I wrapping or not?” Wrapping ribs refers to the process of wrapping the ribs at a certain point in the cook in a double layer of tin foil or butcher paper to seal in moisture and allow the ribs to cook in a protected way for a period of time away from the direct heat (usually around 150-160 degrees internal temp). This often involves adding butter, apple juice, brown sugar or other flavoring and moisture producing items in with the ribs . This method will result in fall off the bone, rich and consistent ribs. The most famous version of this style is called the 3-2-1 method. That is 3 hours directly on the smoker, 2 hours wrapped in foil or paper back on the heat source. Followed by 1 hour out of the wrap being glazed by your favorite BBQ sauce. I have made ribs many times with this method and it works great.

Another way is the more traditional pit BBQ style of leaving your ribs unwrapped the whole time. This method will yield a rich Smoky charred flavor. It requires more maintenance along the way as you will need to flip or rotate the ribs every 20-30 minutes to keep one side or the other from getting too much heat. You will also need to find a way to keep the ribs from drying out along the way, A spray bottle of an apple juice mixture is my preferred way. Once you get to temp (190 internal) Mop some of your favorite BBQ sauce on and finish cooking to a final temp of 203 internal. 

No matter which method you prefer, there are some basics that are universal:

• Dry Rub - Prior to putting your ribs on the smoker you will need to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs, and pat them down to remove any moisture from packaging. I like to put a few drops of mustard on personally as a binder to hold the rub, then generously apply your favorite rub and pat in. Here is the recipe for my "Go To Rub" 
• The Smoke - I prefer basic hickory wood for the smoke on my ribs. I get the coals going and place a few hickory chunks around the bed of coals once at temp. For ribs I am shooting for as close to 225 degrees during the smoke. Once it is settled down to temp don't worry if you get the occasional spike when you are flipping or applying spray to keep them moist. It should settle right back down. If you need to cool things down because it is staying too hot (more than 10 to 15 minutes) simply close your dampers accordingly to adjust.

I recommend trying multiple methods until you find your own favorite way of smoking ribs. That's the beautiful thing about BBQ is tailoring it to your own tastes!

• 1 Rack of baby back ribs 
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2-3 Tablespoons dry rub (Find my "Go to Rub" here)

       Mop Sauce / Spray

• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water 
• 2 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce

Don’t get me wrong, low and slow racks of ribs carefully smoked over hours till they hit the perfect temp are one of the best BBQ flavors you can get. This recipe is great for a large group in a fraction of the smoke time with arguably just as big a flavor. 

Unlike the traditional way to smoke ribs this recipe starts with cutting the raw baby back ribs into individual bone cuts out of the gate. I used a big sharp knife and my wife used scissors to cut her rack. My arm went numb, she laughed at me … so do it however you want. 

Once the ribs are all individually cut, place them in a tin foil pan and sprinkle a healthy amount of your favorite BBQ rub over them. I used my Go To Rub but any classic BBQ rub will do. Make sure to move the ribs around and get them coated as evenly as possible. 

Next I placed them on my smoker over indirect heat covering the racks with the individual ribs. For this smoke I used hickory wood chips and got the smoker up to 350 degrees. I placed a probe thermometer in a rib and let them go for about 30 minutes. Then using tongs I flipped all the ribs. This is probably the hardest part of this endeavor. Then I let them smoke for another 30 minutes or until they reached an internal temp of 165-170. 

Then I pulled the ribs off and put them in a large tin foil pan. Slice a stick of butter and spread the slices out over the ribs and pour 2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce over the ribs. Wrap the whole thing in tin foil and place in the oven on bake at 350 degrees for about two hours or until the ribs read 203 internal temp. You may need to stir/flip the ribs in the pan to make sure they are all cooking evenly. This process will in effect braise the ribs with the butter and BBQ sauce and create a delicious rib experience for a large group. Let rest as always for at least 20 minutes before serving. 

• 3-6 racks of baby back ribs
• 1 cup BBQ dry rub
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 cups BBQ sauce

My wife would tell you this is the best thing I have ever smoked. At first I was offended because I smoke a lot of big flavor cuts, then I tried this meatloaf and I can see where she is coming from! Talk about packing big flavors into a little package. 

I set up my ceramic smoker (Big Green Egg) for indirect cooking and got the charcoal going to about 350 degrees with some hickory chunk wood for smoke mixed in. 

Back in the kitchen, I mixed a pound of ground chorizo and a pound of ground beef in a bowl. Then add diced jalapeños, diced onions, shredded pepper jack cheese, southwest spice mix, hot sauce, enchilada sauce, panko bread crumbs, egg, and half and half into the bowl with the ground meat. Time to get dirty, using your hands combine all of the ingredients (I wore gloves but you do you).

Next form the loaf in a loaf pan then flip it over onto a greased grill safe metal pan. Take your jalapeño seasoned bacon and wrap individual slices over the top of the loaf overlapping until covered. I slid a half of a whole jalapeño on top for effect. 

Place the loaf on the grill safe plan onto the smoker with a meat probe and let smoke until the loaf reaches an internal temp of 155. Glaze the loaf with a mixture of enchilada sauce, ketchup, water, honey, and southwest seasoning. 

Remove the loaf at 160 degrees and let rest then get ready to clean up the crumbs cause there won‘t be leftovers! (For another twist try putting a slice with more cheese in a tortilla on a skillet for an amazing quesadilla!)

• 1 lbs Ground chorizo 
• 1 lbs Ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeño 
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack
• 2 Tablespoons Southwest seasoning
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce 
• 2 teaspoons enchilada sauce 
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons half and half
• 3/4 lbs of jalapeño seasoned bacon

We have three school age daughters, so we eat a lot of tacos as they are an easy weeknight meal that everyone in our family loves (something that is special in itself!) These delicious carnitas tacos are a great alternative when you have a little more time to commit to the process and want big flavor.

Take a 4-6 lbs pork butt and cut it into 4 inch rectangles. Put 2 Tablespoons of oil in a dutch oven and bring it up to medium high heat. Place the pork cubes into the pan and brown on all sides. Then set aside the meat covered in tin foil until ready. 

Next add the onions, garlic, and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and let them soften. Add back in the browned pork. Pour in 16 oz of chicken broth with the juice of three limes. Finally add in 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp hot pepper seasoning (I love Slap Ya Mama).

Let all of that braise for at least two hours until the pork is shred tender and the broth has cooked into the meat. Shred and put on a tortilla shell with slaw, avocado, and cheese and enjoy!

• 4-6 lbs pork butt
• 1 large onion sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 limes juiced
•  16 oz chicken broth
• Chili powder
• hot pepper seasoning

If you have been paying attention on my recipes I tend to like a kick in my food. I come from a long line of hot pepper eating people who were known to carry an extra pepper on them in case there was a need to spice something up! This skillet brings the heat and big flavor!

Slice 4-6 medium links of andouille sausage into 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick slices. In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, grill the sausage until brown then set aside. Turn down the heat to a simmer, and in the same skillet drizzle some cooking oil and add in the diced bell peppers and diced yellow onion then let simmer until softened.

• 4-6 lbs pork butt
• 1 large onion sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 limes juiced
•  16 oz chicken broth
• Chili powder
• hot pepper seasoning

Don’t get me wrong, I can certainly appreciate the classics but sometimes you just need to kick it up and this smoked BBQ ham fits the bill!

Start with a pre-cooked ham and lather it with some of your favorite spicy mustard. Slice 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices across the whole ham down to within a couple of inches from the bottom so it creates a fan effect. Sprinkle your favorite BBQ rub generously over the ham making sure to get it down into the crevices. The reason you cut the slices was to make sure you get smoke flavor and seasoning down into the ham. 

Get your pit fired up with some apple wood chunks for smoke flavor and warm it up to 325-350. Put your ham on the pit and let it cook. You will be shooting for an internal temp of 145. 

Once the ham has been on the pit for an hour or so heat up some of your favorite BBQ sauce ( I used Dinosaur BBQ’s Sour Cherry), honey, Dijon mustard, BBQ seasoning, and brown sugar to glaze the ham with. Every 15-20  minutes until the ham reaches its internal temp brush a good coating of the glaze on being sure it gets down into the space in between the slices. 

Once it hits temp, remove it from the smoker and let it rest for 15 minutes lightly tented with tin foil until ready to serve. 

• 5-8 lbs cooked ham
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard for binder
• 2-3 Tbsp BBQ seasoning
• 1 Cup BBQ sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard for glaze
• 2 tsp BBQ seasoning for glaze