Two Boston Butts (w pron)

As a celebration to my first place in the Amateur category of the KCBS sanctioned Ribs Cook-Off, I decided to cook up a couple of Boston Butts for Pulled Pork sammies. Since everyone at work had heard about my win, everyone wanted to taste my ribs. I figured a pan of pulled pork would go a little further, so I prepared the two butts with a little slather of mustard and then covered them liberally with Yardbird Rub:



Put them on the WSM in the late afternoon and set them up to cook all night. In the morning, I was low on charcoal and the butts were at 175, a little too early to pull, so I wrapped them in foil and slid them into my oven, set at 200. An hour and a half later they were at 200 degrees and ready. This picture only shows one, because I had moved the other to another pan.



So after a good rest, I pulled them both and made up a pan for work.



I've never really done pulled pork this way before and was amazed at how simple it was to do. Everyone at work went on and on about how good it was. It didn't take long for it all to disappear.

Thanks everyone for showing me how to be a great cook! :thumb:

Frank Grimes said:

Congrats on your rib win. Just curious, what was your cooking method for the ribs? Did you foil, glaze, etc? I am in my first comp next month and just wondering if you could give me some tips.

Click to expand...

The biggest tip I could give you is relax and enjoy the competition. Secondly, do your homework now so when you are at the competition everything is planned out. Plan everything out. Know how to control you cooker and be prepared to adjust your process when conditions require you to do so. Don't panic, although you will feel like it when things don't go the way you want them. Keep your ears and eyes open, too. Learn everything you can so you can use that knowledge in your next competition. There are lots of ways to cook ribs, or any other meat. The key thing is to work out a process that produces the results you want every time and stick to it.

There is a plethora of knowledge on this site which is invaluable to a new competition cook. Take advantage of the information here. Ask questions if you don't understand something. Check out the Competition Forum and read about all things competition.

As for my ribs, I tired to keep it as simple as possible: Remove the membrane; slather with yellow mustard; apply rub (Yardbird in this case); let them rest for a while (about an hour or two in my case); put one cooker once it settled down and cook between 225 - 275 degrees until done. Hardest part for me was timing when the ribs should be done. My cooker took off on me and I had to pull them and wrap in foil to keep them from over-cooking until I got my temps back down on the cooker. Sauced them about 20 minutes before turn in and caramelized the sauce.

Good luck in your competition.

NebraskaBBQ said:

Gotta love the bark. I like it dark like that.

Click to expand...

I was a bit afraid of it at first, but you're right. It really is good! Love the bark! :clap2: