Mustard Slather on Pork?

[chinesebob]

I've been reading through Paul Kirk's "Championship Barbecue" and jotting down notes and ideas as I come across them. He has a whole section on Mustard Slather. I generally don't do anything to my PB's when I smoke them but wanted to see what people's experience was.

I was going to try a simple one and then add a rub to it.

On a funnier note,

I told my co-workers I was going to slather my butt with mustard and then season it with salt for them and one of them almost hurled on the spot.

[AlabamaGrillBillies]

I've personally gone through three stages with my butt cooking. At first no rub, just smoked it. Then for a while I was slathering in mustard and rubbing. Now I just rub, no slather. Does it make a difference? Well for sure the mustard+rub and rub by itself created better bark than the no rub. There is a little difference in the mustard+rub and just rub but not enough for me to make a mess when I'm just cooking for the folks. At comps we still use a mustard+rub combo.

[parrothead]

Go ahead and ruin it with mustard.

[SP]

Its all person taste. Im with Alabama I have do all kinds of combos with rubs, slathers, marinades, brines etc. I tend to use a slather when I want a thick crust and I am not going to wrap. I will slather, rub, let set and add more rub right before it goes on the smoker. Makes a great crust. Remember slather is a rough term. Its more like staining the meat. Very light coat.

[Plowboy]

From my Web Site....

Blues Hog Tennessee Red Pork Slather (http://plowboysbbq.com/archives/75)

It sure is strange that in this day and age you can have friends whom you’ve never met. I participate in a couple of Web communities: DodgeTalk.com (http://www.dodgetalk.com/) & BBQ-Brethren.com (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/../). I have friends across North America and the UK, most I’ve never met. Tom from Utah is one of those folks. One of our common bonds is that we own the same model of BBQ smoker: Traeger 075. Here is a composite of one of Tom’s most recent experiments on his Traeger 075 pellet smoker. The Blues Hog sauce used in this recipe was from a quart he purchased from me a few weeks ago.
Tom likes to use a mustard slather of yellow ballpark mustard and worchestershire sauce. The slather is applied to the pork butt or shoulder and then the rub. The slather helps bind the rub to the meat, adds moisture and flavor. This time Tom was inspired to use his new jar of Blues Hog Tennessee Red instead of the worchestershire sauce.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4626&stc=1&d=1166201174
http://plowboysbbq.com////wp-content/uploads/2006/12/Butt%20at%2010%20hrs.jpg
Meat: Bone in Pork Butt (Tom’s was a 9.5lb Butt)
Slather: 50/50 mix of Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce and Yellow Mustard
Rub: Blues Hog Rub or any will do (Tom used Klose Rib and Butt Rub)
After 10 hours, the butt looks good enough to eat. However, it is going to take a couple more hours before done. For pulled pork, 195 is an ideal internal temperature.
Tom said it turned out as one of the best butts he’s done. Reported the taste was surprisingly more to the sweet side than the tangy as would be expected from the tangy, vinegar based Blues Hog Tennessee Red sauce. He praised the convection style of the Traeger 075, as well. Smoking in Utah’s December climate means more fuel and more temp fluctuations in the pit. Tom’s Big Green Egg would have been an easier cook but with a different flavor and product in the end.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4653&stc=1&d=1166251538
I’ll be using Tom’s Blues Hog Tennessee Red & mustard slather this week for a couple of butts that are needed for a couple of office parties I’m catering. A bit of Blues Hog sauce to top on a sandwich sounds great. I think any of the three sauces would work great: Original, Tennessee Red, or Honey Mustard. Plowboys BBQ is a seller of Blues Hog products. Blues Hog is a sponsor of the Pork Pullin Plowboys competition BBQ team.

[Roo-B-Q'N]

I'm with Clay on this one, very light coating of mustard goes a long way. We used to go heavy on the slather, and the bark never set. Got a very mushy dark outer coating. Since we went way lighter it turns out a nice thick bark.

But looks like you need to fire up the cooker and see what happens with and without.

[Azinine]

Go ahead and ruin it with mustard.

Care to elaborate? How does a mustard slather ruin it in your opinion?

Personally, I can't tell much of a difference between slather and no slather. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't.

[RichardF]

Go ahead and ruin it with mustard.

Care to elaborate? How does a mustard slather ruin it in your opinion?
Jared - Clearly you have no sensitivity to your brother's primal fear and hate of mustard. While shocking as it may seem, there are people who just don't like mustard. I can fully appreciate not liking certain condiments :wink:

I put a light coating of mustard on ribs, butt and brisket before i sprinkle on the rub.

[Mo-Dave]

Lately I have been using olive oil, it just hold the rub on. I can't discern any real taste from it and could probably get by with any cheap oil. When I used mustard I could not tell any difference except for the mess it made.
Dave

[Bill-Chicago]

I think this thread covers the basics of mustard application and uses:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19547

[WalterSC]

I've been reading through Paul Kirk's "Championship Barbecue" and jotting down notes and ideas as I come across them. He has a whole section on Mustard Slather. I generally don't do anything to my PB's when I smoke them but wanted to see what people's experience was.

I was going to try a simple one and then add a rub to it.

On a funnier note,

I told my co-workers I was going to slather my butt with mustard and then season it with salt for them and one of them almost hurled on the spot.

As for me I usually just use enough yellow mustard to help the rub stick really good , I dont overdo it at all.

[parrothead]

Care to elaborate? How does a mustard slather ruin it in your opinion?

Personally, I can't tell much of a difference between slather and no slather. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't.

Because it is mustard. Just a personal thing and a joke that goes way back on this forum. No offense meant, just having fun.

[Mark]

The proper method of slathering musTURD of Q is to force feed Greg a jar of it and wait till he starts frothing at the mouth and then place the raw meat directly under his mouth.

[Azinine]

Because it is mustard. Just a personal thing and a joke that goes way back on this forum. No offense meant, just having fun.

My bad!!! No offense taken at all, but I didn't realize that it was a joke. :icon_blush: I just thought that you were offering a strong opinion with no explanation.

I'm sure you know this, but I'll ask anyway. You know the mustard flavor cooks away, right? :-D

[Bill-Chicago]

I'm sure you know this, but I'll ask anyway. You know the mustard flavor cooks away, right? :-D

This debate has gone around a few times, but I'll bite.

If you agree that the mustard flavor cooks away, then you must also agree there is no point in using it, no?

[parrothead]

My bad!!! No offense taken at all, but I didn't realize that it was a joke. :icon_blush: I just thought that you were offering a strong opinion with no explanation.

I'm sure you know this, but I'll ask anyway. You know the mustard flavor cooks away, right? :-D

I can taste it. I tried some of Phil's ribs once and immediately spit them out. I could tell it was there and had no prior knowledge that it was there.

[SP]

Here some old pics of the double coat with slather.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f265/123sauced/first20coat20of20mustard.jpg
Light Coat of mustard. Its like staining wood.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f265/123sauced/First20coat20of20rub.jpg
Rub ob slather

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f265/123sauced/After20fridge.jpg
After sitting in the fridge.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f265/123sauced/2nc20coat.jpg
Second coat.




Ahh my old kitchen.

[Bentley]

Go ahead and ruin it with mustard.


The few times I have tried the mustard, I have found it to leave a bitter taste. I was told that can't happen, but it sure seems to for me!

Save the mustard for some honey and use it as a sauce! :shock:

[Bellybro]

Have used mustard many times with favorable results. That said I have also used, honey, olive oil, motor oil and ky. Okay JK on the last 2

[Azinine]

If you agree that the mustard flavor cooks away, then you must also agree there is no point in using it, no?

Well, no. The point of using mustard is to make a better bark. At least that's what I understood.

[Harbormaster]

My $.02 - Did 2 butts last weekend. Slathered one with mustard and rubbed, slathered the other with worcesterchestershireshire and rubbed. Same rub. Smoked 'em on the same WSM, and could not detect a difference when done.

[Bill-Chicago]

Well, no. The point of using mustard is to make a better bark. At least that's what I understood.

Okay, I can go along with that reasoning, it was your original post:


Personally, I can't tell much of a difference between slather and no slather. Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don't.

That made me think it didnt matter, so why do it.

So when you sometimes notice a difference, that is in the better bark and not in the taste of mustard, and sometimes you don't notice.

Which actually brings me back to my point, but supplant Bark for my previous inclusion of mustard taste.

If you can only "sometimes" tell a difference in a better bark, then if you eliminate the mustard, you will still only "sometimes" get a better bark, because it still goes back to whats in the rub, since mustard was the original constant in both when you can, and cannot tell a difference.

Az, you may think I am trying to argue, but I am not. I am just looking for clarification.

There are a 1,001 ways to cook a piece of meat, and I'm just trying to learn from everyones point of view.

I'm just wondering if we are going to eventually boil down to sugar content, and types of rub ingredients, when getting down to the bark issue.

I'm trying to find a thread by The_Kapn on bark and bark formation. Its a great read and I just recently meant to book mark it for myself. I learned alot in that thread.

[Azinine]

Okay, I can go along with that reasoning, it was your original post:



That made me think it didnt matter, so why do it.

So when you sometimes notice a difference, that is in the better bark and not in the taste of mustard, and sometimes you don't notice.


I don't think it does matter. It just seemed like you were saying that you shouldn't use it because you can't taste it in the end. I was just sayin' that the purpose of mustard slathers was not for flavor but for bark-building. Does it work? I don't really think so.

[Azinine]

I'm just wondering if we are going to eventually boil down to sugar content


I think that this is key...

[bowhnter]

Go ahead and ruin it with mustard.

I think this thread covers the basics of mustard application and uses:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19547

I use mustard on my french fries :twisted:

[Bill-Chicago]

I use mustard on my french fries :twisted:

Chad use to have a picture of a back hoe he would post when he really wanted to dig a deep hole in the yard :-D

[bowhnter]

Chad use to have a picture of a back hoe he would post when he really wanted to dig a deep hole in the yard :-D

:biggrin:

[nthole]

Chad use to have a picture of a back hoe he would post when he really wanted to dig a deep hole in the yard :-D

Wait...he didn't just pull up a chair and start talking to the dirt and it would just get up and leave on it's own?

Are you sure? :grin:

You know I'm just kidding Dave!!!

[Q_Egg]

Very dry high desert climate here. I prefer to slather with a 50/50 mix of Plochman's Mustard and Worcestershire. It seems to provide a good sticky base for the rub and I never taste more than the rub flavor in the end result. Again, due to the dry climate, I also tend to sauce lightly near the end to avoid a really dry product. I have no clue how it might be different using this approach in a very humid climate.

Tom B

[bbqpigskin]

I use mustard regularly on ribs and butts. I have found that it does not affect the taste, but does provide a better bark.

[CajunSmoker]

I have used yellow mustard on my ribs before and couldn't tell much difference. I use Zatarains Creole mustard under my rub now and love it. Yes you can taste it. If you are a mustard hater then I would advise against it although its more of an extra spice kick than it is a mustard taste.

I never use mustard on my butts or picnics. Just go with the rub straight after a short soak in apple juice.

[Smokin Gator]

Put me firmly on the side of mustard slatherer!!! I think it makes a much better bark... BUT... it does seem like if you foil too early the bark is REALLY mushy. Little of this, a little of that... learn a little here... loose a little there!!!