Did I save the day?

[SnellySmokesEm]

Or did I become the dreaded BBQ Snob?   :P

I was invited a football party yesterday and the host told me that they were serving pulled pork.  I was pretty excited to try someone else's pulled pork because I am always the one making it.  I smoked two butts last weekend for a friends baby shower (more on that in another post) and served it on Saturday at the shower.  Only 1 problem,  I never got to actually eat any of it aside from a few tester bites.  So again that made me excited to have some pulled pork on Sunday.  I get over to my friends house at 1:30 and take a peek... Well its not store bought prepared pulled pork  :)  Butt its a 6lb butt in a GASP..... Crock Pot.  No worries before I got hooked on smoking I cooked many a pulled pork in the wonderful crock pot usually overnight low and slow.  Upon peering into the pot I noticed some very very raw meat.  I asked my friend when she started it and she told me GASP 11am.  So then I thought to myself, do I intervene? (She is a wonderful cook and makes some great gourmet cuisines)  Or do I just let it ride and hope for the best?  I decided that if she left it cooking that way that we would be eating at 9pm.  So I asked, in a nice way, what time she planned on eating and her response was "soon"  Oh Boy now its time for me to take over.  I tell her we need to cut it half and then cut those in half and get the oven up to 275-300.  After I cut up the meat I place it in a large baking dish, add apple juice and cover with foil and into the oven it goes.  About an hour later I go into take a peek and notice the oven is set to 375....  again GASP.  So I question my own techniques, surely I didn't tell her to set the oven to 375, did I?  So again I politely ask her if I told her to set it to 375 and she said no, she bumped it up to 375 to make it get done faster because everyone was getting hungry.  Once again.... GASP.  Then I tell her pulled pork can't be rushed and that I tried to speed up the process as much as i could.  Meanwhile I have set the oven back to 275.  At 4:30 the guest are becoming anxious and hungry.  No more heat for this butt.  Out of the oven (never checked the meat temp, at this point it really didn't matter) and onto the cutting board.  I armed myself with two forks (and a knife just in case) and started pulling.....  Well about 15 minutes later and after a few forearm and hand cramps it was pulled.....   :-\  The only thing left to do was place back in the crock pot and add some of the juice from the baking dish... right?  Nope this but had one more surprise in store.... Again..... another GASP (last one I promise) A whole bottle of..............  Sweet Baby Rays!  Yep I did it I sauced the entire crock full of pulled pork chops. errrr ugh I mean pulled pork.   :o Hey I didn't want to sauce it, I dont sauce my own anymore (after some guidance from fellow forum members). But this wasn't my party and the host called for it to be sauced, so I sauced.  After all this butt had no rub, no injection, hell when I pulled it from the crock pot the crock pot was bone dry.  So actually in the case of this poor butt I bottle of Sweet Baby Rays was the only thing that was gonna save it.  It sure as hell couldn't hurt it.....  :P  Yes I tasted it and yes its was good, maybe not good by my standards, but good enough to eat and I didn't hear any complaints.  I did ask how was it and got all good responses.  Which brings me to my next concern....

Is all of my hard work and time in preparing and smoking a butt all for nothing?  After all I have to choose a rub, choose an injection, inject, rub, slather, wrap, get happy, unwrap, set smoker, place probe, choose wood, add wood, monitor closely until IT of 190 is reached  (while either drinking adult beverages or sleeping soundly in my bed with the Maverick ET-732 set and placed on my night stand) , FTC, pull, place in crock pot, carefully select 3,4,5,6,7 (who knows maybe more) sauces for guests to pepper me with questions as to what sauce to use, where its from, what it tastes like.......  You guys know, It happens several times a week on this forum.  So is all my work for not?  When all that the butt really needs is an oven and a bottle of sweet baby rays for guests to get a full belly and be pleased?

So please tell me,  Is all my hard work done in vain?  Did I save the day or, have I become the dreaded BBQ snob?

(Sorry for the long winded rambling post but I must find the answer.....)

[squirtthecat]

Good save!    At the very least, you probably saved a few people from getting food poisoning..

[Ka Honu]

... Is all my hard work done in vain?

No; your standards and abilities are higher than "full belly" and "pleased."  Just make sure you choose guests who understand and appreciate the expertise (or are at least trainable).

[FLBentRider]

First, X2 on the great save.

BBQ Snob? that depends on your attitude.

BBQ Evangelist? that sounds better.

Friends don't let Friends eat sub-standard Q.

IMHO, if you are going to dump  (a whole bottle) of Sweet baby rays on it, then you might was well do it in the oven/crock pot.

I liken it to the wine/scotch/beer comparisons. If you've never had the good stuff, then (MD20/20 /cheap scotch/ cheap beer) is pretty good.

[SnellySmokesEm]

First, X2 on the great save.

BBQ Snob? that depends on your attitude.

BBQ Evangelist? that sounds better.

Friends don't let Friends eat sub-standard Q.

IMHO, if you are going to dump  (a whole bottle) of Sweet baby rays on it, then you might was well do it in the oven/crock pot.

I liken it to the wine/scotch/beer comparisons. If you've never had the good stuff, then (MD20/20 /cheap scotch/ cheap beer) is pretty good.

I was very polite about it.  :)

I love the way way "BBQ Evangelist" sounds

[KyNola]

Great save Matt.  I stopped apologizing for trying to help people's food come out right a long time ago.  With your friend's method you would have been eating at noon.....the next day! ;)

[cajunboudreaux]

First, if I ever used sweet baby rays and a crockpot on porkbutts i would kick myself out of my own house. :o

Second.. You are doing all this hard work due to your new found love of smoking and somewhat maybe an addiction.

Third.. it takes a good friend to step in and save the day.. ;D

I was smoking and frying a turkey at my bestfriends house 2 years back and my boys girlfriend was baking a turkey in which she over cooked. She flipped and was crying. I have a few voodoo tricks for overcooked dry turkey to bring it back moist and i ask if she would like for me to fix it for her. after she tore me a new one she came to her thoughts and came back and said can you really fix it.( we had 40 or so people there to feed real soon). i fixed it and till this day she Thanks me for fixing her first Thanksgving at her new place. So I am sure your friend is thankful for the help.

[ghost9mm]

Great save Matt.  I stopped apologizing for trying to help people's food come out right a long time ago.  With your friend's method you would have been eating at noon.....the next day! ;)

X2   and like "BBQ Evangelist"

[Caneyscud]

First - It takes friends to help friends. 

BBQ snob - nope - but even if you consider yourself one - what does it matter?  Sometimes truth hurts.  The truth is that crock pot "barbecue" isn't barbecue.  If may be pretty good eats (h e double hockey sticks - i have scarfed a bunch of if back in my young Caney days)- but not barbecue.  Its all about defining and adherance to a standard.  Now, I'm not all that P.C. and my tolerance of misleading information is not my forte'.  so I make the distinction between sauced crock pot pulled pork and BARBECUE.  And if someone's sensibility is bruised by the distinction (bbq truth) then so be it, they probably need to go back to school - especially "sticks and stones" school.   Even young Caney used to come home crying because someone called him fattie in school.  That is until young Caney found out that he could hit a ball farther, could not be tackled by less than six of his classmates and that if someone called him fattie all he had to do was sit on them in the dirt until they recanted!  Just a change of perspective is all it took!

As far as wasting time.  It all goes back to what your goal is.  IF it is just a full belly, then it probably is a waste of time.  Even a meal of boiled oats and brussel sprouts covered in grape jelly will give you a full belly if you hold your nose and close your eyes while you eat it.  But if you enjoy the process of barbecue and the taste of barbecue then nothing else will give you that which you crave.   Oh, you can cheat a little, but not a lot! 

[beefmann]

good save and its better to have saved the  day  with full tummies while trying to keep to your standards

[viper125]

Good Save! But your right! Most people don't know BBQ from Sauce! No sauce no BBQ! Well they learn when you start serving the good stuff. But until they do they will swear by having to have sauce. Most people settle for lot less. Just check out the Q their eating out in restaurants. Most are poor to say the least. Keep up the fight and they will come around!

[MidKnightRider]

BBQ Evangelist

Stealing this.

Nice save for a friend>

[Ka Honu]

...  boiled oats and brussel sprouts covered in grape jelly...

Mmmm. A classic meal if ever there was one (although I prefer orange marmalade). Caney sure knows his comfort food!

[SnellySmokesEm]

Nice Story Cajun!

Caney - Well said my friend!

After writing this post and reading all the comments I know my work is not done in vain.  The baby shower that I smoked two butts for the day before had some very good reviews.  One lady (whom I had never met) said it was the best she had ever eaten.  She also said "I take it you have a smoker"  lol.  I made sure she took some home with her!   I even heard some people that have had my bbq before say "Oh Snelly Made this" and hurried over to the food!   Its kind of funny because like I said before I usually set out at least 5 sauces and leave one "select" sauce hidden for the ones that I know can appreciate real BBQ.  This time the "select" sauce was Big Moes!

But none of this could have happened without you guys!  The last minute posts that got quick responses, the Pm's the phone calls and texts.... That's why this forum is so great. Everyone wants to help out!  This why I can honestly say there are no BBQ Snobs on here, Just BBQ Evangelists.....

[Caneyscud]

...  boiled oats and brussel sprouts covered in grape jelly...

Mmmm. A classic meal if ever there was one (although I prefer orange marmalade). Caney sure knows his comfort food!

It took years of honing my eating skills!  And I have the poundage around the middle to prove that I put in the time  ;D ;D ;D ;D