smokin’ Mondays

In the “dog days of summer”, my dogs have little enthusiasm for being outside after 830AM and before 7PM. The heat is something anybody endures for this time of year where I live. But ‘climate change’ has added another factor for this part of Southern California that I have not recalled in prior summers – humidity. Having experienced every sort of climate in my working life, this pales in comparison to the humidity of someplace like South Carolina, Florida, or monsoonal Arizona evenings. On any other day, it might have been a good afternoon for a “siesta”. Yet, I was a man on a mission.

Last night I seasoned sixteen pounds of pork butt (COSTCO is go-big or go-home, as anyone can attest) intending to use my pellet smoker today (mine is a Pit Boss Pro 750). With half a day of slow-cooking meat, I had plenty of opportunity to work on other honey-do needs. With the arrival of parts yesterday, first task was to get the dishwasher back to full capacity use.

With barbecue being one specialty where I need little instruction, a YouTube video and the Whirlpool parts I received yesterday made quick work of repairing the slide-out basket. In less than two hours (which meets the 7-hour time I expected), I can let the pork rest (and juices be absorbed into the meat again). I will freeze some, package up more to bring to the kids and grandkids, and a make a few deliveries to my neighbors.

Now, the problem is I need to get barbecue sauce from the store. All the recipes I have call for barbecue sauce to ‘cure’ for a few days for peak flavor. I’ll make some this week for the leftovers.