There are a lot of great commercially produced rubs on the market, but I believe quite strongly that pitmasters should develop their own signature rubs. That's why I create all of the rubs that the team uses in competition. My super-secret Rub "P" is the latest iteration of a savory blend that I've been refining for the past five years or so.
Some may wonder why I call this Rub "P". No, the "P" does not stand for prince or princess. It stands for pork, y'all. Also in my line-up of homemade rubs are the following: Rub "B" for brisket and Rub "RC" for ribs and chicken. These simple codes make it easy for us to differentiate between varieties so that we don't do something stupid in the heat of battle like put brisket rub on chicken (a total dumbass move).
There were no mistakes today, because Rub "P" on an 8-lb. pork butt was absolute perfection. I smoked it between 225°F and 250°F for about 9½ hours using regular Kingsford Original briquets and hickory chunks. It turned out like this:
I shredded and chopped the butt and made a couple of sandwiches, each with a different variety of homemade sauce. The first was slathered with Western North Carolina-style sauce and another got doused in Eastern North Carolina-style sauce (which is essentially apple cider vinegar and a few spices). For the second sandwich I even followed the North Carolina tradition of putting cole slaw directly on the sandwich. I don't cotton to this combination because (a) it doesn't taste good and (b) as a Midwesterner this practice is anathema to me.
I uploaded a Flickr photoset of this food pr0n to cause all you fine readers to wish you were in my kitchen today. Trust me, this pork was quite yummy.
You're right. I DO wish I'd been in your kitchen that day. It looks amazing!
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