Butt
(Ed. note – despite this smart-ass picture, a pork “butt” is actually the shoulder of a pig. Go figure.)
Like “freedom,” “love” or “lite,” “Barbeque” is one of those words that has been robbed of meaning from over usage by the American public. When someone tells you that they are “having a barbecue,” what they most likely mean is that they are grilling some hamburgers or hot dogs over high heat. They are dead wrong.
“Grilling” and “Barbequing” are about as similar baseball and jai-alai. Real barbeque means low heat and a long cooking time – usually with big, tough pieces of meat that can’t be serviced any other way. In a cow, the classic cut is a brisket, but the real barbeque standby is a pork shoulder.
The perfect pork shoulder is smoked with applewood or hickory for around 16 hours – for that reason it can be sort of prohibitive to a home chef. But smoke only flavors the pork so much. The real flavor of barbecued pork comes from the fat rendering through the meat, and that’s easy to get from a conventional oven.
To make barbeque at home, get a whole pork shoulder or just a Boston Butt from the grocery store . They run cheap at about 1.50 a pound. Throw it in the oven at 220 degrees at it should be falling apart after 12 hours. For a slightly more authentic experience you can finish it for a few hours over a smoky fire – a standard grill will serve if you just don’t add too many coals and throw a few apple wood chips on top – but the butt will taste good regardless.
Do this on a Sunday and you’ve got sandwiches all week.
