Sunday Gravy with yeah right: Bringing the Smoke without the Smoker

Howdy howdy friends and neighbors!

Glad to have you all back again.

Got a right tasty motherfucker heading your way today.

This menu worked double-time when I cooked it. It’s been a ridiculously fucked-up winter, especially for LA. This weekend we got our asses handed down to us with rain and a goddamn blizzard warning…

In LA!

It’s basically been cold as fuck going on 3-4 months now.

Sometimes you need to run the oven for an extended period of time just to warm up the fucking house. This meal did precisely that. Plus it was simple to make and a right tasty motherfucker too.

Ever have a heapin’ hankerin’ for some gatdamn delicious pork but you don’t got yerself a barbecue or smoker or none of that shit?

Well shit fire. We can build on that!

Alright. I’ll officially shut the fuck up with that. That’s how an LA resident pretends to be a redneck and well shit, now I feel like apologizing.

We’re going to cater to the many readers out there who don’t have access to a yard, or a smoke house or even a smoker. 

We’re going to try and que this shit up using simply our oven. We all understand the basics of “low-and-slow” an incredibly over-used term that populates about every goddamn food show about barbecue ever.

I’ve got an oven and I sure as fuck know how to cook low and slow using that.

So we shall.

I’ve featured slow roasted pork ribs on here before that started out in the oven and finished on a charcoal grill. They always turn out quite tasty. I’ve also cooked pork butt about as many fucking ways as you can count but I haven’t featured slow roasted “pulled pork” from the oven.

Until today.

Let’s pull this motherfucker in reverse for just a second, alright?

Where did you try the very best pulled pork you’ve ever had?

I’ll give you a second, also feel free to add that location to the comments since we’re all interactive and shit.

Mine?

Memphis.

Can’t really narrow down the location but it was probably Interstate Barbecue. Covering the city of Memphis is a constant haze of wood smoke – primarily hickory smoke but you will find some pecan and oak smoke as well. The entire city of Memphis smells like barbecue and it’s goddamn glorious stuff indeed.

We’ve got a couple of legit barbecue places in LA that also produce a quality pig product and it’s actually a pretty simple equation. Smoke+pig+time+a good dry rub = delicious, delicious porky goodness.

Shit, man! Everybody and their weird Aunt Dorothy has a goddamn pulled pork sandwich now. Fuck, you can get one at goddamn Applebee’s for Christ sake.

Don’t. Don’t do that. Basically don’t eat at Applebee’s like ever for any reason OK?

So, pulled pork.

I aim to duplicate the entire barbecue process today without the presence of wood smoke entering the equation.

Don’t get me wrong. Wood smoke is a really, REALLY goddamn big part of that equation but…

Without access to the smoke element let’s give this motherfucker a go anyway.

I’m not promising we’ll equal the taste of that best barbecue pork you’ve ever had but we will try to make something much easier, far more simplistic and a hell of a lot more convenient to those of us without proper barbecue access. It will also be mighty goddamn tasty.

Quick inspiration for the pig and the sauce by Delish.com. Give her a read, she does good and tasty food things.

Let’s make our ass a butt rub.

For my basic rub it’s 2 parts paprika and one part everything else. You can see some black pepper, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, dry mustard. I also used some brown sugar. No real measurements but if you want to give this rub a try use 2 teaspoons of paprika and one teaspoon of the rest. Give the brown sugar maybe 2 tablespoons.

Mix it all together.

Back in the before-time when I DID actually own a smoker, instead of brown sugar in the rub, I used turbinado or raw sugar.

Any guesses why?

That’s right! Brown sugar burns like a motherfucker if you smoke it too long. 

File this away as an important cooking tip to be addressed a bit later.

Let’s bring our porcine partner to the square dance.

That’s about a 4 pound “Boston Butt” pork shoulder cut into slabs.

Rub it up liberally with the rub.

If you have the chance, complete these first two steps the day before you cook the pork. You’ll be happy you did. At least give the rub a few hours to get familiar with our little piggy friend.

Now, we’re gonna get a nice sear on there. Add a tablespoon of canola oil into a deep pot or Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Then in goes piggy.

We need a good sear but use some caution. That sugar likes to burn because sugar can be an asshole like that.

It was about 4-5 minutes per side.

Rather than cooking the pig right on the bottom of the pot, let’s build it a nice bed to rest on while it slow cooks.

Onion bed!

How do we get the slow, smoky flavor in something we cooked in the stove? It’s the old “Liquid smoke in the slow cooked meat” trick. That’s the second time this month!

Let’s deglaze that pan the best way we know how…

The beer will also act as our braising liquid. Feel free to go domestic here. Anything fancy or expensive will just get lost in the liquid smoke/onion tsunami that this will become.

Get that onion up in that pan.

Now load in that pig.

We’re looking at 3 hours on 300 degrees. Give a stir and a re-assessment then cover and simmer for up to another hour or as long as it takes.

We’re going to make our own sauce for this baby. Click on that link above for full details.

“1 1/2 c. ketchup

1/3 c. apple cider vinegar

1/2 c. Dijon mustard

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce”

Starts out innocuously enough.

Then the rest of the sauce ingredients.

Yes, of course I had every item on hand.

My pantry is ready to party HARD!

Now dump ’em in a bowl.

And mix.

Refrigerate at least overnight.

How’s that pig coming along?

Holy shit! That’s what we’re droning on and on about over here.

Important cooking tip applied here!

If you were to enlarge that photo you would see a dark brown, almost molasses colored witches brew at the bottom of that pot. That would be from the pork drippings, the beer, the liquid smoke and the sugar.

/inhales

You do not want to overcook that witches brew, OK!?! You do NOT.

This is the whole trick right here!. This is how we get that smoky barbecue goodness without the smoke. It’s the rich dank, insanely intense flavored concoction that mixes with the pork and beer and sugar and onion and gives us the finish that you’re looking for.

If you do overcook that devils brew?

Ain’t no sugar-coating that bastard. Your ass is going to need a new pot.

If you’re using that fancy-ass La Creuset shit?

Get you ass online and get the credit card out.

Now. When you do get it just right and mix in all of the slow roasted porkyness with that goop at the bottom of the pot?

Magic!

Know how to tell if it’s done?

That’s one clean goddamn bone right there.

So?

Make your ass a sandwich already!.

Pork and sauce will do just fine today. Of course you can put a dollop of some homemade coleslaw on there. Shit son, you can use store bought slaw for all the fucks I give.

Get in closer.

Closer!

This is good. DAMN good. Hell, it was at least as good the 2nd day. That sauce is pretty special too although that recipe makes a shit-ton of sauce. The sauce can keep refrigerated for a couple of weeks and it’s a banging all-purpose sauce that hits all of the right notes.

The only thing I didn’t do was make the homemade buns which is a goddamn shame because they would have worked famously for this dish.

Give this a go, particularly if you need 3-4 hours worth of oven warmth to heat up your nagging bones.

Simple, delicious and a proper fucking crowd pleaser.

Get after it folks.

Thanks as always for stoppin’ by. Certainly is a pleasure and an honor to have you here.

Stay warm and dodge the raindrops folks. Springs coming real soon.

Now let me turn my oven on cuz I’m freezing my fucking ass off over here!

Until next week.

PEACE!

 

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yeah right
yeah right is a fully vaccinated lifelong Vikings fan, food guru and LA Harbor resident with a black belt in profanity.
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Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I wish it wasn’t spoiled by the title but I think you will enjoy this anyways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La7B8mBnTXs

blaxabbath

I joined the wife’s weight loss challenge to my at the gym in January. Makes her feel better if I’m on the spot, i guess.

Long story short, I’m holding the getting until 3/1 then i want this pig.

litre_cola

March 25th wanna go to a Cactus lge game with me? My treat.

jjfozz

Heavy Metal Gorilla. Fucking awesome.
https://youtu.be/8ELyk8F9Ad8

jjfozz

Just dropped off middle fozz spawn for his first day on his first job.

it’s a little pizza and sub shop owned by old friends of the family.

so if he comes home and talks about shipping heroin out in pizza boxes, i”ll be cool with that.

Mr. Ayo

It’s risky being it’s daylight out, but I’m still going to release the Kraken.

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Gumbygirl

How long until puck/deuce drop? Looks like you’re early.

Mr. Ayo

Another half hour or so. I’m always early.

WCS

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BrettFavresColonoscopy

If anyone else needs very DFO ingredients for cooking:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoP_IKxP6IP/?igshid=OTJlNzQ0NWM=

Brick Meathook

Here’s a battleship with a cruise ship going backwards.

San Pedro, yesterday:

https://vimeo.com/802503902

Gumbygirl

I wish I could keep it that straight in reverse! Anything longer than a parking space and I am all over the place.

Brick Meathook

The trick is not turning the steering wheel

Gumbygirl

.

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Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

THIS LADY GUMBYGIRL I CALL HER LAMAR JACKSON BECAUSE SHE CAN’T COMPLETE A SEVEN STEP DROP AND HAS TO RUN EVERYTHING OUT OF SHOTGUN.

BrettFavresColonoscopy

That looks delicious and while I’m not likely to make it any time soon, I’d gladly take leftovers off your hands.

scotchnaut

Drake vs Bradley seems like a contest between two law partners in Delaware to decide which name is first on the business card.

Gumbygirl

Cool Siberian music for cold Angelenos! Trust me, this rocks
https://youtu.be/CqwrwwOzVcQ

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

You’re my favorite deejay, Gumbygirl. Don’t tell the others – I don’t trust them.

Gumbygirl

I don’t either, they are a sketchy bunch!

Sharkbait

Fuck that looks tasty

litre_cola

*cold

YR, I love you internet friend but come on. You have had light jacket weather.

Balls would still rock a parka

scotchnaut

[Los Angeles residents feeling the effects of a slight breeze]

“God Damn it all to hell! You blew it all up! The cute vest for my dog can’t withstand this onslaught. [I’ll insist it’s a rescue but I paid 3K for it] You Maniacs! Do you realize I won’t be able to get a half-decent breakfast burrito? Won’t someone think of the palm trees that I don’t care about?”

ballsofsteelandfury

No one better fuck with my breakfast burrito!

Brick Meathook

You’d like L.A. the most, Scotchie: You don’t have to go out to the woods to find hobos, and nobody particularly cares if you kill them.

ballsofsteelandfury

Fuck and yes.

TheRevanchist

Kaitlin Clark just put up 34-9-9 to beat Indiana. Was a good game

scotchnaut

I do love me some Indiana Knightenschade.

Gumbygirl

Porky goodness! That was the best thing about living in the south, soooo much good barbeque. There was a little place in Birmingham called Saws that had the best pulled pork sammiches, slobbering just thinking of them! Dreamland had my favorite sauce, and ribs were the go- to there. Miss Myra’s for chicken with white barbeque sauce ( it’s a delicious Bama thing.) Full Moon had good que. We liked Memphis, Neely’s was good, and there was a little hole in the wall, I can’t remember the name. Interstate always had too much of a wait.

Gumbygirl

Oh, and here’s a tip for anyone travelling south of the Mason- Dixon. A good barbeque place always has a pig (often a cartoon pig) on their sign. The happier looking the pig is, the better the que.

Gumbygirl

I’ve been to Corky’s, but not in Memphis. Somewhere around Nashville.

Gumbygirl

I’ve been to Rendezvous!

Brick Meathook

The best thing about living in the south was owning slaves . . . er, I mean not owning slaves.

Horatio Cornblower

History of the World II looks terrible.

WCS

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I’ll still love it.

Horatio Cornblower

RIP Bill Paxton

scotchnaut

Holy Crap! The seniors on South Carolina’s women’s basketball team have a regular season record of 121-8.

TheRevanchist

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnbsxPQ/

A short history lesson

BrettFavresColonoscopy

Stealing Home by Eric Nussbaum is an excellent deep dive into the story behind LA screwing over the families in Chavez ravine

Wakezilla

CHAMPIONS OF THE ENERGY CUP, BABY!

What a game.

Wakezilla

5 minutes.

*breathing through a paper bag*

Wakezilla

About 15 minutes left. . .

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Los Angeles lookin’ kinda pretty this morning.

Verdugo_Mountains-min (1).jpg
Wakezilla

United is way too passive. There’s 30 minutes left, FFS.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

– flight attendant, wondering why the pilot hasn’t pulled in front of that Southwest flight that just keeps circling and circling and circling.

King Hippo

I guess they can at least torture and murder in Riyadh tonite – but their hearts ain’t really gonna be in it smh.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Wait, whose hearts are going to be missing?

Wakezilla

United need to go for the kill. A goal by the Barcodes will inject life in them and give them hope.

Wakezilla

DR. RASHFORD FEEDING ALL THE CHILDREN OF THEMCHESTER! LETS GO!

Wakezilla

How we all doing? Are we all watching .. . .

CASEMIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

GET IN!

Wakezilla

How’re we doing?

King Hippo

I assume your answer is “hard enough to cut glass”

Last edited 1 year ago by King Hippo
Wakezilla

Viagra got nuttin on this game

King Hippo

I was skeptical about y’all signing Theodore from The Chipmunks- but he’s been immense.

blaxabbath

“Smoke without a smoker? Can’t be done.”

– J Gordon, ripping from a hollowed out apple.

King Hippo

His XFL team should totes have been the Colorado Towelie

King Hippo

Grandson watching Caribou with me. Righteous.

20230226_114538.jpg
King Hippo

Maybe I should let him be a Men Untied supporter. Let that generation live in hope.

Don T

.. that staggering wealth is all it takes.

Dunstan

Well, damn. Yesterday I picked up a chicken, a duck, and a chuck roast, but no pork. But if I use bacon grease for my pot roast, I can have some honorary porcine representation!

Don T

It should be a Special Guest Star credit. Let’s coordinate a Zoom to discuss residuals and leftovers allocation.
–SAG-AFTRA

BugEyedBoo

You would think cole slaw and barbecue is universally known, but my wife’s family (and wife herself) in Morgantown had never seen it before. It was at a holiday get-together* and they had barbecue sandwiches. So I put together a sandwich, and her folks were all, “What are you doing!” Uh, cole slaw on a bbq sandwich. You folks haven’t tried this? For those of them that had the guts to try it, it was a revelation.

WCS might know this one as well: pepperoni rolls. Not a thing in the southern of West By God. A revelation on my part.

*Pre-internet days. Some bowl game was on, and Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas were on the same OSU (Oklahoma State, not THE…) team.

2Pack

I know a lady from Huntington who makes a killer cole slaw but is not into BBQ. The waste…

Horatio Cornblower

BT’s brisket reuben would like a word with your wife’s family.

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Last edited 1 year ago by Horatio Cornblower
ballsofsteelandfury

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Horatio Cornblower

I would absolutely buy her one of these sandwiches.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I just checked in on Jackie and she’s awake and getting a nice little break from the snow.

ballsofsteelandfury

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Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone as much as I hated Ashton Kutcher and then it turned out that they were actually a pretty decent human being. I wish I would turn out to be that wrong for people like Tyreek Hill, Deshaun Watson, Matt Gaetz, Brett Ratner…

WCS

Climbing up is the easy part; getting back on terra safely is the trick.

ballsofsteelandfury

You can’t just tease and not give it away. What are the two BBQ places in LA you recommend?

Are we talking Bludsoe’s and Cripsoe’s?

2Pack

yeah…

King Hippo

I am reminded of Chris Rock’s bit about Martin Luther King Drive always being in a black area, so white people know where to go to get good ribs.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Obama Blvd is actually one of my favorite roads to drive on in Los Angeles; there’s barely any lights on it and they’re almost always green, so it’s like a freeway without the traffic.

King Hippo

This here London Derby I call it the Six-Day War, because the visitors done pissed off the Yid Army and quickly regretted it.

WCS

Guess I know what I’m getting for lunch. Skol indeed!

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2Pack

Last year we talked on Sunday Gravey about vegetable gardening, a major aseptic of the culture here. I half assed agreed to give updates but figured it would be better to start at the beginning. Which is the dirt. Yesterday I started the garden by fertilizing the soil. In our growing zone you do that now, you’ll need to check for yours. There are actually two other soil prep steps I do but they are not really essential. I burn wood in October and spread the ashes in the soil. And in November I take the previous years mulch and turn that in the soil. So if you want to give it a go this year… it’s soil prep time.

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ballsofsteelandfury

Ooh, I’m excited to hear about this!

Too many people think you put stuff into the ground and voilà ! Soil prep is crucial. Looking forward to hearing the rest!

King Hippo

I know it isn’t that simple, which is why Hippo no do it.

ballsofsteelandfury

Hippo:

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Gumbygirl

I have the Black Thumb of Death. We have a little succulent of some sort in one of those Mexican sugar skulls, and we have kept that little fucker alive for a couple of months now, plant parents of the year!

Last edited 1 year ago by Gumbygirl
2Pack

I’ll take it step by step and let you all see the “crops” as they come in. Next step is planting, depending on the weather… around mid April. I do not grow from seed, not that hard core. I plant saplings from a great garden center we have. By my estimate the low cost of soil prep (6 x bags of organic cow dookie) and plants saves me 10-15 times on veggies store brought.

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I have a bunch of ashes from the fireplace that I accidentally left out in the rain; maybe I’ll spread some in the garden plot that’s coming free soon and see how happy it makes my soil.

2Pack

It’s a technique we adopted from the native Americans. But don’t use charcoal from a grill. That shit will screw up yer dirt. Wood (untreated) or paper do the trick.

Horatio Cornblower

I used to bring our fireplace ashes to the dump until I noticed how enthusiastic they were about having me drop it into the materials they were composting. Now I mix it in with the grass clippings, leaves, and other crap out back that we slowly turn into soil.

Finally got a sifter last year and some garden boxes. Dug to the bottom of 25 years of compost, ran it through the sifter and got tons of cherry tomatoes and peppers. The bigger tomatoes did not do anywhere near as well, which I suspect we due to a significant drought.

2Pack

Ciao Buddy. I’m a huge KC BBQ fan myself but it’s always been store brought or restaurant fare. I’ve noticed it tends to be dry at times, probably why I’m reluctant to cook it from scratch. But this looks like a plan. I guess the trick is keeping a close eye on it to avoid overcooking it.