A couple "New Guy" questions

billmag9 said:

I have a couple questions before I get smoking again this weekend.

1. Pig Candy. Wife wants me to make this immediately as she is a big fan. We don't have a lot of great BBQ places here in this part of Michigan, but for the area "Bad Brads" is outstanding. This is where she got her first piece of Pig candy. After doing some research there are many different recipes in not only ingredients but method as well. How do you guys do it?

2. Rubbing the Butt. I was planning on doing as I did my first brisket - applying the rub the night before, wrapping in plastic rap and refrigerate overnight. Then I read a post about rubbing ribs/buts to early can cause it to taste "hammy". I don't mind making mistakes, but that is one I would really, really like to avoid. Is this a thing to watch out for? I have Yard bird and Hog Waller and was going to use one of these on the pork butt.

Thanks a lot
Bill

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No idea about pig candy. I've only heard of it from this site. Curious to know how that is made, maybe I'll try it myself.

As far as rubbing pork butts, and other items the night before. I don't know if a pork butt would have the same effect, but I had this conversation before about ribs. high salt content rubs made a rack of ribs "hammy" one time for me because I rubbed it over night. Yard bird is one of these rubs. It's pretty high in salt, if I remember correctly.

Now a pork butt is a much larger piece of meat than ribs, so I don't think rubbing it over night would be a problem. I've done it many times with pork butts and it hasn't come out "hammy". But this was also with low salt content rubs like from oak ridge. Might be a different story using yardbird

Sorry I'm not much help, these are just my observations though from what I've learned from the site and cooking myself! Welcome to the forum, this is a great place with great people!

Pig candy can be made very easily by just pushing thick slice bacon into brown sugar and then into the smoker. Light brown and dark brown sugar make for completely different tastes. Light brown is sweeter and dark brown provides a slightly bitter taste.

Not big into sweet things, so sorry, no idea about pig candy.

I usually do my butts the night before and haven't noticed an issue.

At the bottom of the page you'll find the search box for the site type in Pig Candy and you'll get some answers.

As far as seasoning the night before I can't help you with that, I season everything about an hour before it's going on the smoker, works well for me.

I have been afraid to make pig candy cause I know I wont be able to control myself.
As far as butts are concerned I have rubbed them the night before and just before and have not noticed any difference in taste. I make it a point to use natural butts to keep the salt down.

Pig Candy is super simple, yet everyone asks me to make for every 'get together'.
I just heavily coat strips of thick cut bacon with light brown sugar. Throw in the oven at 350 on a raised rack for about 20-30 minutes. (Until it looks done). I haven't tried it in the smoker because I don't think the smoker will cook the bacon or caramelize the sugar enough.
For ribs, I rub an hour or two before cooking. IMO, Ribs don't need the extra time, I want the rub to stay mostly on the surface to make a nice crust. And then have the pork taste come through kind of like layers of flavor.
Butts I rub the night before cooking. Let the salts and flavors soak into the meat because I'm most likely going to pull it anyway.
Never had a 'hammy' taste or complaint.

Bill, add a li'l cayenne pepper to the brown sugar for some sweet heat add brush on some maple syrup. Here's an great tutorial: http://www.patiodaddiobbq.com/2010/11/pig-candy.html

I inject my butts with a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar and whatever rub I'm using. I put the rub on while the smoker is heating up.

I just want to add that you will get answers that vary greatly. For pig candy, I will use brown sugar and cayenne or maple syrup. I might have the smoker at 250* or as high as 350*. I might start low and finish high. If I'm doing it for my wife, I'll make it extra crispy, for myself, on the wobbly side.

I think when I started out I seasoned a butt the night before. I did that once and it was much too much trouble, and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I've got too much stuff in the fridge to deal with that.

I try to get the rub on the butt the night before as well. Hasn't triggered a hammy taste. One of the advantages is that the rub mixes with some of the moisture and becomes something of a paste that sticks pretty well. Once or twice when Ive added the rub right at the end it never really moistened and stayed as a dry coating over part of the butt. Ultimately "bark" ends up being dried up anyway but this was different -- just never incorporated in.

There are so many options.......

I usually make pig candy on the grill simply because it's quick, it's easy, and it's delicious!!! I use the Weber Kettle with a direct/indirect setup, simply rotating the grate 180° to control the cooking so it doesn't burn. A little brown sugar, fine ground black pepper, and a little cayenne pepper will go a long way. I have never used maple syrup which sounds great, but i have sprayed with apple juice to leave a nice sheen on the pig candy.

Although I have made my own mix for pig candy, I elect to use this product because it just so good.... http://southernculturefoods.com/collections/bacon-rub-syrup/products/original-candied-bacon-rub


As far as your fears of the "hammy" taste, I think that depends on a couple issues; The amount of salt in your rub sitting on the meat over a long period of time may start to cure the meat, thus imparting a "hammy" flavor. This may be more of a problem with thinner meats like ribs or pork steaks, but the pork butt is a large piece of meat and even if you had a high salt content rub that imparted a "hammy" flavor, it would most likely be on the outer edges. When the pork is pulled, I think the "hammy" flavor would be lost in the mix.

I guess I am fortunate with my rub choices, I apply my rubs on all of my pork and beef, including pork ribs, for an overnight stay in the refrigerator. I have never experienced the "hammy" taste that some speak of.

Good luck and keep us posted.