My wife and I both love what I like to call “pitbeef”. I have no idea if it’s like the pitbeef served in Maryland, as I’ve never had it there, but it’s what I like to call an eye of round that I smoke to rare, slice very thin and serve on sandwiches with sour cream horseradish sauce. It’s definitely a favorite!
We were having friends over, and pitbeef was the request from my wife, until I remembered that we had that the last time the Hesters were over, and I couldn’t serve them the same thing twice in a row… So what to do? I figured that pitpork would work just fine!
What’s pitpork, you may ask? (Go ahead, you can ask)
It’s a simple pork loin, with a bit of a rub on it, smoked to medium (I like my pork not too well done, but not rare!). I tried several sauces with the pitpork, and found that Big Z’s Sweet Gold mustard sauce was great with it. My friend Neil makes Big Z’s, and I love this stuff… I usually don’t like mustard sauces much at all. This is a great sauce for anything from sandwiches and sausage to dipping pretzels.
For a rub on the pitpork, I used a three chile rub that I like… 1 cup ancho chile to 1/4 cup chipotle to 1 tablespoon cayenne, along with 1/4 cup salt and 2 tablespoons of pepper. I smoked the pork using a Frogmat, which is a bendable grid that you can put around or under foods to keep them from sticking in a smoker. I got one a few weeks ago to try, and thought it sounded a bit hokey, until I tried it, and it’s great! The Bubba Keg Convection Grill was simple to clean up after, and there was no problem with anything stuck to the grate at all.
The meat was sliced on my home slicer, and sandwiches were served… and were a bit hit! This is a great alternative to pitbeef, and very simple to make. Leftovers heat up well or work great cold! It’s great to have a couple of smoked meats, pitbeef and pitpork, that can be done in just a couple of hours instead of 12 or so, for when you just don’t have time to plan.
What are your quick, go-to meals for guests, when you didn’t have time to plan much?
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Simple, yet looks like it to forever to prepare. Really, only a couple of hours to cook? Nice …. I like the idea of the Frogmats also! Clean-up is always a pain and whatever I can do to pass on that I will try - thanks for that tip!
Haven’t tried Frogmats yet. Until I read that you had used one, when I saw the first slicer picture I thought to myself, “Holy smokes! Curt scored that pork loin so small and so precisely!”
Then I realized it was marks from the frogmat not the scoring, too funny though.
I really like the ingredients of your rub! I’ve always been a bit intimidated of cooking with pork, but this one sounds so good!
Gary, the Frogmats thing seemed hokey to me, but I find I really like using the one I have.
Chris, I don’t usually use a ruler when I score, but don’t put it past me!
Dina, pork is easy, I think; it’s very forgiving. Another great addition to using this rub for pork is to baste near the end of the cook with half molasses/half water. The sweet with the chiles is really good!