A Hellacious Belle’s Guide to Sips and Vittles of the Modern South: I is for Inside Meat #AtoZChallenge

iisforinside

It’s probably a little too much information for y’all, but for true barbecue connoisseurs, there’s deeper level to the sandwich. It goes beyond the selection of pork over beef, to the preference of “inside” meat vs. “bark,” or the amount of a mix that’s your predilection.

Traditional pulled pork barbecue is typically made from pork shoulder, a large, square cut of meat that’s topped by a thick layer of fat. When it’s cooked slowly in a pit over a low wood fire, the fat renders down, basting and tenderizing the inside meat, while the outside meat, “the bark,” browns and develops a intensely-flavored caramel crispness.

The decision on how to build your bun is all about texture and flavor – is it juicy sweet meat or chewy, smoky bark that makes for your best bite?

As you pull the meat, you toss it all together combining the soft, unctuous inside meat with the smoky, salty outside bark and the combination is the thing that foodie dreams are made of.” – Ray Lampe, “Dr. BBQ”