Smokin' Butt, refining the process with a little help from my friends...

The ritual starts the day before you smoke. You rinse, score, and rub.

The morning you're going to smoke let the pork come to room temp. I flauted food safety laws and left them in a cooler overnight with no refrigeration. I put them in the smoker at 220 at 5:45am. I let them smoke for 3-4 hours then started spraying with a mix of apple juice and cider vinegar.Per my friend Shawn's recommendation I didn't wrap them and I left the vent open at the top of the smoker. We were trying to get all of the fat to render while allowing the bark to cure to an appropriate texture that would allow us to mix it in with the meat. It adds a lot of flavor.

After letting them sit wrapped in foil for an hour we started pulling.The bark turned out just the way we were looking for it to. Nice. What's 40 pounds of butt between friends?

Big steaming smoky bowl of pork goodness. We got two of these from the 40 pounds. It was enough to feed us that night and provide bbq for my buddy's daughter's confirmation party.

Tracy and Amelia discussing the virtues of Oregon Pinot matched with dessert, which was strawberries sauteed in butter, brown sugar, balsamic and Grand Marnier over pound cake...

If you have questions about the cooking or comments, please feel free.....

The Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney

Cheryl having a, "Why not have another glass of wine" moment.

Ah, a hot summer's day in Florida. You took the trip, you made it through the crowds, you dealt with all the bullshit it took to get there. What could be better than a nice glass of sparkling rose at The Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck?Well, turns out to be a lot. The bubbly was nice, the view was great, but the food was only so-so for the money. The snapper that Cheryl got was ok. Well cooked and nicely plated.

A $44.95 steak...described as beautifully marbled, rich and flavorful on the menu. I've had better from the packaged meat section at Giant. Hate to say it, but it's true. It was half gristle.
The mashed potatoes and the greens were the high-light.

Alex liked the sushi.

Desserts were average. The carrot cake was as dense as a brick. There is a reason you shred the carrots, not smash them in a food processor. The better of the two we shared was Alex's molten chocolate cake.

Overall, I'd say your money is probably better spent in the downstairs Wolfgang Puck Cafe. The menu there is mostly pizza and sushi. We were first seated down there, even though we'd made reservations, but when we realized that we weren't in "The Dining Room" the waiter took us upstairs. Funny, but they were on a 2 hour wait downstairs and the upstairs was 1/2 full the entire time were were there.

Guess they knew better...

Stay tuned for many new posts as I recount our trip up the east coast last week.