Porkzilla with the "secret" rub

Well! That was a much longer break between posts than planned. As I mentioned in the April 6 post, I’ve been giving contractor training out at my former employer. Tomorrow will be the last class I give. Quite likely, it will also be the last time I ever enter the refinery. That’s kind of special. It isn’t often one gets to retire from the same employer twice.

Before my first retirement, the training department would occasionally get together for lunch in the training room. We took turns bringing in the main course. I usually served up barbecue of some sort. I took in pickled fish once, but for various reasons, some of which weren’t even verbalized, everyone on staff suddenly had pressing issues crop up unannounced forcing them to bolt as soon as I arrived with the goodies. Oh well, such is life.

6:30 am, I'm sure the neighbors are wondering, "What the...?"

The barbecued stuff was popular. The most requested was the pulled pork sandwiches. The department staff would swell to twice its normal size when pulled pork was on the menu. I always thought it odd that those temporary assignments from other departments coincided with the days I brought barbecue sandwiches. Some things are just  inexplicable.

Early on in April, someone asked when the pulled pork would show up. That sparked the idea of throwing my own second retirement party on the last day. Everything looked promising with the schedule: off on Tuesday, last class scheduled on Wednesday. The only catch was that a pork shoulder roast could not be found. For three weeks, every time we went shopping, I searched in vain for a pork shoulder roast.

What the heck? Limes have seasons. Grapes have seasons. Apples, pears, oranges, avocados, cabbage, bananas, they all have seasons. But PORK SHOULDERS? Is there a pork shoulder season? One would have thought so.

Porkzilla in apple wood smoke

Sunday, just when it seemed as though the pulled pork sandwich idea would have to be jettisoned, a pork shoulder roast was located. Thing is, however, it was a whopper of a roast at eighteen pounds, and it was take all, or nothing. Faced with the nothing prospect, I cinched down my hernia belt and wrestled it into the shopping cart. Fortunately, the store was kind enough to cut it in half.

One half of the Porkzilla roast has been in the pit since seven o’clock this morning. When all is said and done, the roast will have slow cooked for around twelve hours over a charcoal and apple wood fire. Once cooked and shredded, it will be mixed with the secret family barbecue sauce. Let the feast begin.

Shred and add BBQ sauce

Tomorrow, the plan is to give my last class, enjoy lunch and then retire… again.

With the end of my classes, the posts should resume on a regular basis.  Thanks for hanging in there.