Memphis Barbecue Spaghetti
Chapter 2 — The Meats
It sounds like a drunken diner's midnight hallucination: Italian-American immigrant starch colliding head-on with a thermodynamic miracle of Southern smoked pork. But when executed with uncompromising technique, Memphis Barbecue Spaghetti is a revelation. Invented by a mid-century railroad cook and preserved by legendary Bluff City pitmasters, this dish demands patience, a tolerance for the meat stall, and the wisdom to know that true barbecue is simmered directly into the sauce. Whether you are running a custom offset stick burner or faking it with a kettle grill, the secret lies in the long, naked pecan smoke of the pork shoulder.
Before you start
The Oven Workaround.
If you are strictly cooking indoors, set your oven to 300°F. Rub the meat with the liquid smoke before applying the dry rub, and cook on a wire rack set over a foil-lined baking sheet. Simmer the sauce on your stovetop over low heat.
Ingredients
- bone-in pork shoulder6 lb
- yellow mustard2 tbsp
- Memphis dry rub1/2 cup
- pecan wood chunks1 qt
- neutral oil2 tbsp
- yellow onion1 large
- green bell pepper1 large
- garlic clove3 med
- tomato sauce28 oz
- Memphis-style barbecue sauce2 cup
- water1/4 cup
- liquid smoke1 tsp
- dried spaghetti1 lb
Method
- 01
Prepare the shoulder.
Apply a thin layer of yellow mustard to act as a binder, then generously coat the entire pork shoulder with the Memphis dry rub, pressing the spices firmly into the meat. Let it rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.
- 02
Fire the pit.
Configure your smoker, kamado, or kettle grill to maintain a steady ambient temperature of 250°F, utilizing the pecan wood for its sweet, nutty smoke profile.
- 03
Smoke the meat naked.
Place the pork directly on the grates, fat side up. Do not wrap it when the meat inevitably stalls around 160°F; push through the evaporative cooling to build a deeply dark, crusty bark.
- 04
Push for the target temperature.
Continue smoking uninterrupted until the thickest part of the shoulder hits 190°F to 195°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- 05
Rest and pull.
Remove the pork, wrap it tightly in foil and a towel, and rest it in an insulated cooler for at least one hour. Discard the blade bone and pull the meat into long strands, reserving one cup of the fattiest pieces and finely chopping them for the sauce.
- 06
Sweat the aromatics.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat, sautéing the diced onion and bell pepper until deeply softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the reserved cup of chopped fatty pork, rendering the fat for an additional 3 minutes.
- 07
Infuse the sauce.
Pour the tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, and water into the pot, stirring thoroughly to create a unified emulsion. Move the uncovered Dutch oven into your 250°F smoker for 45 to 60 minutes, allowing the surface to absorb the ambient wood smoke.
- 08
Boil the pasta.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil and cook the spaghetti strictly until al dente. Drain the noodles, retaining half a cup of the starchy pasta water.
- 09
Unify the dish.
Return the drained pasta to the large pot over medium-low heat, pouring the hot, smoky sauce base directly over the noodles along with two cups of the pulled pork. Toss vigorously with tongs for 4 to 5 minutes until every strand is coated, splashing in pasta water if needed to achieve a glossy finish.
Notes
The Faux Cambro.
You must rest this meat for an hour minimum. Wrapping the hot shoulder in foil, then a clean towel, and dropping it into an insulated cooler keeps the pork safely hot and lets the superheated gelatin redistribute.
The Kettle Snake Method.
Don't have an offset smoker? Arrange unlit briquettes in a semi-circle along the outer edge of your charcoal kettle, place pecan chunks on the first half, and light one end to deliver consistent, low indirect heat for hours.
The Pull, Never Chop.
Unlike brisket or whole-hog, Memphis shoulder for this specific dish must be pulled. Preserving those long muscle fibers mimics the pasta, integrating texturally with the spaghetti.
From Cook BBQ at Home.