I'm a relatively new BBQ chef. I've been an enthusiastic home cook for many years now but I only moved into a home with outdoor space last year. Over the last 13 months I have started to really get into grilling; first with a gas grill, and now this year with a charcoal kettle.
Yesterday, I made pulled pork at home for the first time ever. My pulled pork experiences to date have been limited to restaurants; in most cases, this was dry meat with a heavy smoke tint. I was looking forward to trying something different. I followed Meathead's recipe from the book faithfully. Here's how it went….
I bought a 9lb boneless pork shoulder from DeBragga in NYC (I live near Boston). It came perfectly vacuum sealed, shipped overnight on Thursday. On Friday night I liberated it from its packaging while cooking some steaks (hence the live thermometer). I note that the meat had nice white fat - none of that nasty gamy yellow stuff.
9lb of pork shoulder is a lot. So I divided it in two (freezing half for later) and trimming the fat off the half I planned to cook.
Of which there was quite a bit.
​
I then trussed the meat and started the overnight dry brine. Note the glass of wine to be enjoyed with the aforementioned steak. Went to bed with visions of tasty piggies dancing through the night.
​
​
Next day: good morning! You can see my cook getting started before 7am with some coals going on the Slow N Sear… Thankfully my neighbors are BBQ lovers as well so nobody was troubled. They were actually out having a coffee on their porch and when I told them what I was doing, they threatened to jump the fence and make off with the finished product.
​
I rubbed the pork with Memphis Meat Dust and enjoyed the sensations under my fingers.
​
Next I filled the Slow N Sear reservoir with boiling kettle water. It burbled as it was supposed to. Some of you with sharp eyes may notice that the charcoals in the SNS were already a bit white. That's because I had used them very briefly last night to sear the aforementioned steak before shutting the grill down. So I thought they were still good today. But I did have to add some additional coals (about 1/3 chimney) at about 2pm, so I suspect that my money-and-coal saving technique may have been the cause.
​
Okay, let's get this pork on the grill!
​
Early morning pork placement. I used an initial wood chunk that was about 4 oz and added some more chunks in the morning for a total weight of about a pound.
​
Over the course of the day I kept the cook at about 225-250. It started to take on a nice patina after just a few hours.
​
And darkened over the course of the day.
​
Eventually getting very dark
​
Meanwhile, I engaged in a BBQ sauce taste-off. I did a head to head comparison of Meathead's KC sauce vs Huskee Shawsh, plus a blend of the two. They are very different sauces, and while I like the complexity of the Meathead sauce, the direct tastiness of the Shawsh was a win between the two. That said, I know that sweet things tend to win blind tastings due to quirks in the human palate (e.g. fat wines beating subtle ones, or new Coke vs original Coke) so I can't eliminate the possibility that the sweetness of Huskee led me down that path.
​
At about 6pm, when I was ready to eat, the meat was at 200 degrees. I never had a true stall during the day but it definitely slowed down at about 170. Anyway, even though Meathead said to wait until 203, I was hungry so I took it out.
​
It was notable to me that it had much more of a gamy pork scent upon cutting. But this was the flavor of real pork, not that store bought stuff that tastes like chicken. I suspect that scent came from the gelatinized connective tissue and/or melted fat. Anyway, once I cut into it with my awesome OXO meat claws, the scent dissipated.
​
The final product (served with cornbread, Huskee shawsh, and Kale) was excellent. This was much better than restaurant pulled pork - more tender, better balance of smoke flavor, and, critically, not dry. There was plenty left over to put in eggs and other day-to-day cooking this week.
​
Overall, this was a fun, easy cook that was absolutely worth it! The meat was tasty, tender, and better than I could buy outside the house. Thanks to Meathead and Huskee for the recipes!!
​
Yesterday, I made pulled pork at home for the first time ever. My pulled pork experiences to date have been limited to restaurants; in most cases, this was dry meat with a heavy smoke tint. I was looking forward to trying something different. I followed Meathead's recipe from the book faithfully. Here's how it went….
I bought a 9lb boneless pork shoulder from DeBragga in NYC (I live near Boston). It came perfectly vacuum sealed, shipped overnight on Thursday. On Friday night I liberated it from its packaging while cooking some steaks (hence the live thermometer). I note that the meat had nice white fat - none of that nasty gamy yellow stuff.
9lb of pork shoulder is a lot. So I divided it in two (freezing half for later) and trimming the fat off the half I planned to cook.
Of which there was quite a bit.
​
I then trussed the meat and started the overnight dry brine. Note the glass of wine to be enjoyed with the aforementioned steak. Went to bed with visions of tasty piggies dancing through the night.
​
​
Next day: good morning! You can see my cook getting started before 7am with some coals going on the Slow N Sear… Thankfully my neighbors are BBQ lovers as well so nobody was troubled. They were actually out having a coffee on their porch and when I told them what I was doing, they threatened to jump the fence and make off with the finished product.
​
I rubbed the pork with Memphis Meat Dust and enjoyed the sensations under my fingers.
​
Next I filled the Slow N Sear reservoir with boiling kettle water. It burbled as it was supposed to. Some of you with sharp eyes may notice that the charcoals in the SNS were already a bit white. That's because I had used them very briefly last night to sear the aforementioned steak before shutting the grill down. So I thought they were still good today. But I did have to add some additional coals (about 1/3 chimney) at about 2pm, so I suspect that my money-and-coal saving technique may have been the cause.
​
Okay, let's get this pork on the grill!
​
Early morning pork placement. I used an initial wood chunk that was about 4 oz and added some more chunks in the morning for a total weight of about a pound.
​
Over the course of the day I kept the cook at about 225-250. It started to take on a nice patina after just a few hours.
​
And darkened over the course of the day.
​
Eventually getting very dark
​
Meanwhile, I engaged in a BBQ sauce taste-off. I did a head to head comparison of Meathead's KC sauce vs Huskee Shawsh, plus a blend of the two. They are very different sauces, and while I like the complexity of the Meathead sauce, the direct tastiness of the Shawsh was a win between the two. That said, I know that sweet things tend to win blind tastings due to quirks in the human palate (e.g. fat wines beating subtle ones, or new Coke vs original Coke) so I can't eliminate the possibility that the sweetness of Huskee led me down that path.
​
At about 6pm, when I was ready to eat, the meat was at 200 degrees. I never had a true stall during the day but it definitely slowed down at about 170. Anyway, even though Meathead said to wait until 203, I was hungry so I took it out.
​
It was notable to me that it had much more of a gamy pork scent upon cutting. But this was the flavor of real pork, not that store bought stuff that tastes like chicken. I suspect that scent came from the gelatinized connective tissue and/or melted fat. Anyway, once I cut into it with my awesome OXO meat claws, the scent dissipated.
​
The final product (served with cornbread, Huskee shawsh, and Kale) was excellent. This was much better than restaurant pulled pork - more tender, better balance of smoke flavor, and, critically, not dry. There was plenty left over to put in eggs and other day-to-day cooking this week.
​
Overall, this was a fun, easy cook that was absolutely worth it! The meat was tasty, tender, and better than I could buy outside the house. Thanks to Meathead and Huskee for the recipes!!
​
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