British BBQ Society Forums

I cooked up my first Pork on my Traeger today



Started off at 7.30 this morning. Baby backs went in at 8.00


Fetched off at 10.00 this evening - thats over 14 hours cooking time. Final temp was 177f


Pork pulled well, though I thought that it was on the dry side.
(Appologies for blurred pics )
Questions:
The joint was a rolled leg of pork, weighing about 5lb. Should it have taken this long to cook??Traeger was set to smoke and the temp range was 170 - 200f

As the joint was a lean leg of pork, could this explain the dryness? (Little collagen to moisten the meat)

Now I have a dish full of pulled pork, but my guests have gone home, whats the best way of reheating it for tomorrow?

I also cooked ribs, chicken and salmon while the pork was on. The ribs were cooked on the 3-2-1 method and were very tasty.

The ribs were not as dry as the picture suggests, but were quite tasty.

Hiya

If you're going to do a leg of pork you don't want to cook it too slowly, there isn't enough fat in the leg to warrant this and it will dry out ... also, leg meat is not great for pulling! so you want to cook it faster and then slice it.

Pulled pork is generally shoulder / neck meat ... you might want to try that next time.

Also, baby back ribs only really need around 3 hours to cook ... first hour on smoke and then on medium until ready ... you know when they are ready as if you pick them up from the middle of the rack with a pair of tongs, there will be a good floppy bounce to them, if they are stiff they are not cooked, if they fall apart they are overcooked ... temperatures are a great idea but the 'feel' is always the best test for doneness.

Nice pic's by the way !!

Great tip on the ribs Jackie. I always try bending them up 90 degrees from one end but I might try lifting in the middle.

3-2-1 is way too long for baby backs, it's too long for spares to be honest, 2-2-1 is more like it for spares, 1-1-1 will usually do baby backs perfectly.

Great looking pics though. As for your pork leftovers, vac packing them with a little sauce then warming them up boil in the bag style is the best way to deal with them IMHO. If you don't have a vac packer, then sauce the pork and pack it into a tray, cover with foil and warm in the oven tomorrow.

A vac packer is a great addition to your kit once you get into to BBQ as it allows you preserve your butt and brisket well. My sponsors http://www.fresherpack.co.uk do an awesome one called the Eiffel Pro, I love mine.

Wish i'd seen this yesterday as i did baby backs on the 2-2-1 method as descibed elsewhere on the web and they turned out to be way over done.

D'oh

We all have to learn from our mistakes Ed. Believe me I've made some howlers and I bet I will again.