British BBQ Society Forums

Chaps,
Any chance someone could do a series of "the very basics", there is a lot of info in here but often it is learned discourse, ie give me a basic rub for shoulder of pork - replied with depends what you want, I personally favour a 5- / 50 mix of mississippi angel dust and samoan hickory roasted fire pepper.....

I guess what I am after is a pork shoulder mix a, b, c, d all things I could buy in a supermarket, rub it and stand it for X hours then offset roast it for X hours per kilo at xxx degrees c, after X put it in foil wih these liquids keep going till it has an internal temp of X then use this sauce again one I can get from a supermarket.

Reason Ia ask is for these larger cuts like shoulder or brisket there is a fair financial outlay and this is making me personally nervous, if I had a recipe that I knew would work I would then be prepared to start trying variations on the theme having done it well first

Folk seem retiscent to say this is how I do it, can understand the competitive elite being guarded, but I am looking for Janet and john do lo and slo.

So if you would be so kind I am after basic pork shoulder and brisket.


Ta muchly
Tiny

Couple of questions:

Are you comfortable keeping your bbqs at low n slow temperatures? That's a pre-requisite i guess.

Do you own a maverick remote thermometer (or similar) and / or a thermapen? For me, these are invaluable when learning about cooking these bigger joints as it takes the guess work out.

Saying that, the pork shoulder is really forgiving - even if you don't get it to pull it still gives you a roasted joint, so no waste. Had this happen to me once when it longer than i wanted and i didn't have the time to continue cooking, so we just had roast pork instead.

For pork and brisket you can do a very simple rub of salt and pepper. Then add more flavour with a simple vinegar or tomatoe based sauce at serving time which you can either make or buy in.

I think the pork is more forgiving than beef, so i'd start with that. Have a plan, see how it turns out and vary a bit at a time to see the difference it makes.

This is what i would start with:

- shoulder of pork, perferably bone in, but not essential.
- rub with salt and pepper in evening and left over-night in the fridge.
- plan on cooking for between 1 and 1.5 hours per pound of meat at around 225f to 250f grate temperature, plus 1 hour or more resting time after the cook. It can be held in foil after the cook for hours - so plan in the 1.5 hours per lb as your timing, you can always rest longer.
- when the internal temp gets to around 190F, start testing to see if a skewer slips easily into the meat. If it does, take it off the bbq and wrap in foil and then plenty of tea towels. If not, keep cooking and test every 30 minutes or so.
- after cooking and resting, pull it into pieces - i like mine kinda like the shredded duck in a chinese, others like it in chunks.
- add a simple sauce on the side to mix as you eat. Minesamohito posted a recipe on here or on his blog for a vinegar based recipe - dead simple, and soooo tasty. Or simply buy a sauce, i really like Stubbs brand but also make my own from recipes on here.

Hope that helps.

Simon

I did roast shoulder of pork yesterday - here's the thread, if it's any help:

http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2395

Steve W

I did roast shoulder of pork yesterday

mE TOO (sorry), following this recipe/method from last month's Observer Food Monthly. Used a 2kg boneless shoulder rather than 4kg bone-in, and was ready in about 7 hours. It pulled well, and it was pretty darn tasty. I made half the quantity of sauce, and that was still too much.

IMO, it's a good basic recipe to start with, but does assume that you'll know how to set up and regulate your cooker.

In my (limited) experience, the best advice I can offer is start earlier than you think you need to.

Is there anyone here who didn't cook shoulder of pork yesterday?



Steve W

ME

Did a couple of slabs of rib AND

My first Fatty, even if I say so myself the fatty was excellent and all 8 food tasters loved it.

Even had some left over for breakfast this morning, I'll certainly do that again.

Brin

Pecker wrote:Is there anyone here who didn't cook shoulder of pork yesterday?



Steve W

Me neither, did brisket, chook and salmon in the pouring rain

Pecker wrote:Is there anyone here who didn't cook shoulder of pork yesterday?



Steve W

I did one in the oven roast not even pulled