British BBQ Society Forums

Well I finally have done it. After months of lurking and researching and being away with the RN for a while I have finally managed to get my first proper low and slow cook in.

All went well I had the pork in by 0945 and was taken off at 1630 a little over the 190 I was aiming for. I used the snake method and I have to say it worked like a dream. My Weber One Touch held 250 for the whole of the cook no problems. Left it to rest for 1 hour and then pulled was so nice just I thought a little dry. The missis loved it and didn't really notice it being dry after having it with some BBQ sauce.

I have a few questions for everyone. Due to saving time I rubbed my pork the night before would this of dried it out as the pork was a little dry but they may be down to the pork I got from Tesco?!? I removed the skin could this of caused it to go a little dry too? I was hoping for more of a dark bark on the pork, like I have seen elsewhere but didn't seem to of got that any ideas how I could get a more darker bark?

I also want to say thanks to everyone on here for their tips and hints as it helped no end.

Right now for some pics!

The starting product!



Skin removed



Rubbed with Bad Byrons Butt Rub



Start at 0945



Finished cook but bark not as dark as I would of hoped for



Final Temp a little over the 190 I was aiming for



All pulled after an hours rest!

The dryness isn't likely to be due to skin removal or putting the rub on early. Some would say don't rub that long but it's unlikely to dry it out that much.

Removing the skin is right though if you removed all the day this could affect the meat a bit. It looks like this might be the culprit as your shoulder looks like it's been cut close to the meat.

The meat generally could be the reason too. I've had two of those shoulders cooked nigh on identically and one was really dry.

I'm sure others will have their opinions too!

Congrats on your first low and slow, though - a good achievement!

Nice first PP cook, you should be happy. Regarding dryness, salt in the rub will have an effect, I would leave on for a max. 6 hours before starting the cook, quality of meat will also have an effect as will the fat content of the meat, each shoulder varies, the cooker can also make the meat dry, I found when I used a kettle the meat was a little drier than when using a dedicated smoker, this can be helped by wrapping in foil after a couple of hours once the meat has adsorbed the smoke, it will make the meat moister, cook quicker by avoiding the stall but does make the bark softer (for some a major drawback).

Keep it up, I guarantee the next cook will be better

I trim all the fat and membrane from the shoulder leaving just meat, i inject it the night before and let it sit. The next day i re-inject the fluid in the tray and let the meat come to room temp. About an hour before the fire, i put the rub on and let it sit a while. It goes on the smoker with a temp probe and i don't bother looking at it for the first 3-4 hours. i start checking if the rub has set, scrape with a finger nail, if the rub drags as a sludge it's not set, if it's like sandpaper and doesn't come off, it's set and i start spraying with apple juice. At around 165f i wrap it with leftover injection and bung it back on. depending on time, i will either leave it in the foil until finished or unwrap about 185f and finish it open in the grill. If i'm doing larger lumps then i'll put them on at midnight then go to bed and leave to do it's stuff.
Others may cringe at my method but it seems to work for me.. oh and a tray of water and apple juice next to your meat wouldn't hurt...

Looks good! A finishing sauce can easily mask any dryness I suspect it was down to the cut of meat, however. I've had many pork shoulder cuts that aren't the same as the cuts the yanks use and they can turn out try. Try asking for a bone in, neck end cut from a butcher - that got me almost exactly the right cut (the money muscle was there, I just got a piece with extra spine and ribs attached) and it made the world of difference in the final product

JEC wrote:the cooker can also make the meat dry, I found when I used a kettle the meat was a little drier than when using a dedicated smoker,

This is all good evidence for when I present my case for a smoker!

"But I had to buy a smoker...you don't want DRY pulled pork for the rest of your life, do you?"

Good luck with the case. If you need any of us as a defence lawyer I am sure we can oblige...

Thanks for the replies. I only thought it was a little dry nothing to write home about but was pretty chuffed with the results. I only used the tesco pork incase i completely screwed the cook up and didn't want to waste a good cut! If u had more of a fat cap would that make more of a bark??

At least I know how relatively easy it is to set up and get going. Now does anyone know of some really good butchers in Plymouth!

Looks to me like there wasn't much fat on the pork. Probably the leanest shoulder Ive seen. That wont help it stay moist.

I thought for kettles it was best to have a drip tray of water over the coals to keep the inside cooking environment humid and slow down moisture evaporation ?

I did have a drip tray underneath that was filled with hot water to try and keep it moist. As I said it wasn't Sahara Desert dry just I was expecting it to be a little bit more moist thats all. As it was my first attempt Im just happy that it turned out well!