My First Pulled Pork

[Deano]

After the success of my Beercan chicken I thought I'd try some pulled pork. Got a 3kg pork shoulder from Tescos as it was 1/2 price (£2.99kg).

Made a rub I found on the net called "Best Odds" http://bbq.about.com/od/rubrecipes/r/bl40424a.htm It had string on it which i cut off, although in hindsight it may have been easier to keep it on.



I Used the snake method and Weber hickory.



Bought a cheapo(£5.88) probe from ebay in lieu of affording a Maverick. I tested it in boiling water and it was showing 101, good enough! It all cooked well for the first 9 hours, although I had trouble getting up to temperature initially, so added more coals, probably lighting the snake a bit further along. I can see the advantage of a Maverick now, as it would save popping out every 12 hour or so.



The snake worked great and it just went alomg on it's own. I even had time go for a run and nip into town. It stalled at 84c, which was a bit higher than I reckoned on, but finally got going again, until the temp hit 95c and it became this



Pulled it after resting for an hour



Added to homemade buns (Great recipe for them here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/ ... uns-recipe ), Slaw and some homemade Boston Beans (Delia Recipe), plus cornbread.



About 12hrs over all. About 9hrs using the snake, then 3 more adding coals. Didn't realise it made so much pulled pork! Still, everyone loved it!.

Next up... Brisket

[grum]

Nicely done! I'm still building up to a long cook like that. Snake method looks good - what kind of charcoal are you using?

[Deano]

Nicely done! I'm still building up to a long cook like that. Snake method looks good - what kind of charcoal are you using?

I used Big K, two wide bottom layer with one wide on the top layer. Didn't stack it as pretty as some pictures I've seen though! Like I said just didn't get up to temperature at the start (I used about 5 briquettes). So I added another half dozen or so. Other than it taking longer than I expected (I had hoped to do it in 9 hours), it went fairly easily, maintenance free. Adding the coals at the end to sustain it enough to finish took most of my attention.

[grum]

Cheers. Good to know you didn't have to faff with it too much. Looks great.

At the risk of rehashing an old debate - you didn't find having unlit coals lighting under the food left any kind of unpleasant taste? I've not got Big K briquettes - I've got some heat beads but I've been wondering whether the snake method would be better with lump charcoal in case of the taste issue with the unlit coals.

I'm probably worrying too much and should just get on and try it for myself!

[keith157]

Give it a try, I use the minion method and have never noticed any unwanted tastes from heat-beads or Co-Co Shell, the two brands I use for low n slow.

[Deano]

Didn't notice any taint to the food at all. Not sure what binders they use, I did buy Big-K after reading a few people as recommending them over supermarket stuff.
I'd probably try restaurant grade lumpwood if I had access to Bookers and they weren't too big. If anyone knows of a supplier near Oxford who charges a reasonable price (around £1 per Kilo) I'd be interested!

[noxskuses]

Looks good. Will try the bun recipe as that looks good as well.

"..It had string on it which i cut off, although in hindsight it may have been easier to keep it on.." Best to always remove string so you can work your rub into all the cavities.