Pulled pork - smoked on the Weber kettle and finished in the oven
I love BBQ, thought I'd share how I've been making my pulled pork. It all starts with a 6-8 pound pork shoulder (pork butt), I usually pick it up when it's on sale and then throw in the freezer for later. I've been buying the bone-in, which does reduce the yield somewhat. Seems like an 8 pound pork shoulder yields around 5 pounds of meat after cooking and shredding. The total cooking time is around 8-10 hours (if you go straight from the grill into the oven). Nice weekend cooking project.
While the charcoal is starting, I coat the entire pork but with some dry
rub. Sometimes, I use a South
Carolina style (mustard based), sometimes I use Kansas City style (more of a southwest flavor). Lately, my favorite is to mix the two flavors together 50-50. You could also season the meat the night before. The seasoned pork butt goes into a foil pan on the cooking grate opposite of the charcoal. The vent goes right above the pan.
My smoker setup is an old 22" Weber kettle grill. I use fire bricks to
divide the charcoal grid so I can smoke using indirect heat. The target
temperature is around 250 degrees. A medium sized mound of charcoal is
all it takes, about 1/3-1/2 what you would use for the entire grill.
Once the coals are ready for cooking, I spread them on one side and then
place the fire bricks to divide things up. I put the cover on for 15-20
minutes and let everything get heated up. I use a grill thermometer to
keep track of the cooking temperature on the other side (which is where
the meat goes).
For the smoke, I use Applewood, Hickory, or Mesquite chips. Applewood
goes very nice with pork. I've been using a combination of Applewood and
Hickory (about 2/3 Applewood). I soak the chips in water for about an hour (before lighting the grill). When the charcoal is ready, I drain the water and put the chips in a small foil tray right on top of
the charcoal under the cooking grate. If you're smoking for more than a couple hours, you might want to add more wood chips to keep the smoke going.
Once your meat is smoking, you try to keep the lid on as much as possible. I keep the vent mostly open (more open=higher temp/faster cooking). I usually check the temperature once about an hour into the cooking process. 225-250 is a good smoking temperature. If it gets up to around 300, that's really too hot. Low and slow is the key. The charcoal will cook for about 2 hours. If you're smoking longer than that, you can add a few more charcoal briquettes after each hour or so to keep things cooking.
After a few hours on the smoker, I move things into the oven for the remainder of the cooking time. I wrap the pork butt with aluminum foil and then put it into a roasting pan (along with the juice from the foil pan). That goes into the oven at 250-260 for another 5 hours or so. Or longer.
wrapped and in the oven. The waiting really is the hardest part!
The pork is finished when the meat temperature in the thickest part registers no less than 190-195 degrees. That's the magic temperature where everything breaks down and the meat is super tender and easily shreds. You can let it rest for up to an hour before you unwrap and shred the meat. The bone should easily come right out. I shred the meat by hand and pick out and discard the fatty stuff. I leave as much of the skin (aka bark) in there, since it adds a lot of flavor.
If you're serving later or the next day, I recommend saving the liquid (after separating the fat) to keep things from drying out. A Crock Pot works great to warm it back up. If you want to add a little BBQ sauce, you can do this after shredding the meat. I like to serve the meat without the sauce, then you can add whatever kind you like! A few hours on low and it should be ready to serve.
Here's a link to a recipe with good rundown of the process for cooking in the oven, he's also included a recipe for the North Carolina vinegar sauce.
http://www.tasteofsouthern.com/pulled-pork-bbq-in-the-oven-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR1zR-5UYrO6SGRvsdQ-rZfHYhlr04c4ApVadGx0aDcnCNKWpddS4nckMz8
Here are some dry rub recipes that I've been using...
I love BBQ, thought I'd share how I've been making my pulled pork. It all starts with a 6-8 pound pork shoulder (pork butt), I usually pick it up when it's on sale and then throw in the freezer for later. I've been buying the bone-in, which does reduce the yield somewhat. Seems like an 8 pound pork shoulder yields around 5 pounds of meat after cooking and shredding. The total cooking time is around 8-10 hours (if you go straight from the grill into the oven). Nice weekend cooking project.
While the charcoal is starting, I coat the entire pork but with some dry
rub. Sometimes, I use a South Carolina style (mustard based), sometimes I use Kansas City style (more of a southwest flavor). Lately, my favorite is to mix the two flavors together 50-50. You could also season the meat the night before. The seasoned pork butt goes into a foil pan on the cooking grate opposite of the charcoal. The vent goes right above the pan.
Once your meat is smoking, you try to keep the lid on as much as possible. I keep the vent mostly open (more open=higher temp/faster cooking). I usually check the temperature once about an hour into the cooking process. 225-250 is a good smoking temperature. If it gets up to around 300, that's really too hot. Low and slow is the key. The charcoal will cook for about 2 hours. If you're smoking longer than that, you can add a few more charcoal briquettes after each hour or so to keep things cooking.
After a few hours on the smoker, I move things into the oven for the remainder of the cooking time. I wrap the pork butt with aluminum foil and then put it into a roasting pan (along with the juice from the foil pan). That goes into the oven at 250-260 for another 5 hours or so. Or longer.
wrapped and in the oven. The waiting really is the hardest part!
The pork is finished when the meat temperature in the thickest part registers no less than 190-195 degrees. That's the magic temperature where everything breaks down and the meat is super tender and easily shreds. You can let it rest for up to an hour before you unwrap and shred the meat. The bone should easily come right out. I shred the meat by hand and pick out and discard the fatty stuff. I leave as much of the skin (aka bark) in there, since it adds a lot of flavor.
If you're serving later or the next day, I recommend saving the liquid (after separating the fat) to keep things from drying out. A Crock Pot works great to warm it back up. If you want to add a little BBQ sauce, you can do this after shredding the meat. I like to serve the meat without the sauce, then you can add whatever kind you like! A few hours on low and it should be ready to serve.
Here's a link to a recipe with good rundown of the process for cooking in the oven, he's also included a recipe for the North Carolina vinegar sauce.
http://www.tasteofsouthern.com/pulled-pork-bbq-in-the-oven-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR1zR-5UYrO6SGRvsdQ-rZfHYhlr04c4ApVadGx0aDcnCNKWpddS4nckMz8
