I picked up this thing of beauty, with the hopes of making pulled pork. I would love any advice on best techniques, temperatures approaches, marinades/preparation and sauces or mops.
My loose game plan was to use the snake method (with lump coal) along with a sprinkling of wood chips on top, going for a low and slow cook. Would love some feedback on time and temperature goals.
Thanks for the advice!
by LittleEzz
7 Comments
Rub it down with your favorite blend of herbs and spices, toss it in the smoker set to a temp anywhere between 225-250. Smoke til internal is 205 degrees or so then take it out, put it in a pan in a cooler for about an hour then take it out, shred and enjoy.
Ima need at least 2 more of those to make it worth my time bossman.
1)Season the day before (will provide my recipe at bottom) rest in fridge uncovered overnight. 2) bbq at 250-270 till internal temp is 170. 3) remove from bbq do a foil boat put back on bbq at 300-320 until internal temp is 200-203. 4) remove from bbq wrap in foil and then wrap in blanket and put in cooler or oven(off) for 1 hr to rest. 5) shred and sauce (recipe of homemade bbq sauce below)
[This](https://www.billyparisi.com/smoked-pulled-pork-shoulder-recipe/) is my universal pulled pork which allows us to use it in multiple dishes with multiple sauces (green chile, BBQ sauce, etc) over the 2-3 days we get from one 7-9lb butt. I dry brine my butts for 24 hours with just Kosher salt. Because of this, I don’t put as much salt in the rub (you can also rinse and dry the pork before using rub).
Crackpot carnitas. Super simple. Food for days. Always a crowd pleaser.
https://www.recipetineats.com/pork-carnitas-mexican-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/
Edit: oops, just realized what sub this is. BUT I bet smoked carnitas would be even better!!
Everyone else covered seasoning well, so I’ll talk about the fire.
I don’t use the snake method. When charcoal is unlit and is not yet an ember, the white, pillowy smoke has an unpleasant taste. The snake method continuously releases this poor combustion.
I prefer an indirect setup with fully lit charcoal. I light the charcoal in a chimney until it’s nearly all embers. Then I pour it OVER the wood. The hardwood chunks are UNDER the charcoal. The wood should smolder and the wood smoke gets burned as it passes over the hot charcoal embers.
This results in the highly desirable “thin blue smoke.”
Bottom vents fully open (ideally). Top damper might be halfway open with the meat below the top damper. Don’t choke the fire to make more smoke. The smoke should be clean.
A clean fire will make great food. Yes it’s hotter than some people suggest online. Yes you might need to add another chimney of charcoal (or move it to the oven). But this is part of BBQ.
Once your meat has a “firm bark” (the surface is drying and the bits of rub have adhered well to the meat surface) the meat should be around an internal temp of 150F-160F. That’s when you should wrap it (add some rub, a splash of apple juice, and a tablespoon of butter).
Once it’s wrapped, you can add another chimney of coals or more it to an oven to finish anywhere from 190-205.
Actually how is this brand compared to regular?