Pulled Pork & Mac ‘n Cheese

I’m on the Egg 4-5 nights/week year-round in the Chicago ‘burbs and my favorite dinners are when the kids have a crew of friends/teammates over. Last night was football, which ordered up pulled pork, mac ‘n cheese and cheesecake.

Pork: I’ve done hundreds of pounds through the years and awhile ago settled on the same method, which is to smoke a bone-in shoulder at 250 for 8 hours over apple, then braise in a covered foil pan for the stretch run to 204. I don’t care what the temp is at 8 hours. It was 153 yesterday and can be 170+. I use Malcom Reed’s THE BBQ Rub for the shoulder, usually in the 9-pound range. For the braising liquid, I use a bottle of Blue’s Hog Original. Pour half into another container and replace with the same amount of apple cider vinegar. Top off the extra container with vinegar and now you have two delicious, thin sauces — one for braising (use the whole amount) and one to squirt on individual sandwiches. In building the sandwich, I put a dill pickle slice on the bottom of a fluffy bun topped with a generous portion of pork and that squirt of the new sauce we just made. I wrap each sandwich in foil (get individual wraps at the Dollar Store) for a few minutes to get a nice steam. Tip for new Eggers: Save an empty sauce or rub bottle. They’re almost always really well-made and come in handy for your own homemade concoctions.

Mac & Cheese: I use an old one from Malcom Reed — pre-pitmaster stardom — and it’s great. It’s a fun recipe build before an hour over pecan at 350. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/jado2za9g8c?si=39htHP1W1l-INjUe.

Cheesecake: Just a simple recipe I found online that supports my motto: Anything that goes in the oven, goes in the pit. Use a chunk of pecan, finish with a drizzle of melted peanut butter, and your guests will be wowed.

Wrap-up: I work on one Large Egg. With dinner Monday night, I cooked the cheesecake Sunday morning so it could chill overnight. I started the pork at 5 a.m. Monday and it was done at 3:30 p.m, rested and pulled around 5:45. I took a half day and built the mac & cheese early afternoon before popping into the Egg at 5 for an hour, which made everything ready as the guys walked in at 6 👍.

If you’re still with me, thanks for reading, Happy (upcoming) Holidays and Egg On 🔥