Ramble On

Monday, January 28, 2013

Pork Diaries: Last of the Pulled Pork (2012 version)


We’re getting close to butchering day on the new bunch of hogs, so Mary and I did a quick freezer inventory to start make room for all the port that’s going to be rolling in here in a couple of weeks.  To my surprise, there was still a four-pound blade roast left from last year, along with a few miscellaneous other cuts.  So on Inauguration Day last week I made some pulled pork.

My approach to this isn’t always formal, but for the most part I get consistent results.  I’m going to work a bit more on it though – I would like to get to the point that it comes out like what my team produced at the Smokin’ on the Tracks contest last September 
(link here:  http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2012/10/whats-cookin-at-smokin-on-track.html).  That was as moist and tender as I’ve ever made, and I would like for it to come out that way every time.

As far as last Monday’s grilling effort goes, for the rub I used three tablespoons of a mix that a friend gave me at Christmas, mixing in a tablespoon of light brown sugar and just a touch of cayenne.  I slathered that on and let it sit a half hour while I fired up the grill – it was ready shortly with the temperature topping out at around 325 degrees.

I put the roast in and let it cook for an hour or so, periodically opening the grill so that I could recharge the hickory chips.  Then I just let it cook on its own for another half hour, taking a temperature reading at that point.

I recharged the coals during this roast once, and I have a feeling that might be where I had some trouble.  The pork tasted fine, but it was a little more dried out than we like it; now that I think about it that might have been due to the large blade bone in there too. 

I’ll pay some more attention to that next time, but we still made a fine dinner out of it – putting it together with some kale and sweet potatoes.  I also had some home brews to go with that.  

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