Pulled Pork

We made the pulled pork and it turned out pretty damn good. I'm sorry we didn't get any pictures. Chris Lilly's recipe is pretty tasty, but there were a few flavors missing as far as I am concerned. I'd add another 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and switch the plain sugar to turbinado sugar. There's still a flavor missing but I haven't put my finger on it yet.

As for the cooking method, here’s what I did. I cooked the pork over a fire off charcoal, hickory and cherry wood. Make sure when you light your fire, don't use any lighter fluid or artificial accelerants. You will taste them in the meat.

Keep the fire at a temperature of 220 degrees. Pork is a pretty forgiving piece of meat, so temperature swings won’t affect it too badly, but try and keep a steady temperature. After about 3 hours in the fire, after the bark has set, spray or mop the meat. I prefer to mop the meat using a combination of apple juice, sugar, butter and the rub. Some people add bourbon or other liquors. After that mop about once every 45 minutes or so.

Once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees, wrap the meat in a layer of saran wrap to which some mop has been added. Then wrap it in a few layers of tinfoil and return it to the cooker.

For some reason, which I know others can explain, the internal temperature of the meat often will get stuck at 160 degrees for a couple of hours. Once the meat reaches 170 degrees you will see the temperature begin to rise very quickly. Once the meat reaches 190 – 195 degrees, remove it from the cooker. This is for pulled pork only. If you want to slice your pork, the temperatures are much lower.

Prepare a cooler by filling it with hot water, empting and drying it thoroughly. Place the meat in the cooler, using towels to fill any empty spaces. Let the meat rest for at least 2 hours. It will continue to cook in the cooler and the collagen in the meat will continue to break down.

Un-wrap the meat, making sure you save all the juices that have accumulated in the foil. Using your hands, remove all the exterior fat and rip apart the meat. If you have cooked it properly it will be very moist and falling apart in your hands. You can also use two forks or bear paws to help shred the meat.