Pork shoulder smoking on the Big Green Egg today.
 

Today I am working from home, so I'm able to throw some pork on for pulled pork tonight. This is a 5.5lb shoulder that I threw on about 15 mins ago. :cool:

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As the BGE is new as of last Friday, this is my first real test of it's smoking ability. I'll keep you posted how it goes. :D

Oooo- the adventure begins!

Four hour update pic:

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This thing is incredibly easy to keep a constant temp on. I am absolutely impressed.

Hey no peeking!
What temp are you going to cook it to, and how are you going to serve it?
Oh, and what time should we be over for dinner?

That was the first time I opened the lid since I put it in, promise!! :D


I used a homemade rub that I put on last night. I took it out of the fridge a couple hours early this morning so it could come closer to room temp. I threw it on the BGE once the temp was over 200*. I've kept it between 225-250* all day, I'd say the average has been 240-ish.

Here in the next hour or so I will put a temp probe in it (I have a remote one so I can put it in the meat and leave it there with the lid closed) and see where it's at. My goal is to pull it off after about 8 hours. I'll wrap it in foil and let it rest for 30 mins or so, then shred it up to make pulled pork sandwiches with.

My wife likes eating hers on a bun with cole slaw heaped on top. I usually put just a small bit of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce on mine too, but it usually doesn't need it. :)

Those Kamado grills are awesome. I got to see a very large one in action at a recent demonstration. I wish I had a backyard in which I could keep one.

This one is painfully easy to keep the temps consistent. I already love it.



The shoulder is taking a bit longer than expected. To get it "barely done" it needs to be 160*. Ideal is around 190-195*. Right now it's in the upper 160s and it's been 9 hours. I could take it off if I wanted to, but I'm going to try to starve another hour or so to help it get a bit more tender. :)

---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------

Ok, I pulled it a few minutes ago. It was in the low 180s. It's now been resting for a bit over 10 mins. A touch more and I'll start pulling it and see how it is.


From seconds before I pulled it off the smoker:

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---------- Post added at 08:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 PM ----------

This stuff was freaking awesome.








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It was so most I could barely believe it. You can see there was a nice smoke ring. I sliced it against the grain and it was almost falling apart. It took no effort at all to pull it apart by hand (though my finger tips were a bit toasty!). My wife's favorite BBQ dish is pulled pork and she immediately declared it the best she'd ever had. :D Maybe she was being biased because she was starving too, but I do have to say that it was an overall success. I can't wait to do another one with even better planning and learning from this experience. :cool:

Borla,

I am enraptured! That is heavenly! Congratulations and continued good cooking with that thing.

(ps: hate to put in a "commercial plug" but I don't work for this group within our company, I'm in the industrial side of the business ...but the BBQ guys play with all sort of smokers all day for a living since they make controls to help achieve perfection. Luckily we get to eat the experiments. You might be interested to see Home

I actually came across that website this morning and saw those. Pretty interesting. I want to get some more experience with long cooking time on this thing before I decide, but I contemplated ordering one this morning. :D

If you decide to do it, before you pay full price PM me and I'll try to get you a discount

Another good thing is to go to a local cook-off competition where you might see them in action before you decide to buy.

Awesome! Thanks for the offer, if/when I get that serious I will take you up on it! An that's a good tip about seeking local competitions to check things out. :)

Save your fingers! These are the absolute best for pulling pork. My dad used to sell them at our family's hardware store. Also great for turkeys and any big roast.

Lindy

You might be interested in this: USDA Revises Recommended Cooking Temperature for All Whole Cuts of Meat, Including Pork, to 145 ºF

And this: Fattie Piston BBQ

Since I haven't had breakfast, I need to close this thread now.. it's making me too hungry.

That's actually not a bad idea.

Yeah, with pulled pork the temp is not about it being done enough to be safe, but about it being done enough to be tender and pull apart nicely. If you are going to slice it and eat it you can pull it at much lower temps. For pulling you need it nice and tender, while also making sure you don't dry it out. :)


And yes, I've been tempted to smoke a fattie as well. :lol:

Borla, the good news on the FDA thing is that the temperature they recommend has come *down*. They used to expect people to over cook their meat.

Yeah, I saw that. For smoking, that won't change anything, because you are hitting the higher temps on purpose so the meat pulls apart nicely.

For regular grilling, or most other types of cooking, that definitely impacts things. Though to be honest, I always cheated a little on pork anyway. :D