Pulled pork

[WDH]

I have a simple kettle grill so temp control is a challenge.  I brine the pork butt the night before then apply the rub or if not brined, I rub it and leave in the fridge the night before like machinebuilder.  I have a simple kettle grill so what I find that works extremely well is to put a modest amount of charcoal all on one side and add the smoking wood chunks of my choice (cherry, pecan, and white oak are my favorites) and let the butt smoke on the grill with low heat for 2 hours.  The key here is low heat and lots of smoke.  After 2 hours, the meat has all the smoke that it needs, and then I take the butt off and put it in the crock pot (similar to Stavebuyers approach) with NO added liquid and let it cook on low for 8 hours.  After that it is so tender that I simple shred it in the crock pot with two forks.  It has just the right amount of smoke flavor, the liquid in the crock pots gives the meat the perfect moistness, and I did not have to babysit a simple kettle grill for hours. 

The key is to avoid using too much charcoal in the beginning and getting the grill too hot and to make sure that you have good smoke for the initial 2 hours on the grill.  As long as there is good smoke and the temp is not over 300 degrees on the grill, you are good.  The long slow low temp cook in the crock pot produces the perfect tenderness. 

[kantuckid]

I know it's insulting to the purists but as btulloh said throw a Boston Butt into the crock pot and hit start. I shred it after about 6-8 hours, sprinkle a little extra dry rub and let it simmer some more. May not win the cookoff but as good or better than most roadside stands.

Thats sort of what I do. Last week, I started a brisket on my charcoal grill, tending it closely for an hour or so while marinating with water and my dry rub used overnight. Thats get my smoke job and also colors up the outside of the cut. With pulled pork it matters less but the smoke off wood and charcoal doesn't happen in a crockpot.  I then brought in inside placed in a baking dish and slow cooked for several hours under highly controlled slow oven temps that are not possible to have on my small charcoal outfit.
The BGE's allow fine degree of control but also cost a bunch. 
I bury my wet smoke wood chunk/s down inside the pile of charcoal formed in a pyramid to light.

[aigheadish]

Interesting notes, thanks fellas. I'll have to try again sometime with some of the lessons learned here. I've just learned of a fish market nearby that is supposed to have really good stuff. Maybe I'll try that next. 

[Machinebuilder]

I often see comments about the BGE cost.

yes the are not inexpensive, BUT I've had mine for at least 20 years.
I know people that replace cheap gas grills every couple years.

so I think I paid about $1000 for my BGE and some accessories, that's about $50/ year.

If I didn't have the BGE I would use a Weber kettle grill or a PK Grill.

Aigheadish, be careful grilling fish, it will cook fast and dry out, to smoke it properly I think you need an electric smoker.

[Raider Bill]

I had a bge years ago, it walked off while I was in tenn.
I liked it although there's is a learning curve.
I use my weber kettle for any grilling needing done.

[kantuckid]

I often see comments about the BGE cost.

yes the are not inexpensive, BUT I've had mine for at least 20 years.
I know people that replace cheap gas grills every couple years.

so I think I paid about $1000 for my BGE and some accessories, that's about $50/ year.

If I didn't have the BGE I would use a Weber kettle grill or a PK Grill.

Aigheadish, be careful grilling fish, it will cook fast and dry out, to smoke it properly I think you need an electric smoker.

We visited an Alaskan Salmon Bake, located outside Junea, AK for supper on night. They cooked only salmon a wood fire pit as "Bakes" do. 
I have never had salmon I liked in a restaurant (fishy!) but that was an exception. Yes, I love most fish and salmon patties. 
 Honestly, it reminded me of a grilled pork chop. Definitely not dry as they marinated the fish. 

[Ianab]

You guys are putting me to shame. 

I do mine in the slow cooker. Seasoned up as usual, with an onion / bbq / stock and then just leave it alone for 10 hours. Might be cheating, but it's easy, and it tastes GOOD. 

[aigheadish]

Obviously off the pulled pork topic but I got a couple swordfish steaks and a couple slabs of cod from the local "expensive" market, not the fish market I spoke of above. The swordfish was quite expensive at about 30 bucks a pound and I think the cod was like 16 bucks or so. I don't know prices on stuff like this and both claimed to be wild caught or some other PR lingo that I read as more expensive than normal.

I did some very simple garlic, butter, olive oil, dill or oregano marinades for a few hours. On the grill, they were both very tasty. Both cooked nicely but the swordfish really was like a steak, it held together nicely and grilled beautifully. The cod cooked a bit less nicely but I took it off the grill a bit on the rare side, to let it finish cooking off the heat. Quite good, now I'll have to look for swordfish more often.

I also just bought a vacuum sealer that is supposed to show up today, I'm really looking forward to that for sucking the marinades into the meats! Woop!

[Raider Bill]

What type of sealer?

I bought a chamber sealer about a year ago. I like it for everything but liquids.

Kept wearing out the food saver types but still use one for the wet bags.

[aigheadish]

Looks to be some crap from China, low-end of the price range, company called Geryon. Looking at my tracking though it's gone from delivering today to delivering on the 12th, and upon going to the product page it's saying it's currently unavailable. I'm thinking maybe I should cancel it and get a different one. Now that you mention the liquid part maybe I need to refine my search anyway. I didn't think about or know the part where it may not be useful for the marinades I'd like to infuse in my foods... I'm not sure what type I want.

This one has a hose coming off it that you can attach to what I assume is a proprietary container, I don't know if that'd be useful.

Edit- Canceled the first one and got this one instead. Similarly inexpensive and if I determine I need something better because I've used this one to pieces then I'll be ok with that. Supposed to show up tomorrow.

[Raider Bill]

You will be able to do liquids with that. Just hold the bag lower than the machine.
Mine, the bag lays on it's side so much more that a few cups and it leaks.

This is the one I bought.
VEVOR Commercial Vacuum Sealer System Food Saver Sealing Machine Chamber Packing 7437136048898 | eBay

It works great for dry bags.

[aigheadish]

I was hoping that just letting the bag hang off the counter would do that, thanks.

Your machine looks pretty fancy! After reading around a little it looked like the chamber ones were good for liquids... I guess I'm misunderstanding? 

[Raider Bill]

It works but the bag lays flat so you can only have about a inch of liquid before it leaks out.

[Raider Bill]

I had to freeze som sauce so I took these pix to show how shallow my chamber vac pak is.
It draws solids down , tight and quick but I still have to use the food saver for large amount liquids.


 


 

[aigheadish]

I got my sealer running yesterday. She blanched some corn on the cob and vacuumed it up to stick in the freezer. I didn't think, until right this second, that I should have experimented with a bag by tossing some butter in with it... The sealer seems to work pretty well but I'll need to mess with it a bunch more. 

[K-Guy]

For the last couple weeks reading this has made me want to make pulled pork and this weekend I did. I  bought a refurbished small smoker for  $68 several years ago and this weekend it died, so on the grill it went. Not the best but good but now I have a good reason to get a new one.

[caveman]

I smoked a few (16) butts on Friday while 50 lbs of potatoes (I used less garlic salt than those I brought to the project), green beans and baked beans were on the grill.  The picture of the butts was after about 4 1/2 hours and right before they were wrapped/panned.  The bones fell out and they pulled just right.  We had our annual FFA banquet Friday evening.


 

We had a couple of pans of pork left over.  We will feed the kids who passed industry certification tests one day next week.

Next Saturday I'll be cooking for my youngest daughter's graduation party.  I'll probably do some ribs, butts and Baptist birds along with potatoes, beans and maybe squash.

[newoodguy78]

Impressive grill, I like it. The food looks delicious.
Gotta ask what’s a baptist bird?

[caveman]

Chicken.  Baptists like to eat, and the ones I've been around like to eat chicken, especially if its fried.  

[K-Guy]

Mine must be the devils spawn then as I don't know any Baptists around here!!