Pulled Pork!

I volunteered to bring some Pulled Pork to a gathering a buddy had for his mom. I said this, even though I had never done pulled pork. I had always done ribs. But I figured, no time like the present. So off to the WWW to find out about the "right" way to cook pork. The it was off to the cookbook cabinet to see what the champs had done. I found that 98% of Pulled Pork is just done with rub. The other 2% use injectors. I went with the rub only. I went to Safeway and found two bone-in Pork Shoulders, at 8 lbs each. So for my first cook, I went with 16 lbs of pulled pork. Usually I have my meat rubbed and left overnight, but I had issues the night before. I rubed and massaged the meat, and left it for 4 hours. For years, I have been using Willighams rubs, which has worked for me. It is also what I had.
I filled the egg to the fire-ring, and got the Stoker set up, and the egg lit. The experts think that about 1.5 - 2 hours per pound. So we were ready for the long haul.


The stoker worked like magic. 225 for 19 hours. I realized I had set up the fire wrong. Not wrong per say, but not a long haul fire. It about 1:00 and we were out on the deck enjoying some company and I hadn't seen smoke in some time. I had some help lifting the grate and moving my chunks of mesquite around. That fixed the problem. Or at least until the end when the grate gets a bit clogged up. That was an easy fix. So I went to bed and got some sleep just as the pork was hitting it's platou or 160 degrees. That when the fat and collagen start to break down and its becomes pull- able pork. I woke up and the temp was at 177 degrees. I wanted 195, but eventually, it hit 185 degrees.



Oh, what a site. The smell and the look. It was fantastic to see. I pulled them off the Egg, and rolled them in foil for an hour. I pulled them and they were juicy and tender, melt in your mouth. A few of my neighbors came over and had a chunk. They loved it. I made some sauce and took it over to my buddies house. They loved it. It was a big hit!



Of course I forgot to take a picture of what everything looked like after it was pulled. But it was beautiful. The coolest thing was that after one load, 19 hours, this is the fuel that was left. Amazing.