First time out: Pulled Pork

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Our first eggsperience with the egg was pulled pork. As I posted earlier, the fire went out a couple of times. After the second relight, the temp went up to 250-260 and I couldn't get it to come down. Any ideas there? I had 1-2 columns of holes showing on the lower vent and the daisy wheel almost closed. I had hooked up the Maverick earlier and the temp of the pork started climbing about a degree every 10 minutes. Weird that when it hit 195 (I had the Mav set to alarm at 196), it held there for a while. I checked a few other places with the Thermapen and it was in the 190's.

Here's the done pork. Ignore the scrunched up drip pan, it worked. BTW, do most of you put liquid in the drip pan? I heard some sizzling a few times.

This was around 3:15, 15 hours total cook. We brought it in, foiled it and put in a cooler with a bunch of newspaper for a couple of hours. My wife then convinced me to put it back in the egg, which was at around 180. Right before dinner, we brought it in to pull. Limes in the background were for some small margaritas to drink while pulling.

We put it in with some Twin Anchors Zesty Sauce to heat up. Twin Anchors is an AMAZING rib restaurant 75+ years old in Chicago. They filmed the movie Return to Me there a few summers ago. Not too big; hours wait on a summer Saturday night. OT, I know.

Here's dinner. Alien Ale is from Sierra Brewing in New Mexico. Had a case shipped up; not available locally.

Amy's cole slaw was great. She used a recipe from about.com: Country-Style cabbage slaw. Recipe is for 12-14: 1 cup light sour cream, 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 c white wine vinegar, 2 Tblsp sugar, 1 Tblsp celery seed, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 5 cups shredded green cabbabe, about 1.5 lbs, 4 cups shredded red cabbage, about 1 lb, 4 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced diagonally, 2 medium carrots, coarsely grated.

Overall, I enjoyed it, even waking up at 3 am and 5:30 am. Amy thought it was too much work and kind of a hassle, but in the end had to admit it was pretty tasty. Our son chowed the pork, so that was good.

I hope it was my poor initial fire construction. The food was awesome, to me. I've got some leftover pork, too with a lot of bark.

We're gonna do some stuff that doesn't take so long, like a vertical chicken. I still want to do a brisket; I'm on vacation Aug 16-24 and staying home; maybe then. Our son wants to do ribs, too.

I'm envious of all of you who make it look so easy and tasty. I'm gonna keep at it.

Jeffersonian · August 2008

Cooking a butt at 250* dome is just about right, BTW. That will put the grate temp at around 200-220, just what you need to get the meat to its finished temperature of 195-205*.

Go ahead and pull that bark with the rest of the butt...guys and gals work hard to make it yummy, so make sure everyone knows what you put into it.

BHE1 · August 2008

That looks really good. I did my first pork butt this weekend too; it took a little longer than I planned but turned out great. How did you so much bark on that bad boy?

AZRP · August 2008

I don't know what dome temp you were trying for but if you had 250-260, you had it nailed and no reason to try to bring it down. -RP

Egglicious · August 2008

Great job on your first Butt. Your cook temp of 250 is just right. If you dont want to have to wake up or stay up all night invest in a Digi-Q, I finally broke down and bought one and love it.

js

Jupiter Jim · August 2008

You should be proud of your first cook, I think you did a great job.
You chose quite a task for your first cook and your wife is right it is a good bit of work.
I do put water in the drip pan and now cook 4 buts at the same time. I vacpack most of it and then just heat and eat any time I want pulled pork. It takes the same amount of time to do 4 as 1.
I enjoy all of it and like to stay up most of the night watching TV, Snoozing, Have a few adult beverages and most important reading the forum check from Spring Chicken hot of the press.
Happy Eggin Jim

BENTE · August 2008

that looks great!!!

the drip pan is always dry for my pulled pork (at least in the beginning) but it is important to have one

i did some one time and did not use a drip pan

that is the last time i had that gasket...

after the pork was done i decided i wanted a steak that night and decided to "clean" the egg out with a hi temp burn.. well the grease caught on fire and i melted the gasket... since then i have been a drip pan type of guy

brisket was a big problem for me

here was my first

dry as a bone

here was my 5th one

verry good i use that technique often i found it here

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/brisket.html

been very good since alot of useful info on that page

good luck!!!!!!

Mike in Abita · August 2008

That looks awesome.

I wish my first butt turned out that good. Mine went in to the trash. Too long in the danger zone. You will learn, like will all did. Just keep on cooking.

deepsouth · August 2008

that looks awesome! first time? fantastic.

can you tell me more about that beer as well?

Crimsongator · August 2008

Looks like you pulled out a good butt. Things will get easier as time goes by.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

No idea, but I just had some cold bark from the frig--I hope I don't finish it tonight. glad yours was a success, too.

We used a rub called Char Crust

At the end, the dome temp was 250-260*, but the bark was already there.
Beginner's luck, probably best reason.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Next time I'm gonna let it go to 200*; hopefully I'll be able to stay at or just below 250* dome.
Yeah, the bark is tasty.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

I guess I got grate temp and dome temp confused. When you're starting out, there's so much info.

I didn't hook up the Maverick grate monitor; I figured I'd just monitor the dome. I was checking it like crazy, so I didn't need any alarms. Except, of course, the two times the darn fire went out.

Is it normal for the last 20* (175-195 today) internal temp to go kind of fast? Then it seemed to stop at 195*

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Yeah, I love my beauty rest. Will probably get the DQ. It's electric, right? I've got an outlet right next to my egg.
Thanks about letting me know the dome temp was right.

AZRP · August 2008

Yes, once it gets through the plateau, it will move up pretty quickly. -RP

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Yeah, I got S. Chicken's post fresh. Had a little Pappy 15 bourbon, but I had 2 martinis and 2 glasses of wine earlier Sat night, so I was feeling fine.

I told my wife that the thing to do is invite people over for mid afternoon for beverages, appetizers, snacks, TV, talk and whatever. The adult beverages would keep everyone relaxed (especially her) while the food cooks.

Then, when the food's done, it's dinner time.

What size egg that you can do 4? What does each weigh? I'm gonna go for a larger one next time, like 7 lbs.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Hard for me to tell. What size egg?
Are your butts tied? Mine was. (No joke)

That's amazing that you can cook all that at once.
You're running 4 sensors, too? Wow!
They look tasty.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

good to know that was supposed to happen.
the physical chemistry of cooking, I guess.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

I had the beer a few years ago at a restaurant in Santa Fe, NM called Cowgirl. Now that I think about it, it was a southwestern bbq place. I bought a hat and on the back it says, "We smoke it right."

Anyway, I liked the beer. The name just refers to the story about UFO's landing in Roswell, NM. I probably tried it because the tap handle was an alien. Same reason I tried Rogue Dead Guy Ale; the tap handle was a skeleton. Alien is an amber ale. I couldn't find it in Chicago. This summer, I kept thinking about it and called Cowgirl to find out who brewed it. It's Sierra Blanca Brewery. I called them and talked to Sue (I think). They shipped me a case; I think the beer was $12 and shipping was $24. I'm enjoying it. Here's the link:

http://www.sierrablancabrewery.com/our_beers.html

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

What's the danger zone? And why is too long in it so bad?

Jupiter Jim · August 2008

I have a Lg with the adjustable rig that allows two butts on each level and drip pan on the pizza stone that is on a spider. Check out the Egg Accessories and you can see what I'M using. I think they are around 7-8# each.
Jim

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Thanks. I hope it gets easier.

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Definitely worth making as much as you can if all you have to worry about is the temp of the egg. More efficient.

What do you think is better for my medium? One large butt, like 8-9 lbs would probably fit. Or 2 5 pounders?

It's like a big chat room around here. Fast responses. Lots of info. I appreciate it.

Beanie-Bean · August 2008

Good job on the pork butt. Keep checking out the cooks you like, and ask about the setup (direct/indirect/raised/etc) dome temps, finishing temps. That's what I was doing during my "experimentation" phase of BGE cooking. Shoot, I still conduct experiments

deepsouth · August 2008

Egg-on-Medford wrote:

I had the beer a few years ago at a restaurant in Santa Fe, NM called Cowgirl. Now that I think about it, it was a southwestern bbq place. I bought a hat and on the back it says, "We smoke it right."

Anyway, I liked the beer. The name just refers to the story about UFO's landing in Roswell, NM. I probably tried it because the tap handle was an alien. Same reason I tried Rogue Dead Guy Ale; the tap handle was a skeleton. Alien is an amber ale. I couldn't find it in Chicago. This summer, I kept thinking about it and called Cowgirl to find out who brewed it. It's Sierra Blanca Brewery. I called them and talked to Sue (I think). They shipped me a case; I think the beer was $12 and shipping was $24. I'm enjoying it. Here's the link:

http://www.sierrablancabrewery.com/our_beers.html

thanks for the info!

prost

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

thanks to everyone. Hope the info helps other novices, too. The more info in one place, the better.

So, I've learned 250* dome was right.
I still gotta learn how to make a fire that lasts.
DigiQ could be in the future.

What's the danger zone? What is too long in it and why is it so bad?

BTW, my margarita recipe: 4 oz premium tequila (Don Julio Reposado), 3 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, 2 oz Gran Torres or other orange liqueur, 1 oz simple syrup. Shake in cocktail shaker (imagine that) filled with ice and serve "up".

I keep a bottle of simple syrup in the frig. I did a blind tasting of Gran Marnier, Cointreau, Gran Torres. Very different tastes. There are some others, too. I use one of these to squeeze the limes, very efficient.

BENTE · August 2008

4 10 pounders!!

and no they were not tied they were bone in, which is the only way i buy them

Mike in Abita · August 2008

OOOOH. Now I'm sticking my nose out.

Let's see Danger Zone. For meat produsts to be stored properly and with a minimal risk to anyone, you should keep the either below 40 deg or above 140 deg. This transition through this zone should take no longer than 4 hours. On a roast like butt, your risk of bacterial contamination on the surface of the meat. As long as the surface temp remains above 140 the risk is minimal. There is a lot of information about this topic and I am not even up to novice on this information. Please see the attached link and hopefully this will explain it.

http://www.metrokc.gov/health/foodsfty/foodtemps.htm

First time out: Pulled Pork

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