Pulled Pork - Direct First?

BluesnBBQ

I have an idea that might make pulled pork on the Egg even better. For the first hour or two, put your butt or picnic directly on the grill (no ceramic mass, no drip pan) and let it smoke. It's probably a good idea to turn it at least once. Then, take it out, set up whatever indirect method you're used to, and cook it the rest of the way like that. [p]I can see two advantages to this: 1) a possible stronger crust and 2) flavor from the fat dripping on the coals. I don't think there would be any major flareups if you did it this way. There probably wouldn't be much fat dripping during the first couple of hours, and when you cook slow 'n low on the Egg there are generally no flames (just hot coals), so the fat would probably just sizzle and smoke a little.[p]I almost always do ribs direct, and I never have any flareup problems.[p]I'll probably try this method this weekend (I'm doing some pulled pork for a friend's party). I'll post my results.[p]-Steve[p]ps - I got the idea for this from a recipe in "Smokestack Lightning." This recipe calls for a butt smoked directly over the coals with no rub, for an hour. Then you salt both sides and turn it every 15-20 minutes. That's a little bit too much work for me, considering I usually cook pulled pork for 16-20 hours!

sprinter

BluesnBBQ,[p]Sounds interesting. I would question whether or not the crust that develops during that first couple of hours would stand up to the rest of the cook indirect. Seems like it would become softer again as the fats and juice of the butt basted it during the indirect portion of the cook. I agree with the rest of the idea though. Give it a shot, I'll be interested to see how it comes out.[p]Troy