First Picnic Roast - I have a new favorite

My neighbor bought half a pig a while ago, and since providing many cooks on the egg for him and his family, we finally came to the agreement of him supplying some meat and I would cook it.  He supplied a 14.6lb Berkshire Picnic Roast.  Lots of research was done ahead of time, and with a roast like this we couldn't not have some "cracklings"


Rub we debated.  We went back and forth on doing something like a dry rub from Dizzy Pig (one of my favorite rubs) or just a simple salt and pepper with a hint of garlic powder.  The vote was for the salt and pepper (helpers included in the vote and spreading)...



We let it sit in the fridge for about 5 hours (uncovered).  Loaded up the Egg with some Rockwood Charcoal (@stlcharcoal), platesetter in with the legs up and NO smoke.  Some people/reviews stated the addition of smoke will effect the crispness of the "cracklings".  And off to the races we went.  Knowing that this would cook like a Boston Butt (1.5-2hrs/lb) I knew I was in for the long haul.  Put it on at 3:30pm on Saturday.  Have to admit, I sort of missed smelling the smoke, or even seeing some of the smoke.  But the few whiffs that I would get, I knew it was going to be good. 

Overnight, the fire almost put itself out.  Appears to have burnt straight down and not out.  Thankfully I was able to catch it in time and we stayed out of the danger zone.  After getting things back on track and cooking smoothly, the smells kept getting better and better, as well as the picnic roast looked better and better (18 hours into the cook).  Didn't take pictures before, as 1) I just wanted to let it do its things, and 2) it got dark and didn't lend itself to being photographed.



24 hours later (have not had to refill mind you), we were nearly done.  Probes were recording 185* (I was going to 195*), the color was looking great, and the smell was amazing.  Really can appreciate the meat more when you don't have the addition of smoke.


Upon reaching 195*, we took it off, wrapped in foil and tried to get the grill to get up to 500*.  Unfortunately, after 25.5 hours, the coals were finally reaching the end, and I was forced to add some additional coals.  I probably could have had the egg run for another hour or so @ 250* with what I had.  Blows my mind that we can run upwards of 26 +/- hours without having to refill.  Once the new lump was running hot, I put the plate setter back on, got the temp to 500*, and threw the picnic roast back on for about 15 min.  This helped to put a little more color on the "cracklings" as well as get them good and crispy.



Let it rest for a few minutes while the rest of the meal was prepped (summer squash and chive pancakes in the background).  Then pulled.  Haven't had pork pull like this before.  And man I haven't had this much before, either...



This was the best tasting shredded pork I have ever had.  Not sure if it was due to the length of cook, the simplicity of the salt and pepper, because it was a Berkshire or everything combined.  But man, was it good.  I am feeling sick as I type this from the amount of pork I ate.  The cracklings where amazing.  Some of the skin was too tough to eat, but the fat underneath... like candy.  This truly was one of the best cooks I have ever done.  Makes me want to go out and purchase a pig so I can get myself a picnic roast or two.  Thankfully I have leftovers for the next few days/week.