We sample the pork last night for dinner.
As per usual I was late getting the smoker started, by about an hour and a half.
Needless to say an hour difference, even after 7 hours of cooking means quite a bit. The pork we ate last night was definitely tasty, but the texture wasn't quite right. It wasn't just falling apart like it should, the meat was still more steak like and less pulled pork like.
Luckily, the big pork shoulder I bought came in two pieces. I had left the other piece in the oven to finish cooking for an hour and change. At first I was just going to let it sit in there for another 30 minutes or so. However, after cutting into the first one I decided it was better to leave it in a little longer.
And from the looks of it when I was packing it up into bags to put into the fridge, it definitely was falling apart. Perfect.
Oh yeah, I changed up the way I was cooking it.
I did about 4 hours in the smoker. Then I wrapped the meat in foil and moved it to the oven, I set the oven for about 275 degrees. The first hunk of meat came out of the oven after about 3 hours. The second hunk of meat came out after about 5.
Why did I do this?
1. With the temperature being about 50 F out, it is harder to keep the smoker at a consistent temperature.
2. With it drizzling (light sprinkling) it is even harder to keep the smoker at a consistent temperature.
3. After you wrap the meat in foil, the burning of wood and coal is really just a heat source, your not gaining any benefit of the smoke it produces. It is effectively an outdoor oven. And since it is cold out, using the oven in the kitchen actually warms up the house to a normal level. Whereas in the summer, using the oven in the kitchen makes the house uncomfortably warm.
I would have to say that it turned out pretty good. John enjoyed it, as did Gina. If they could have held out for another hour (or had I been able to wake up an hour earlier) the first hunk of meat out of the oven would have been magnificently perfect vs pretty good.
I think I might start trying to work on a good brisket next.
Back to the grind.
Laterz
