not quite the whole hog, but...

weepete

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Today I picked up a full shoulder of pork from our local butcher. It tipped the scales at 10.5kg and it's been my first attempt at smoking a hunk of meat that big.

Did a dry rub with smoked paprika, brown sugar, thyme, oregano, garic powder and onion powder. Got it in the smoker at 3pm this afternoon and after 11 hours it's nearly ready. Seems a bit quick to me (I was reconing it would take 20-24hrs) and I also recon I could have controlled the temperature a bit better. I recon my positioning on the grill was too far forward from my temp gauge and despite my homemade baffle it's been cooking at a higher temperature than I intended to be done so quick. It's pretty tasty already but just waiting now for the middle section to tip into the 180-200F range. Smoking a joint this big is s totally different prospect to the little ones of 5-6kg I'm used to though next time will be better.

Well, every day is a school day!

The Meat


Dry Rub


On the BBQ


And ready to pull!

16405645813
 
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Congratulations!

It sounds delicious!
 
Nice I smoked a turkey at thanksgiving and it turned out awesome
Where's the pictures. You eat with your eyes first
 
Yes, the heat must have been a tad bit high if a 10.5 kg piece of pork was done in just 11 hours...I'm used to smokers filled with about 30 pounds of small-cut salmon, taking 17 hours with ONLY the heat from slow-burning sawdust (about 2 lbs. of fine-cut hardwood saw dust and chips). Other heat sources, like gas, electricity, or charcoal briquets, etc.. burn pretty hot. Still...11 hours is not an overly rapid smoking/cooking time. I bet it tasted great!
 
Thanks Designer, just took it out the smoker, basted it with a little apple juice to soften the more charred bark and wrapped it to rest until it's ready to go in the fridge. I stole a wee bit and oh my god it's tasty. Had to move it carefully so as not to pull it off the bone so that bodes well. Pulled pork that has been done on a BBQ is almost impossible to get here in the UK, despite the explosion of BBQ pulled pork here on menus in resturants and peoples homes it's oven cooked most of the time. Which in my mind is slow roasted pork in a BBQ sauce.

I'd love to serve it as a whole joint and let people pull their own but I've no idea whither I could actually reheat it on the bone on the BBQ tomorrow or whither I'd be better off just pulling it in a couple of hours. The Mrs wants me to do a couple of chickens too so they will be done tomorrow and I think i can persuade her to grab a leg of lamb to try as well.

Though the priority is some Tar Heel Sauce which has been my favorite so far on pulled pork (though I add a bit of chipoltes or habenjero sauce to it for a little kick)
 
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Yes, the heat must have been a tad bit high if a 10.5 kg piece of pork was done in just 11 hours...I'm used to smokers filled with about 30 pounds of small-cut salmon, taking 17 hours with ONLY the heat from slow-burning sawdust (about 2 lbs. of fine-cut hardwood saw dust and chips). Other heat sources, like gas, electricity, or charcoal briquets, etc.. burn pretty hot. Still...11 hours is not an overly rapid smoking/cooking time. I bet it tasted great!

It was on briquetes with some hardwood logs thrown on for good measure. I did misjudge the amout of coals to put in a couple of times but the temp never got above 300F on the temp gauge on the top of the smoker so not silly or anything but improvements can always be made!
 
Thanks mate. It went down a storm as we had a few people over including some big lads with big appetites for a wee party.

Also ended up doing a couple of chickens and a leg of lamb with a cumin rub for good measure. Next time I'll need to get a big slab of beef to do as well.
 

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