Spring at Last!

We are all excited that the warmer weather has finally arrived!  Boy, what a day of warmth and sunshine can do....my early tulips that had snow on them on Tuesday sprung forth bright little red blooms and my Coral Bells and Bleeding Hearts all made their entrance into the world too!  I think spring has sprung and I couldn't be more excited!

I've had a weekend of stitching and cooking.  Grilling to be exact.  Grilling and a nice warm spring day just seem to go hand and hand, so I decided to grill some Apple Wood Smoked Pulled Pork.  It sort of is an all day thing, and you need to "babysit" the grill.  I was able to get quite a bit of stitching in, while babysitting the grill, and enjoyed the lovely weather too!

It's been awhile since I've done a recipe share, so I snapped a few pics of the process, and thougt I'd share them with you all...

 

Apple-Wood Smoked Pulled Pork

Don't have a smoker?
 Neither do I, this recipe uses the indirect heat method on a Weber charcoal kettle grill or the likes. 

Ready?  Here goes...

 

The rub...

1/4 cup paprika

3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons garlic salt

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon celery salt

 Mix spices, sugar and salt in a small bowl.  Store in an airtight container.  Will keep for up to 2 months.  This amount of rub will do two roasts.

Separate and skin garlic cloves.  I use a whole head of garlic...the more the merrier!

 Using an 8 pound bone-in shoulder roast (may be called a butt roast, too) with skin, make small cuts into roast and insert garlic cloves into cuts.   Oh yea, I'm feelin' like Martha now!!

 Using half of the spice rub, rub spices into/onto roast.  I've done this both ways.  Wrapping the roast with Saran Wrap and refrigerating overnight, or putting it on the grill right away.  Honestly, it is just as good without the resting time.

 Soak wood chips in water.   I always use apple wood, tis a nice flavor mix with the pork.  Soak chips about 20 minutes.

 The meat gets grilled, using the indirect heat method.  What that means is, you only put charcoal on one half of the grill, building up the charcoal pretty good along the side of the grill.  The meat will set on the side without the coals.

 Once the coals are glowing, add a couple good-sized handfuls of wet wood chips.  Let the smoking begin...

 Place your roast in a disposable tin cake pan, fat side up.    Add 1 1 /2 cups of water to then bottom of the pan.  Place the pan on the side of the grill, opposite to charcoals.  Place the lid on the grill, making sure that the vents are located over the meat.  This allows the smoke to roll over the the meat, as it exits the grill.

 Every hour you will add hot charcoal and more wet wood chips on top of the new charcoals. 

This gadget is really great for that...

 No peeking for the first hour...

and this is what it looks like with one hour of grilling. 

 The roast has formed and nice dark crust

 that will aid in keeping all the juices of the marbling inside of the roast.

 Continue to add fresh hot charcoals and wood chips each hour. 

It takes about 5 hours to fully cook. 

 This can depend on weather conditions, wind etc.

  Use of a meat thermometer is important.

 When a meat thermometer reaches 200 degrees, it is ready to take inside. 

 I immediately wrap the roast, tightly in tinfoil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.  This will keep all the juices inside of the meat. 

 You may be thinking 200 degrees seems too hot? 

 I know, so did I.

  Standard cooking time for most pork is 170 - 180 degrees.

  I've always cooked this recipe for 200 degrees, and it always comes out fork tender.

While the roast is resting in the tinfoil, time to make a North Carolina-Style Vinegar BBQ sauce.  This is more spunky then saucy...much thinner in consistency, then the bottled sauces we buy on the shelf at the grocery store.

  These vinegary sauces are the original American Sauces.

1 1 /2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

 Heat the vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. 

 Add the remaining ingredients and warm through.

Remove the foil from the roast.  Cut away the top "fatty skin" that is on the top of the roast and dispose....

oh, baby, are you salivating yet?

I do leave smaller amounts of the blackened spices on the meat for more flavor.

 The roast at this point will just fall apart, with the use of a couple of forks.

 Pull apart in piece sizes that best suit your tastes. 

 You can pour the sauce over the roast or serve on the side, letting each person add the amount of kick they like to their own meat.

Delicious! 
This is good served on toasted buns or just as is... and of course you can't have pulled pork without cole-slaw...mmmmmm, a match made in heaven!

 

 

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda