Chef’s Log 4 July 2008
More Lessons in Pulling Pork at Home
July 4th was the start of the long barbecue weekend and yet another unsuccessful attempt at
pulled pork, followed two days later by a more successful recovery. By now the routine is pretty
familiar. I started with a pork shoulder from Derek’s Mainline Prime. I applied applied a thick
layer of my own basic red rub. The pork sat overnight, then was grilled will hickory smoke until
I thought that it was sufficiently smoky. To help assure moistness and pullability I had a tub of
water in during the smoking, and then I wrapped it and cooked it at higher heat in mop sauce.
Finally I grilled it to obtain a crisp external char.
Everything looked great, but the pork still had far too much structural integrity, tensile strength,
and remaining well-formed collagen, depending on your training and prior academic discipline.
In other words, it would not pull. I hade once again made sliced pork, not pulled pork. When
confronted by the pork served on a bun with coleslaw and potato salad, accompanied by a good
Victory Hop Wallop Imperial IPA, it was hard to complain. With a large paper towel and
newsprint placemat, it photographed nicely. But this just was not pulled pork.
We will need to return to this shortly. But for the day I was definitely stumped.
ekc