What's on the Grill #193: Coffee Rubbed Pulled Pork
I would say "it's that time of year for BBQ" but truthfully, I think any time of year is great for BBQ. Although it is not as much fun tending a cook when it's 20 degrees outside with snow on the ground, the rewards are always well worth the effort.
This time of year, however, it is extra nice. Hanging out around the grill for 8 hours on a warm fall day is a great excuse to take in the changing of the seasons and perhaps drink a few beers...perhaps.
When it comes to pulled pork, I usually go with a Boston Butt, but for a change of pace, I went with a pork shoulder, which sits below the Butt, which of course also isn't really a butt, but...you get the idea.
Besides my deviation with the pork cut, I also changed up my rub by adding coffee (I love coffee) and decided to use something I almost never do, a mop. For the rub, I used 2 tsps of kosher salt, cracked pepper, paprika, freshly ground coffee and 1 tsp of granulated garlic.
For the mop sauce, I used 1/2 cup of beer (Sam Adams Octoberfest...nice and sweet), 1/4 of canola oil and 1 tsp of the aforementioned rub.
The shoulder was set up on the 22 inch kettle using my modified grate and a modified minion method with the coals (chimney full of unlit and about 20 lit on top). The wood du jour: apple chunks.
With the kettle cruising along at 250 F, I let it go for about four hours before I started using the mop sauce. I mentioned before that I rarely use a mop. I find it much easier to leave the lid down and allow the pork to cook versus opening it up every hour. If you figure every time you open the lid, the cook time gets extended, it is easy to see the advantage of letting the pork remain in it's blue steel shelter.
Of course habits be damned, I mopped. Three times, during the last three hours.
In between the mops, I had a few beers. Remember, it is one of the requirements of a long cook. First up was Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo. A bottle conditioned beer aged in oak casks, it had a really fruity taste with a wonderful hint of oak. I loved it and I'm not usually in to fruity things.
I also had Dark Island from the Scottish Orkney Brewery. One word: Christmas Cake, as this was exactly what it tasted like. A low ABV, but full on flavor beer. Chock up another win.
Meanwhile, the pork finally climbed it's way to 190 degrees and off the grill it went.
So, what was the verdict? The pork was great. It was so moist, it almost pulled itself. The bark certainly held the lovely hints of the coffee rub, but I truly think the benefits of the mop were minimal. When you consider all of the lid hoisting and mop slinging, I think there is a reason I don't typically include it in my repertoire. However, one piece of that bark with the ground coffee? Very nice.
Another great end to a long day made possible by a belly fully of pork and beer. I hope to have more fall days like this, especially if it means I can go a full post and not mention all of the leaves around the backyard I need to pick up.
This time of year, however, it is extra nice. Hanging out around the grill for 8 hours on a warm fall day is a great excuse to take in the changing of the seasons and perhaps drink a few beers...perhaps.
When it comes to pulled pork, I usually go with a Boston Butt, but for a change of pace, I went with a pork shoulder, which sits below the Butt, which of course also isn't really a butt, but...you get the idea.
Besides my deviation with the pork cut, I also changed up my rub by adding coffee (I love coffee) and decided to use something I almost never do, a mop. For the rub, I used 2 tsps of kosher salt, cracked pepper, paprika, freshly ground coffee and 1 tsp of granulated garlic.
For the mop sauce, I used 1/2 cup of beer (Sam Adams Octoberfest...nice and sweet), 1/4 of canola oil and 1 tsp of the aforementioned rub.
The shoulder was set up on the 22 inch kettle using my modified grate and a modified minion method with the coals (chimney full of unlit and about 20 lit on top). The wood du jour: apple chunks.
With the kettle cruising along at 250 F, I let it go for about four hours before I started using the mop sauce. I mentioned before that I rarely use a mop. I find it much easier to leave the lid down and allow the pork to cook versus opening it up every hour. If you figure every time you open the lid, the cook time gets extended, it is easy to see the advantage of letting the pork remain in it's blue steel shelter.
Of course habits be damned, I mopped. Three times, during the last three hours.
In between the mops, I had a few beers. Remember, it is one of the requirements of a long cook. First up was Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo. A bottle conditioned beer aged in oak casks, it had a really fruity taste with a wonderful hint of oak. I loved it and I'm not usually in to fruity things.
I also had Dark Island from the Scottish Orkney Brewery. One word: Christmas Cake, as this was exactly what it tasted like. A low ABV, but full on flavor beer. Chock up another win.
Meanwhile, the pork finally climbed it's way to 190 degrees and off the grill it went.
So, what was the verdict? The pork was great. It was so moist, it almost pulled itself. The bark certainly held the lovely hints of the coffee rub, but I truly think the benefits of the mop were minimal. When you consider all of the lid hoisting and mop slinging, I think there is a reason I don't typically include it in my repertoire. However, one piece of that bark with the ground coffee? Very nice.
Another great end to a long day made possible by a belly fully of pork and beer. I hope to have more fall days like this, especially if it means I can go a full post and not mention all of the leaves around the backyard I need to pick up.
Mike Lang
