Cooking Pulled Pork for 20+

We recently hosted a farewell party for a co-worker of mine, so we had my entire office over to the house.  Not everyone could make it, but we still ended up with about 23 people total.  It ended up being a rainy day, so what was supposed to be outdoor entertaining ended up being indoor entertaining.  The house wasn’t too cramped, but I think the 9 kids felt a little confined.  It had been a rough week, so I wanted to go with a simple menu and when it comes to feeding a large group, I don’t think you can get more bang for your buck than doing pulled pork.  We provided the pork, beans and beer, the guests brought sides and desserts.  I recommend the same model for any gathering.

I bought two 10lb boneless pork shoulders from Costco.  I rinsed them off and patted them dry before applying the rub.  With the boneless pork shoulder, you have to dry it very thoroughly because when you remove the bone, it forms lots of cavities where water can hide.

I used the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00EDQASI6″ locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Pork Barrel BBQ All American Seasoning & Rub.[/easyazon_link] I am a big fan of this rub, it really transforms during the cooking process into something that is slightly sweet with just a hint of heat.  I can’t recommend it highly enough, I got mine at Sam’s Club, but I am excited to see that it is available on Amazon since it is no longer available at my Sam’s.

I put the shoulders in the fridge overnight to dry out and to absorb the flavor.  I woke up the next morning about 0445 and fired the grill up with my torch.  I set up my Kamado with my Tip Top Temp and dialed it in for ~225.  I put my smoking stone on and used the second shelf to get the pork away from the heat source.  I soaked about ¾ cup of apple wood chips in some water while the grill came up to temp.  I threw the wet wood chips directly onto the lump and  got the meat on the grill at about 0515.

The grill tended to run a little hot for a majority of the cook, ~250 or so (it is easy enough to dial down, but I was away from the house so didn’t see that I had programmed the Tip Top Temp too high), but pork shoulder is very forgiving and otherwise the cook went great.  I find with my Kamado and the humid air in Hawaii, I don’t have to mop my meat, I don’t have to do injections, and if I leave it alone to do its thing, I get the perfect bark.  I took the meat off about 1430, a half hour before guests arrived.  I removed the meat  at an internal temperature of 195, assuming it would climb a bit as it rested.  It wasn’t bad, but pulling it wasn’t as easy as I would have liked, I could have left in on the grill for another half hour.

All in all though, it was a very successful cook, the pork turned out amazing and there were enough leftovers for me to send everyone home with a meat satchel!  I really feel like I have dialed in my pork shoulder and the Tip Top Temp and the Pork Barrel rub are key ingredients.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at Cody at Backyardmovies.net.

 

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