World Cup Roast Pork

[Alvin129]

I wanted to make a Roast Pork Butt on my OTS so I started working on it as soon as I finished dinner last night.  I wanted to make it easy so I seasoned it with off the shelf items that are available locally to me.  First, I stabbed the pork all over and filled the cavities with generous portions of garlic.  Then I made the marinade.  I used mostly Goya products that are easiest to find.  I seasoned the pork with a little Sofrito (my mom always made it home made and she would have been pissed if she knew I used Goya.  Here is a recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sofrito/), some Adobo powder which is basically salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano, an envelope of Sazon Goya for color, some cooking wine, olive oil, and vinegar.  I rubbed this mixture all over the pork and let it sit overnight.



At around 9:30 in the morning, I started setting up my kettle.  I made a snake of 40 (10x4) Stubbs Briquettes, plus the leftovers from last night at the end of the snake.  I added some hickory chips for smoke.  In hindsight, I probably should have made a 15x6 snake as the charcoal burned out too soon and I had to add fuel.  Also, the temperature was just a little too low.




I added a pan 1/2 filled with boiling water to catch the drippings and provide some vapor



Finally I added a foil packet of hickory chips for more smoke, then placed the pork on the grill



The cover went on and I let it cook for around 5 hours.  I checked the dome temperature and it hovered around 200F.  After 5 hours it was time for a flip



I added about 20 more briquettes to the snake and another packet of smoke.  I know that it wouldn't absorb much smoke at this stage, but it smelled good.

Two and a half hours later the internal temperature reached 185F.  Time to come off the grill



I wrapped it in foil and let it rest for another 1/2 hour to let the temperature stabilize.  When the internal temp reached 190F I cut it, pulled it, and served it.

Dad had a sandwich



and I had a plate



A little Finishing Sauce on top (thank you Aawa for the recipe as I had never tried it), fried yellow plantains, white rice, and spinach.

Dinner was great.  Looking forward to more Kettle cooking next weekend.  Thank you all for the advice, information, and encouragement.

[MaxBobcat]

Nice! That plate looks great! 

[1buckie]

Perfect roast slices......uummmmmmmm!!!!!

[argentflame]

Very nice cook. Nice plating.

[eccj]

Awesome looking roast!

[Winz]

Dad's sandwich looks fantastic - now I am hungry.  Good cook!

In hindsight, I probably should have made a 15x6 snake as the charcoal burned out too soon and I had to add fuel.  Also, the temperature was just a little too low.

This surprises me - typically I have used a 3X snake resulting in 230 to 250 with all vents open.  The only difference is that I use KBB and do not use water in the pan (just an empty pan to catch drippings).  I can only assume the water really brings down the temp.

Winz

[G$]

This surprises me - typically I have used a 3X snake resulting in 230 to 250 with all vents open.  The only difference is that I use KBB and do not use water in the pan (just an empty pan to catch drippings).  I can only assume the water really brings down the temp.

Winz

I think an important but sometimes unmentioned part of the snake method is the size and manner of the lit dump.  I will get very different results from a snake cook depending on how much coal is dumped at the START, and how much of it is on, rather than next to the snake, even if the snake is built the same.  I like the snake for keeping a low temp at late stages, but for me I have found I like to kick things off with a heavy set of lit coals at the beginning to prime the pump so to speak.

[G$]

Looks fantastic Alvin!

One item you might try is forgoing the foil packet of smoke chips and just dump em in the snake like you did.  I am not usually a fan of sitting air filled packets of foil right on coals and think the burn of the wood itself is preferred.  Also, you mentioned " I know that it wouldn't absorb much smoke at this stage, but it smelled good."  Consider that a food on the grill can always be "absorbing smoke" in terms of flavor or bitterness, even if the temperature has exceeded the point where a "smoke ring" is forming.   

A little Finishing Sauce on top (thank you Aawa for the recipe as I had never tried it), fried yellow plantains, white rice, and spinach.

Dinner was great.  Looking forward to more Kettle cooking next weekend.  Thank you all for the advice, information, and encouragement.

[1buckie]

This surprises me - typically I have used a 3X snake resulting in 230 to 250 with all vents open.  The only difference is that I use KBB and do not use water in the pan (just an empty pan to catch drippings).  I can only assume the water really brings down the temp.

Winz

I think an important but sometimes unmentioned part of the snake method is the size and manner of the lit dump.  I will get very different results from a snake cook depending on how much coal is dumped at the START, and how much of it is on, rather than next to the snake, even if the snake is built the same.  I like the snake for keeping a low temp at late stages, but for me I have found I like to kick things off with a heavy set of lit coals at the beginning to prime the pump so to speak.

Exactly my thinking......helps counteract the huge lump of cold meat entering the fray & makes a good hard start to the chain so it's much less likely to falter......

i had some epic failures in '06 ~'08 & thereabouts trying to get this figured out............the nice part is, it doesn't take much practice at all for someone to get really great results on this stuff......

Water, to me, after watching endless WSM & UDS debates unfold, is more of a stabilizer as opposed to needed for lowering the temp.....past a certain point, it's boiling or steaming hard & then just adds moisture without much effect on temp change.....