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You will also need a vertical-style water charcoal smoker, a bag of charcoal, 5 pounds of your preferred wood chunks (soaked for 30 minutes in advance), a chimney starter, a roll of aluminum foil and a pastry brush.
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Check out my blog post for photos to guide you along!
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First things first, get that smoker ready and started.
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That way you can prep your pork rub and pork mop while you wait for the smoker to reach an ideal temperature.
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Create a ring of black charcoal in the charcoal pan leaving the middle open/empty.
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This leaves room for the hot charcoals in the centre, which will speed up the rising in temperature.
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The unlit charcoal will eventually be ignited by the coals in the centre, which gives you a long and steady burn and prevents you from having to add more charcoal later.
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To heat up the other charcoal, for the center, use a chimney starter.
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Roll up some newspaper and press it into the bottom of the starter, in ring-form, following the shape of the starter.
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Dont over-stuff the bottom with newspapers.
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Flip the starter back to its proper position and fill it to the brim with coals.
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Light the paper through one of the slits at the bottom of the starter.
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Let the coals burn up.
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Once they are white, dump them into the middle of the charcoal pan.
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Make sure you wear protection (on your hands) and avoid flying ashes.
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Things get pretty heated!
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After dumping the hot coals into the centre of the charcoal pan, place the soaked wood chunks around the coals.
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Close up the smoker and fill the water basin to approximately 3/4 full.
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Place the grate down, cover, and let the smoker get to the ideal temperature (approximately 275 F).
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While you wait for the smoker to heat up, prep the meat, the rub, and the mop.
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Once the smoker has reached the ideal temp, place your prepared meat on the grate, cover, and smoke away.
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The first two mops are done approximately every hour and a half.
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After that, its good to mop it every hour or so.
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There really are no hard set rules, but this is how we roll.
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Prepare the rub by mixing all of the ingredients listed above under Pork Rub in a bowl.
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Then distribute it evenly over the pork, pressing down to secure the spices.
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Now, make that mop!
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Just mix all of the ingredients listed under Pork Mop in another bowl.
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Then smell it.
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Trust me.
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Its wonderful.
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Set it aside.
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Place the pork on the grill and get excited.
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And again, dont forget to mop!
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This will keep the meat moist and juicy.
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You dont want it to dry out.
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Once you start getting a nice bark on the outside, wrap the pork in aluminum foil, and put it back on the grate.
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This helps to maintain moisture.
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Additionally, it will help get your internal temperature to the desired 190 F. There is a point where the internal temp may remain the same for a while (this is called the stall), and wrapping the pork in aluminum foil will help you get past that point.
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This method is sometimes referred to as the Texas Crutch.
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Once the meat is done (190 F), remove it from the smoker, and put it in a large roasting pan.
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Let it rest for an hour.
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After its all nice and rested, shred away!
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Keep it in the roasting pan as you shred to keep the juices from dripping away.
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Once the shred is complete, sprinkle some kosher salt over the meat and mix it all up.
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This mixes in the salt, and all of that rendered fat and delicious flavour.
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You can serve pulled pork on a nice fresh bun, or on a plate all on its own because its just that delicious.
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Hopefully this entry has been useful to any aspiring meat smokers out there.
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Its definitely an art, and something worth perfecting if you enjoy it like we do.
