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| Smoke ring (pink) along the circumference of the meat |
My desire to buy a Weber Barbecue Grill was met with general befuddlement. There was some skepticism that I would use it. My dad told me that it's tedious to cook with charcoals and to clean up (he was not wrong). My mom said that charcoal-grilled food wasn’t healthy and that'll probably put me off using it (she was not wrong). My wife pointed out that every time that I was invited to a barbecue, I complained my way through the entire ordeal, from the heat of the outdoors, to the fumes of the burning charcoal to the waiting-about until the food was ready (she was not wrong).
But yet, I’ve decided to try anyway.
I’d been dreaming of low slow roasts. I want huge cuts of meat smoking over a fire. Succulent beef ribs and porchetta dribbling fats down over hot charcoal. I wanted fork-tender pork shoulders and roasted chestnuts over a fire during Christmas. Call me a romantic, but I wanted to live a little.
Under the 'plus' column for this sort of grilling, there’s no need to stand under the hot sun or over the burning charcoals for prolonged periods of time. In fact, there’s very little you need to do. American-style BBQ is a leisurely, hands-off type of cooking. For this recipe, I started up the grill in the morning and then went out for lunch. I returned at the four-hour mark to check on the meat, then left for a run while the meat continued cooking until about the eight-hour mark. I kept an eye on the thermometer and occasionally adjusted the air vents, but all in all, I probably spent only a few minutes standing over the grill over the entirety of the cook. I loved it. This sort of cooking is the perfect excuse to lounge around the house all day, with a cold drink in-hand, where you can read a book or to catch up on a drama.
For long hours of smoking, the Snake Method is the best way (demonstrated here by American Test Kitchen). Charcoal briquettes are lined up in a 2x2 formation along the perimeter of the grill, and one end is lit with 10 pieces of hot charcoal. In a snake made of 112 briquettes (56 briquettes at the top row and 56 at the bottom row), the briquettes slowly burn through over 7-8 hours at about 275F, and you shouldn’t need to have to mess around with charcoal anymore for the entire duration of the cook. It’s pretty ingenious.
I also enjoyed watching videos from Mad Scientist BBQ and The Dawgfatha's BBQ; the videos were full of information on basic charcoal setups and troubleshooting during smoking. You'll likewise be good to go after a few videos' worth of instructions (pick any one, they're all pretty good.)
It can be daunting to first get started. It’s a new way to cook, where heat isn’t available on demand with a flick of a switch. You’ll need specialised equipment: aside from a Weber grill, I also bought a chimney starter, a large roll of butcher paper, an ice box for resting meat (a cheap one without wheels would do. After a few cookouts, there would be a residual meat/smoke scent, and you won't be using it for other uses), disposable aluminum trays (to use as drip trays), tens of kilos of charcoal briquettes (do not use other types of charcoal for low and slow barbecue!) and a large bag of hickory wood chunks (for that lovely, lovely smoke). I also think a remote thermometer (mine came with 4 probes) is essential - it’s $40 that you spend to save $4000 in meats that you would have otherwise ruined over the course of the thermometer’s lifespan.
From here, the sky's the limit.
Smoked Pulled Pork
New to the BBQ game? Pork shoulder is a nice inexpensive cut to get start with.
Smoked Pulled Pork
New to the BBQ game? Pork shoulder is a nice inexpensive cut to get start with.
Instructions from Seared, the Ultimate Guide to Barbecuing Meat by Genevieve Taylor
Rub from The Chunky Chef
INGREDIENTS
3kg Pork Shoulder
3kg Pork Shoulder
55g (1/4 cup) light brown sugar
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (if available)
STEPS
1. Combine the dry rub in a small bowl, and then rub it over the pork shoulder. Place the pork shoulder on a rack over a baking tray, then refrigerate uncovered for 24-48 hours.
Smoking:
2. Set up the burning charcoal: Place 10 charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter, and using a fire starter, light up the charcoal briquettes. They'll start to burn and ash over in about 20 minutes.
3. Set up the Snake: Set up your grill by laying down charcoal briquettes counter-clockwise in a 2x2x28 formation (as shown in the photo above). You want 56 briquettes on the bottom row, and 56 again on the top row. Lay 3-4 wood chunks on top of the briquettes, where over the course of cooking, they'll burn and infuse your meat with smoke.
4. When the 10 burning briquettes are ready (ashed over), pour them out over the rightward end of the Snake (from where you first started building the Snake counter-clockwise). From here, the fire will slowly spread and burn through the rows of briquettes over the next 7-8 hours. Keep both the air vents at the top and bottom of the grill open all the way.
5. Place a disposable aluminum tray in the middle of the charcoal, and add about 1.5L of boiling water into the tray. This steam helps the meat cook gently, and the tray serves to catch the drippings from the pork shoulder. The drippings form a smoke-infused gravy by the end, to be poured over the pork. So handle the tray with a soot-free pair of hands.
6. Place the metal grill over the charcoal, and put the meat (fat side up) over the tray of water. Insert a meat thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat, if using. Place another meat thermometer probe on the grill surface next to the meat to measure the grill temperature. Shut the lid (positioning the top air vent on the opposite side of the burning charcoals to ensure the smoke flows over the meat as it exits the air vent), and walk away. Resist the urge to open the lid for the next 4-5 hours, until the pork reaches 160-165 F (70-75 C).* The temperature to aim for it around 260-280 F (130-140C), though sometimes it take a couple hours to reach there, especially right after I had put a huge hunk of meat from the fridge into the grill. Do not fret! Depending on the ambient temperature and the amount of the meat you're cooking, you may have to adjust the air vents a little to keep the temperature around that range. After each adjustment in the air vents, allow 15-30 minutes leeway for the grill temperature to reflect your adjustments before making further adjustments.
7. At the 160-165 F (70-75 C) mark, remove the pork, and carefully remove the tray of drippings. Wrap the pork tightly in butcher paper (or aluminium foil), and reinsert the thermometer probe (if using) by sticking it through the butcher paper into the meat. Return the pork to the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 203F / 95C, about another 3-4 hours away. Given the Snake would have burnt about midway, you would need to rotate the lid position to ensure the lid's air vents remain opposite of the burning charcoals).
8. Once the internal temperature of the pork reached 203F / 95C, remove the pork from the grill and let it rest in an ice box for an hour. If the gravy drippings in the aluminium foil is too watery, you can transfer to a saucepan and cook over the stove until it comes to a desired consistency, and keep it warm until ready to serve.
9. When ready to serve, use two forks to pull the pork apart. Mix the shredded pork into the warm gravy. Bask in the glory of your first successful smoke.
*Around the meat's temperature range of 150-170F, you may run into a phenomenon known as the 'stall': it's when the meat is cooking water off, and this water loss is cooling the meat down. It's nothing to freak out apart. When you see the thermometer probe in your meat stall around this range or perhaps even reduce in temperature, check the thermometer probe sitting on the grill. If the grill temperature is falling together with the meat temperature, you need to check on your charcoal: it's likely no longer burning and you need fresh charcoal. But if the grill temperature is still around 260-280F, then it's reassuring - the fall in temperature on the meat probe is just the stall.
4. When the 10 burning briquettes are ready (ashed over), pour them out over the rightward end of the Snake (from where you first started building the Snake counter-clockwise). From here, the fire will slowly spread and burn through the rows of briquettes over the next 7-8 hours. Keep both the air vents at the top and bottom of the grill open all the way.
5. Place a disposable aluminum tray in the middle of the charcoal, and add about 1.5L of boiling water into the tray. This steam helps the meat cook gently, and the tray serves to catch the drippings from the pork shoulder. The drippings form a smoke-infused gravy by the end, to be poured over the pork. So handle the tray with a soot-free pair of hands.
6. Place the metal grill over the charcoal, and put the meat (fat side up) over the tray of water. Insert a meat thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat, if using. Place another meat thermometer probe on the grill surface next to the meat to measure the grill temperature. Shut the lid (positioning the top air vent on the opposite side of the burning charcoals to ensure the smoke flows over the meat as it exits the air vent), and walk away. Resist the urge to open the lid for the next 4-5 hours, until the pork reaches 160-165 F (70-75 C).* The temperature to aim for it around 260-280 F (130-140C), though sometimes it take a couple hours to reach there, especially right after I had put a huge hunk of meat from the fridge into the grill. Do not fret! Depending on the ambient temperature and the amount of the meat you're cooking, you may have to adjust the air vents a little to keep the temperature around that range. After each adjustment in the air vents, allow 15-30 minutes leeway for the grill temperature to reflect your adjustments before making further adjustments.
7. At the 160-165 F (70-75 C) mark, remove the pork, and carefully remove the tray of drippings. Wrap the pork tightly in butcher paper (or aluminium foil), and reinsert the thermometer probe (if using) by sticking it through the butcher paper into the meat. Return the pork to the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 203F / 95C, about another 3-4 hours away. Given the Snake would have burnt about midway, you would need to rotate the lid position to ensure the lid's air vents remain opposite of the burning charcoals).
8. Once the internal temperature of the pork reached 203F / 95C, remove the pork from the grill and let it rest in an ice box for an hour. If the gravy drippings in the aluminium foil is too watery, you can transfer to a saucepan and cook over the stove until it comes to a desired consistency, and keep it warm until ready to serve.
9. When ready to serve, use two forks to pull the pork apart. Mix the shredded pork into the warm gravy. Bask in the glory of your first successful smoke.
*Around the meat's temperature range of 150-170F, you may run into a phenomenon known as the 'stall': it's when the meat is cooking water off, and this water loss is cooling the meat down. It's nothing to freak out apart. When you see the thermometer probe in your meat stall around this range or perhaps even reduce in temperature, check the thermometer probe sitting on the grill. If the grill temperature is falling together with the meat temperature, you need to check on your charcoal: it's likely no longer burning and you need fresh charcoal. But if the grill temperature is still around 260-280F, then it's reassuring - the fall in temperature on the meat probe is just the stall.
