| When I first started writing recipes for my web site | | | | it, who doesn't like a nice piece of crackling? |
| Barbecue Smoker Recipes I received a lot of | | | | Pork shoulder is the most commonly used joint |
| questions about "pulled pork" and how best to | | | | because the long cooking could dry out some cuts |
| prepare it. Living in the UK I'd never heard of pulled | | | | but shoulder is quite a fatty joint therefore providing |
| pork so it presented me with a great opportunity to | | | | a natural baste. During the long cookout most of the |
| do some exploring and further my barbecue | | | | fat will dissolve but most importantly it's this long |
| education. | | | | cooking process that breaks down the tough fibrous |
| Pulling pork sounds like an extremely strenuous | | | | connective tissue called collagen that tenderizes the |
| business but it's not, it's simply down to a gentle, | | | | meat so making it easy to "pull" apart. |
| slow cooking process that makes it ideal for the | | | | Using a meat smoker for pulled pork does add a |
| meat smoker although many a good pulled pork has | | | | certain smoked flavour to the job that you're not |
| been rustled up in a slow cooker or a traditional oven. | | | | going to get from an oven but during this long |
| Pulled pork is so called because of the way that it is | | | | cooking process (about 90 minutes per pound of |
| served up. As it says, it's literally been pulled apart. | | | | meat) it's sometimes difficult to keep the smoker |
| Nowadays it can be served chopped or shredded | | | | going long enough at a stable temperature to finish |
| (although traditionalist would probably shun this) but | | | | cooking. It's also arguable whether the smoker adds |
| one thing remains true and that is the final | | | | any more flavour after the first 5 hours and that's |
| presentation - in a bun with barbecue sauce and a | | | | why many folks will complete the second half of the |
| coleslaw side. | | | | cooking process wrapped tightly in foil in a |
| Pork is a very traditional meat that's been around a | | | | conventional oven, especially when doing a large joint. |
| long time. In Europe for example, pigs have always | | | | When the pork is finally done, it needs to rest for 60 |
| been available because they eat anything and that | | | | minutes and then it should be ready for pulling apart |
| makes them easy to rear particularly through the | | | | and once pulled it can then be warmed a little if |
| long harsh winters. In America it's the pig or hog's | | | | required. I find that the eating the pulled pork cold |
| hardy nature that allowed it to survive in more | | | | really highlights the smoked flavour but of course this |
| extreme surroundings than cattle. It's this fact that | | | | is personal preference. The great thing I like about a |
| has made pork such a popular staple in the American | | | | pulled pork recipe is that in the end the flavour can |
| South where the years ago the first settlers found | | | | vary so much simply by one's choice of barbecue |
| that their cattle perished and the hogs happily thrived. | | | | sauce yet to a traditionalist this is an endless source |
| The pig is also popular because nearly every part of | | | | of debate. Long may these arguments continue! |
| the animal can be eaten, even the skin, and let's face | | | | |