Biggest cook yet on the GMG

[crphillips]

Its my wife's birthday tomorrow and we've got a pretty big cook going on.

8 racks of pork ribs
20 chicken thighs
5 kg pulled pork

Looking forward to it. Not had much look with pulled pork yet though. It never really wants to pull easily. I've always been a bit concerned of drying it out but I reckon I'd be best taking it to high enough temp so it pulls and not worry about it drying out? I can always add moisture back with some stock, sugar and vinegar mix once pulled?

[keith157]

Start the pork on the smoker to give it a good flavour then if you are worried about it drying out stick it in a roasting bag in the oven at about 140 till it "squishes" when pressed.
Yes you can always mix sauces and remaining juices with the pork to add moisture.

[bencops]

Honestly, if you get it to 200f internally, slowly (13hours+) it will pull. It will not dry out (assuming its a whole shoulder not something slashes to pieces and rolled by a tesco butcher)

Wrap it in foil once it reaches 170f if youre worried and it will power through the plateau.

The trick is just patience. So give yourself plenty of time, and factor in an hour to rest the pork.

[Steve]

For best texture I would say foil after the plateau, slowly creeping through is how you break down the collagen and connective tissue.

The other important factor is resting it well.

Btw I'm not saying Ben's approach is wrong, it's just my findings that tell me not to rush the pleteau.

[RobinC]

Personally I tend to go with the same method as Steve though I've had good results with Ben's approach as well. For me the key thing has always been checking for tenderness using the probe. Temp is a good guide for when to check for tenderness but I don't rely on it for determing when to pull the butt off the smoker.

[speakerwizard]

hey, how did the cook go? would love to see pics of all that together

[crphillips]

Cook went well guys.

The chicken went down a storm. Pretty much done to Dr BBQ's masterclass recipe and it was very very good! The chicken isn't finished in the photos. After the initial cooking it was dunked in Chipotle infused BBQ sauce and grilled for 15 mins.

Pork was a little tough, part of it pulled and part didn't.....I couldn't get a shoulder either so that could have been part of the problem. I could have done with another 2 hours really. Got it on too late.

Ribs were good......once again done to Dr BBQ's masterclass recipe but to be honest I've cooked better in the past.

Overall though everyone thought it was excellent even if I wasn't 100% happy with it.

Didn't get too many pics as got too stuck into drinking ginger beer and eating meat!