Today’s blog entry is from a frequent reader and commenter, Todd Jurjevic.  This is a true guest blog entry, going over his first attempt at pulled pork!
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Several weeks ago I got the brilliant idea to do a big cook for the big game.  For all of you non-Buckeyes the big game I am referring to is OSU Vs Texas.  Now I am fairly new at barbecuing.  I have done Ribs, Turkey, Chicken and even Brisket, all achieving good success.  This was the big game and I wanted to attempt something big.  After some discussion, mainly with Curt, I decided on pulled pork.  After a couple frantic e-mails to Curt, to which he always responded, I felt a little more confidence that I could pull off pulled pork.  However, it did turn out to be a learning experience. 

Lesson number one: Do not assume that the butcher will have your cut of
meat.  Let me clarify this a little.  I have been in this store several
times and they always have the Boston Butt cut available and I assumed
this would be the case on Friday the night before the cook.  I assumed
wrong, apparently I was not the only one with this brilliant idea.  Now
if this were Texas or the Carolinas I would understand not having the
meat but Ohio?  Most people in Ohio do not even know what the actual
term of barbecue means.  Fortunately they did have the picnic roast.  I
purchased their last two.

Preparation was fairly simple.  I first removed the skin from the
roast.  My wife did not like to see this part, but she forgot about it
by the time it came off the Char-griller.  Then I rubbed it down with
Bad Byron’s Butt Rub.  I then mixed the rub in some pineapple juice and
injected the meat.  I was finished with this at 11:00 Friday night.
Which brings me to lesson number two.

Lesson number two: When waking up at 2:30am to start a cook do not stay
up until midnight the night before.  This especially comes into play
when the big game does not start to 8:00pm the next day.  It makes for
a long day and a lot of yawning.

I put the pork on at about 3:30 Saturday morning.  I had the
Char-griller at approximately 250 degree at the grate.  The pork’s
internal temperature start to rise fairly quickly.  This prompted
another panic e-mail shot off to Curt.  (Sorry for all the frantic
e-mails Curt)  My guests were not coming over to eat until 6:00 and it
was 11:00am and all ready at 160 degrees.  What do I do?  I knew it
should hit a plateau but would it last to 5:00?  Curt gave me a couple
options and lesson three came into play.



Lesson number three: Trust your instincts.  I have done some cooks and
knew the meat will hit a plateau.  I also know that you can take it off
the smoker wrap it in foil and put into a cooler with towels will keep
it for several hours.  But I panicked, and it took Curt to help me put
two and two together.

I ended up taking the meat off about 3:30, wrapped and put into the
cooler.  About 5:30 I removed it from the cooler and began to pull it.
It was hot to the touch and fell off the bone.  I do not have bear
claws, so I had to improvise with two serving forks.  My wife sampled,
and her eyes popped out of her head.  She loved it.  The guests came
and it was a big hit.  I made my sandwich with Curt’s Javaque sauce,
and all I can say is WOW! 
We did have plenty left over which was good
because everyone wanted to take some home, and I get some for lunch
yum! 

It turned out to be a great day.  I got to play with fire, and the
Buckeyes won.  For my next cook, if I remember what I learned from this
one, it should go much smoother.  Which means I will not have to bug
Curt with all the questions.  I recommend that anyone in the area of
Curt’s cooking class to try to attend.  He knows what he is doing and
has the patience to help someone out that is learning.  Thanks to Curt
for all the help and to my wife who embraces my crazy passions of
smoking meat and Buckeye Football.