So it now sits in the fridge, with a rub of brown sugar, some pepper (ancho, chili), and a bit of coriander, awaiting for the morning. Assuming I wake up in time, I’m thinking of giving it a good sear (is the bark/brown mentioned above a relative of our good friend Maillard?) in an onion/garlic oil base of the cast iron DO. Once I’ve got a nice crust, I’m setting it in a bit of Brooklyn Lager, throwing in a few more onions for luck, setting the oven to 250 and letting it go for about eight hours (timing wise, I should be at around four or so). Before I leave to give a class, I’m going to pull it out, drain the fat, and make sure it hasn’t shrivelled into an unrecognizable hunk of ex-protein. It goes back in for the next four or five hours, now with a temperature probe set to 195 – when it hits that, I’ll pull it apart, throw in (some) sauce, and let it go for another half hour or so.
Sound like a plan? Am I wrong in going for the sear and should just dry roast it? If dry roasting for the duration is in order, can I handle it like some other roasts and put it in the oven at 500, then drop the temperature to the cooking range about ten minutes later?
Thanks!
Oh, I just realized that given the advice in the thread and the above intent, I’m not sure whether or not to cover it. Covering generally keeps from achieving a char, but if I take the time in the AM, I’ll get that anyway. Thoughts?
I’d say dry roast and you’ll get a bark without having to do a sear. You won’t get the same type of yummy bark searing it and then cooking it in a moist environment. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, either way. The bark will form after a few hours at 250F, no need to start at 500 and then drop.
Here’s how beautiful it should look from the oven, with a normal 250F cook. See that beautiful crust? You don’t need to do anything special. Do not cover it. Do not cook it in a Dutch oven. Do not braise it. Just dry rub it, stick it at 250F and wait. If you sear it after dry rubbing it, you run the risk of burning your spices (especially the ones with a high sugar content, like paprika). Also, searing a roast is not quite the same as letting a bark form over several hours. Look at that picture again. Does a sear yield a roast that looks like that?
Ok, so it’s in the DO, but sits uncovered as if it’s in a roasting pan (using makeshift roasting rack, so the meat isn’t going to braise). I’ve layered in some onions for effect, set the oven to 250, and have a temperature probe waiting to register something worth noting.
Sounds good so far. Just out of curiosity, (should have asked these questions before) how big is your roast (weight), is it bone-in, and how’s the marbling on it? Does it have a fat cap?
Inspired by this thread, I picked up a 3.79 lb roast last night. I gave it a rub of brown sugar and other goodness, and put in on the middle rack in my oven at 225. The fat side is up, and an iron skillet is below it catching drippings. I have a meat thermometer in it just to watch at times.
This evening, the plan is to pull it out, dump the fat from the skillet, and shred the pork into the skillet. I will add in some Stubb’s Spicy BBQ sauce (family favorite), and put it back under the broiler for a bit.
Now I just need my wife to pick up some white bread on her way home.
Does anyone have a good recipe for a nice, vinegary NC-style barbecue sauce? I went to college in Greensboro, and I loved that sauce. I’d like to make some pulled pork soon (I’ve got Indian-spiced pork ribs in the fridge now, so I can’t do pulled pork too soon), but I’m now salivating over the thought of NC sauce.
Apple cider vingegar, a little black pepper, red pepper flakes to taste. That’s it. You can add a little brown sugar if you want to cut the vinegar a bit.
This is the recipe I use. You can leave the ketchup out if you want to be a purist about it.
Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup yellow or brown mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
3 TB packed brown sugar (I usually use less)
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (adjust this for taste - it’ll be way zippy if you use this much)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.
[hijack] pulykamell have you tried any of the Weber grind and grill spices? I bought a bottle of their Chicago steak spice, and it is great on beef. I had it on a tri-tip last night, and on a burger for lunch.[/hijack]
Ok, so I’m off to give an exam, so I unfortunately won’t be around for the next five hours or so.
It’s at about 155 now, and I left the following with Mrs. Dvl:
[ul]
[li]At 190, take it out, and test it with a fork for pulled-ness.[/li][li]If it’s still tough, put it back in for another five degrees, if it’s ready, set it in another pan, cover it with heavy duty foil, and let it rest for a half hour[/li][li]Deglaze the DO with as little beer as will do the job (I knew beer would come into play somewhere!) [/li][li]After resting, put it back in the pot, pull it apart (I’m excruciatingly jealous I won’t get to do this myself), add just enough sauce to wet it down, cover with the lid, and leave it in a 150 degree oven until I get home[/li][/ul]
Given that I put it in around ten AM, and won’t be back until 10:30 at the latest, it should be hitting the crucial temp, what, close to nine? She’s going to write down anything else that happens or that she does, so I can either repeat or refine.
Well, off to class… wish me culinary luck!
By the way, who else cooking tonight or in the near future?
You know, I don’t think I have. I’ll check it out. I normally just mash up a bunch of stuff in a mortar and pestle, but those things looks like they’d be perfect for keeping that freshly ground spice flavor while being much more convenient, especially for grilling away from home.
Just to be clear, you want to degrease the juices before deglazing. This may be obvious (since deglazing involves degreasing), but I just want to make sure other readers don’t reintroduce all that rendered fat into the pork. I love fat (hell, I eat lard sandwiches with onions from time to time), but you don’t want back it in the pork after it renders out. I’m just not sure how much burnt bits you’ll have for deglazing, since the pork hasn’t been making contact with the DO.
When I got home, Mrs. Dvl was wonderful enough to have jotted down what happened in my absence.
[ul]
[li]9:30 (remember it went in around 10 AM) it hit 185, she took it out to test by fork, and it started falling right apart. [/li][li]She removed it from the DO, and covered it in heavy-duty foil to let it rest[/li][li]She drained the fat from oven, then deglazed the leavings with Brooklyn Lager and covered the pan[/li][li] Between 10 and 10:30, she returned the meat to the DO, pulled, and added just enough sauce to moisten and coat the uber-meat[/li][/ul]
I got home shortly after (exam nights are long), and wow… just, wow
I’m not sure when I’ve had a first foray into a new culinary realm turn out so well. That is, I can’t think of anywhere to tweak. Yes, my mind is filled with various rubs to try, different sauces to make, and an eye is now fixed firmly on a smoker, but I’m not left wondering if I should try it again covered, or at a different temp, etc.
Congratulations! I was getting a little worried by the silence that things may not have turned out perfectly, but I guess you were just busy eating all that yummy meat!
Also, it’s worth noting that pulled pork freezes exceptionally well. I usually reheat it in apple juice, or a mix of apple juice and cider vinegar.
