Pernil Revisited

[LarryR]

Had a craving for Pernil so did some this weekend. Traditional calls for pork picnic, I went with shoulder, for my taste much better results. If you haven't done one I highly recommend!

 

The Komodo Kamado is a perfect machine for this cook. I went about 3.5 hr at 340 then cranked her up to 450 - 500 for the last hour. Used mixture of Rancher Briquettes and Royal Oak Lump for this cook.

[Smokydave]

Larry, there seem to be an endless number of Pernil recipes out there.  Do you have one in particular that you like best?

[LarryR]

@smokydave - Mine is probably the least impressive (but damn good). Large Pork Shoulder or Pork Picnic, stab the hell out of it with a paring knife, marinade 24 hours in Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade. Cook at 350 to 155ish basting with Goya Mojo Criollo Marinade once an hour. At 155ish crank up to 450 to about 165ish. Remove, then foil and rest for 10 minutes prior to slicing. Slice and serve.

 

I think traditionally they call to cook at 450 for the first hour, however, have you ever tried running your KK at 450 for an hour then dropping the temp 100 degrees once that baby is heat soaked LOL. Personally I prefer reverse sear anyway so it works out for the best.

 

Oh, I let the roast sit on the counter for at least an hour prior to cooking. I do this while she's still in the 2.5 gallon zip lock bag that she marinaded in.

 

Giver her a shot sometime, you'll fall in love with this cook.

[Smokydave]

Thanks Larry.  That sounds awesome.  I was thinking the same thing about starting high and then trying to go lower.  The reverse seems like a god idea.

 

I must be a nut-case or something, but when I read posts like this, I want to start cooking NOW.

[mguerra]

Goya Mojo Criollo

That's the ticket for sure. If you don't find it locally source it online.

[tony b]

www.cubanmarket.com

 

Get almost all of my latino spices, marinades, etc. from them.

[Smokydave]

Ok Larry, I'm giving pernil a shot this weekend.  I combined a bunch of recipes I saw on the web and made my own paste/marinade.  Some prepared sofrito, onion, a crap-load of garlic (the technical term), mexican oregano, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, chipotle pepper, cumin, orange and lemon juice, and fresh cilantro.  It tasted crazy good out of the blender--I can't wait.  Punched a bunch of holes in the shoulder after I peeled back the skin and filled the holes with the paste.  Put it in a  2.5 gallon plastic bag to sit till Sunday morning with the rest of the paste spread all over.  Here's the prep shot:

 

 

[tony b]

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see the pics of the finished product!

[Smokydave]

Well, I must say that was excellent.  The bark was awesome with the flavor of the marinade and paste and the meat was pretty tender. Most of it sliced, but the dark meat was more in chunks.  Also made some blue-corn skillet cornbread and some red beans and rice.  The pork disappeared quickly.  I would say I would not do too much differently, but the skin got overdone so we were only able to eat the edges.  It was crunchy and tasty.

 

Almost done

 

Shoutout to Komodo Kamado

 

Sliced and chunked

 

Skillet Cornbread

[tony b]

RIGHTEOUS!!!!