KK 32" - First Pork Shoulder Questions

[churchi]

Thanks Rob, just did that. See how it goes

 

cheers

[5698k]

BTW, I have to agree with Charles, nothing wrong with 280°!<br />

<br />

<br />

Rob

[wilburpan]

So how did it turn out?

[churchi]

It was absolutely fantastic!! Ended up cooking it at around 300F which is more than i wanted, but i dont think it made much difference. The meat was outstanding!! Its now my favourite way of cooking pork (accept bacon after a hangover).

 

This pulled pork beats the hell out of sliced pork any day of the week. The bark was nice and crispy and a bit sweat (due to the rub) and the pull of the meat with just standard table forks was so easy. It just fell apart. Also it was juicy as well.

 

I cant thank you all enough for all the help this week in getting me to the point. I am now confident in giving the 5kg piece (i just picked up) a go.

 

I will try and get the komodo to cook around 275 this time, as it kept rising during the day (maybe the sun hitting it outside) and ended up just over 300F. However i am still happy with the way it turned out.

 

Invited my sister around last night to sample before her birthday this weekend and she said it was awesome. So fingers crossed for the cook this evening.

 

 

Does it make any difference to how long the piece of shoulder will take at the same temp in the kamado? I am guessing since the one yesterday took around 6-7 hours, that this one (as its bigger) will take around 10 hours? is that how it kinda works?

 

 

Also, pics will be uploaded, just working out how to upload them and in the correct size for the forum then ill unleash them.

 

cheers.

[churchi]

Ok so i have worked out how to upload some pics that will stay around (thanks to wilbur).

 

Attached you will find some of the pics from the cook.

 

 

[churchi]

And to show how insanely efficient the Komodo is here is an after shot of the firebox when i had finished my 7-8hour cook (plus 1h heat soak).

 

The Komodo's are just unreal for the low and slow with regards to fuel consumption. Super happy!!

 

[tinyfish]

Thats efficient.

[Jon B.]

Fine looking cook!!!!!! 

 

I recently cooked 4 boston butts (30 lbs of meat) at the same time. They didn't take any longer than cooking one or two butts.  

 

However keep in mind that every hunk of meat can be different in how fast they cook.  Each "stall" can vary in time.  Best to start early and be prepared to rest until ready to pull & serve.

[Rak]

Very nice first cook! It's so impressive how efficient a KK is!

[5698k]

Cook timing can vary across the board for all sorts of reasons, I've had 4lb ers take as long as 8lb ers, you just never know.

I'm curious about the temperatures. How much fire did you light? This is a common culprit when there are problems holding temps. Wilber's recent post about this, and possible leaks is spot on, you should have no trouble holding 225°, (just because you should be able to), regardless of ambient temperature.

Great job on the pork, you've just proven to yourself that a particular temp doesn't matter as much, and you can expect your results to only get better from here!

[ckreef]

The cooking temp is going to be the biggest factor in how long it takes to cook not the actual lbs of shoulder.

An elevated temp (275*-300*) will power through the stall and should cook a shoulder considerably faster than 225*. The end results are just as good and if it finishes early It can always rest in a cooler.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[wilburpan]

And to show how insanely efficient the Komodo is here is an after shot of the firebox when i had finished my 7-8hour cook (plus 1h heat soak).

 

The Komodo's are just unreal for the low and slow with regards to fuel consumption. Super happy!!

 

 

I'm curious about the temperatures. How much fire did you light? This is a common culprit when there are problems holding temps. Wilber's recent post about this, and possible leaks is spot on, you should have no trouble holding 225°, (just because you should be able to), regardless of ambient temperature.

 

 

First of all, that pulled pork looks great! 

 

I agree with Robert that how much charcoal you lit might be one of the factors that might have led to your temps being in the 300ºF range. That’s based on what the ash pattern looks like. For my low and slows, I load up my firebox, and light one spot. At the end of a cook, I find that the fire really just spread to an area about 8-10†in diameter. Granted, a KK 32†is a bigger grill, but I would suspect that you didn’t need that much area of lit charcoal for a low and slow.

 

One other thing; it’s a little hard to tell from your pictures, but if you didn’t put a deflector over where the fire was on the left side of the charcoal box, that’s going to let more hot air come directly through the grill. I’m suggesting this might be the case just because you have your picture of your charcoal box and smoking wood, and there’s no deflector above that part of the charcoal. I could be completely wrong about this, but I’ll suggest this just in case.

 

Finally, for future cooks, go for probe tender as opposed to a target internal temperature. When I first started doing low and slow cooks, I would wait until the meat hit a certain IT. What I’ve learned since then is that the IT isn’t as important as how the meat feels. These days, for pulled pork, I’ll use the meat thermometer to see when I’ve hit 195ºF, and then I’ll pull the thermometer, and stick it into the pork at various places. If the probe just slides through the pork like a hot knife through butter, I’m done. If I feel resistance, I’ll let it cook for 15 minutes or so, and try again. I’ll double check the area around the shoulder blade because the bone is going to slow down cooking in that part of the pork.

 

I use the same approach for brisket, and it works great for that, too.

[bosco]

Owning both a 23 and a 32 I have noticed a few interesting things.   The ring pattern that Wilburpan is speaking about is consistent with the 23.  When you light in the middle, the fire slowly grows outward from the middle.  I have noticed however, that when you light the middle with the 32 it always burns to the left for some reason.  My guess is that you had the left vent open and that stoked the fire better on the left.  The right becomes a cold zone perhaps until it really needs to light.   

 

Secondly... my first few cooks on the 32, I was struggling to maintain temp on the 32.  I couldn't seem to get below 350.  I did a smoke test and figured out that I had an air leak at the gasket level.  When I pushed down on the handle when it was latched in second position, I still had some flex.  After speaking with Dennis he told me to loosen the two bolts on the lower latch plate and pull the latch down a bit.  I moved it approx. 2.5mm down.  The latch was tighter and it was a push to get it into second position.  PROBLEM SOLVED!!  

 

I can hold 150 for hours on the 32 now without issue....

[MacKenzie]

churchi, that certainly is a gooood cook and it was only your first, the pulled pork looks delicious.

[churchi]

Hi All,

 

First off thanks again for all the help and ideas over the past few replies. Really appreciate it.

 

Well the final cook didnt go so well. The komodo was set to around 240F when i went to bed and it was steady there for 15-20mins, so i thought yeah all good ill leave it. Well i got woken up with my temp alarm going off around 6:30am. Needless to say its my old issue of it being too hot. The temp had climbed to 350F through out the previous 3 hours! i couldn't believe it. Had the bottom vent open only a CC width and the top was less than 1/4 turn. hmm.

Took the advise of cookies other post where it was mentioned to let it rip for 10-15mins, then back it off to get the fire going at the beginning. That is when the temp was at a low and good just before bed.

 

So i think there is only 2 reasons this may be happening. Like Bosco said, i may need to do a smoke leak test to ensure i dont have any other air coming into the grill or quite simply (and more likely) i am lighting too much charcoal at the beginning and it just never calms down and stays on the hot and fast temp.

 

I have attached the temp graph so show how the cook went.

 

The meat on the outside is hard and dry (on a piece that fell off). So looks like i have killed this big piece.

 

Ive got it resting in the esky in towels. We are not due to pull it for another 4-5 hours.

 

So a quick question. I am still not sure if i have killed the whole piece of meat, do you think its ok to unwrap it and put a knife (or something like that) to pry open a bit of the meat to see if its still tender, then wrap it back up and put it in the eksy? Or will this not be a good idea?

 

Just trying to work out if i need to get a plan B going.

 

 

Oh and to answer one of the questions from a previous post, when i took the pic with only half the deflector in, that was just for a pic, i put the 2nd piece in right away. Just seems the fire burns off to the left of the pit.

 

 

 

[bosco]

Churchi, do me a favour.   Go to the KK, lock it in second position.  Is it an easy push into the second latched position or is there a good bit of resistance??

 

Also, latch it and push downward on the handle.  Is there any wiggle room??

 

Last, with a measuring tape, measure the gap between the dome and the base at the joint.  Measure at the side say in the 1 o'clock position and one measurement at the 5 o'clock position.   

 

If the latch doesn't have resistance in anyway pushing closed, there is a big of wiggle room when you push down on the handle and lastly the front gap is greater than the rear gap, then you have a latch that is not positioned correctly.  

 

Simply, loosen only the two bolts on the lower latch plate, leave the top alone.  once loosened you should be able to move it down a few mm.  lower the latch plate as far as it will go down and re tighten the bolts.  Use a 10 mm latch.  

 

 

If for whatever reason everything above looked correct, then the other option is that you have the front lower damper or the rear side gas port door loose.  When you close the lid sometimes the pressure from the heat will loosen them.  Simply push on all four corner to make sure they are in tight.

 

My guess is the latch.  I had the exact same issue, vents almost completely shut and I couldn't stay below 350.  This is a 5 min fix and I guarantee you that you will never have this issue again!!!  

 

Trust me, from what I have learned.

[churchi]

Thanks Bosco. I have just tested the resistance and from the first position to the second position there is a good bit of resistance. I can push it with my thumb but it doesn't feel too sloppy. How hard should it be to push to the 2nd position?

 

Also did what you suggested and measured with a ruler all around the lid where the top lid and the base touch on the rubber. I measure 7mm all around for the gap. Not sure if thats too much, but its the same all around.

 

hmm.

 

One thing i have noticed is the gas port on the right hand side, looks a little loose (not a snug fit) on one of the corners. Once it cools down ill see if there is some ash that has gotten caught in the corners.

 

I have been trying to remember to ensure the port holes and openings around the base of the grill are always pushed in before i leave it.

 

When the temp creeps up over the whole cook like it did for me, i guess i have had an air leak somewhere right?

 

If i had say fired up too much charcoal in the beginning, it should settle down throughout the cook right? it shouldn't keep climbing i would have thought. Do you think this may have been the case too?

 

cheers mate.

[5698k]

I still wouldn't rule out too much fire. It's amazing how little you need to light for a lo/slo, and yes, temps can creep up in time. Temps need to stabilize for at least 30 minutes before I'll call it good. <br />

<br />

<br />

Robert

[churchi]

Thanks Robert, i am thinking the same. Since Bosco got me to check the seal on the lid and it seems to be ok, i can only think there is a leak somewhere or i am just simple lighting too much charcoal at the beginning.

 

Does anyone have a pic of their lit charcoal when they begin the low and slow?

[5698k]

Just light one spot to start, and let the temp come up slowly, with similar vent settings to what you have now. It'll take a while, but you'll get the hang of it. <br />

<br />

<br />

Robert