With 2nd January being a lovely sunny day it seemed rude not to run the barbecue so first thing I took a joint of pork from its wrapper and let it breath whilst I made up a brine for it. For the brine I took some Black Rabbit Cider and added two tablespoons of sea salt, oregano, coriander, garlic & smoked paprika and stirred well. Once mixed I placed the joint into a zip lock bag, poured in the brine, pushed as much air out as possible, sealed the bag and placed it ion the bottom of the fridge. Why the bottom? That’s where there was room!
So wifey and I went out for lunch and a mooch so the pork had about six hours brining, overnight would have been better but six hours will work so I light the barbecue then sorted the pork out, draining the brine, removing the joint from the bag and patting it dry with a paper towel. I then used some nut oil on the fat cap and liberally sprinkled around a heaped teaspoon of sea salt onto the fat cap and let it set. As soon as the barbecue was above 175 C I placed the joint on the indirect side, put a piece of oak on the flame that was warming on the grid inside the barbecue which instantly set alight and added a lovely smoky flavour to the pork.
I checked on the periodically, it may have been sunny but it wasn’t warm and my pork did seem to hit a stall at around 60 C so I placed it above the coals and cooked it until it read 72 C in the middle (the ends were closer to 80 C but the whole thing needs to be above 74 C to be safe). Why 72 Celsius? The internal temperature will continue to rise whilst the meat is resting under some aluminium foil by at least 2 degrees (which is did) and I don’t want a dry, tough piece of pork, I want it juicy and tender which it was.
Whilst the pork was smoking I made some dauphinois potatoes that turned out delicious as well along with prepping the broccoli and garden peas ready to boil. The whole meal turned out delicious, I added the juice from the smoked pork to the gravy which definitely made it pop and tucked in.
What a great start to 2023, a successful and tasty piece of meat on the barbecue coupled with a delicious meal. Looking forward to the rest of 2023 and some new cooks as we progress our barbecuing prowess throughout the year.