SQWIBS Triple Play

First off I want to give a shout out to Noboundaries, for giving me the shove I needed to do this cook, here's his Thread.
[h3]SQWIBS Triple Play[/h3]
June 20th 2014

 
OK... this is my first threesome and it was awesome.
 
My wife even agreed it was great.
 
There have been two recipes I have been wanting to try for the longest time, "Char Siu Chinese Pulled Pork" and "Cuban Style Pulled Pork with Mojo Sauce".

I had an 11 pound butt thawing in the fridge and the original game plan was to just make the Cuban Style, anyhow after thinking about it for a while and remembering that I just finished up the last Vac Pack of Pulled Pork, I decided on the threesome, so I stopped on the way home and picked up an 18 pound double pack of Boston butt.
 

Started with the Marinades
 

First we have the "Cuban Style"

Mojo Sauce

This recipe was (doubled) for the 11 pound Butt

• 2 (4) cup Orange juice
• 1 (2) cup lemon juice
• 1 (1.5) cup lime juice
• 1/2 (1) cup olive oil
• 2 (6) large bay leaf
• 2 (4) tsp dried oregano
• 2 (4) cumin powder
• 1/2 (1) tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbs (1/2 CUP) minced garlic (or 20 cloves fresh)
• 2 (4) Tbs salt

Add all ingredients to food processor and process on high until liquified. Pour 12 oz. of the "Mojo Sauce in a jar, cover and reserve for later.
 

Then the "Char Siu" Sauce.

This recipe was (doubled) for the 9 pound Butt

• 1/2 (1) cup rice wine
• 1/2 (1) cup dark soy sauce, or substitute regular soy sauce
• 1/2 (1) cup white granulated sugar
• 6 cloves (1/4 cup) garlic, minced
• 3 Tbs Grated fresh Ginger
• 1/2 (1) cup hoisin sauce (Doubled used a whole 7 oz container)
• 2 (4) teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/4 cup Sesame Oil (optional)
• 1/2 (1) cup honey (save for the mop, do not add to brine)

Reserve at least 7 oz of the Char Siu sauce, I used the hoisin sauce container

Then the "Porchetta Italian Marketplace Pulled Pork" slather.

• ¼ cup olive oil (increase to 1/2 cup)
• 2 large Red onions, peeled and finely diced
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled and finely mince or (1/4 cup fresh minced)
• 1/4 cup fennel seeds (reduce to 2 tablespoons next time)
• 1/3 cup fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped or (Dry - 2 Tablespoons)
• 8 fresh bay leaves chopped (Dry - 2 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2.5 teaspoon Sea salt (increase to 2 tablespoons next time)
• 4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

add next time

• 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons of oregano

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high. Add all of the ingredients, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until all the fragrance has been released from the herbs and spices. Transfer to a plate to cool.

*everything in red is what I will be changing next time I make the Porchetta.

• Here we have all three Sauces/Brines/Marinades/Slather or whatever you want to call them.

• "Moho"

 

• "Porchetta"

• "Char Siu"

All the pork was prepped the same, stabbed and placed in a marination bag, If you plan on Pulling or shredding the meat I strongly suggest using this method over injecting.
The Marinades/Brines/Slather, were all rubbed into the slits in the pork real well, I jammed a lot of the brines into the meat using my thumbs, especially the "Porchetta". The pork was placed in marination bags and the air was expelled best I could and sealed. I did not have true marination bags so I improvised using 5 gallon bags, 4 bags thick, however if the first bag leaked and the brine leaked into the other bag there would be a chance there would not be enough contact with the brine.

 

 



 

• "Porchetta"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

 

 

• "Char Siu"

 


 

• Everything was then placed into the refrigerator overnight.

 

7:00 am, I head out to the pit, the weather is simply fantastic, its about 60°, low humidity and sunny with a very slight breeze. My work station is all setup and clean. I have all my wood ready and a full 30lb tank of propane. After the pit is fired up I give it about an hour to achieve a goad coal base.

• Pit fired up

• Drip pans

 

• The excess "Mojo" and "Char Siu" Brine/Marinade/Sauce was removed and heated in a pan to a slow boil for 5 minutes or so and brought back to the pit for mopping. A cup of Honey was added to the "Char Siu" Mop.

 

 

• "Porchetta"

 

• "Char Siu"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

 

• Temp is looking good, I usually like to heat the pit up higher before adding the meat but did not bother this time. My target temp will be 265° - 275° prior to foiling.

• It's about 8:00 and everything is placed on the pit.

• Cleaned up, now we wait.

 

• The dog stealing my wood .

 


 


 

• I got to spend a lot of time with Maggie, she is usually so wiry you cant even pet her, today she was awesome.

• After the first hour the "Cuban with Mojo" and "Char Siu" butts are mopped, water is added to the drip pans. The pit was running between 275° and peaked at 315°

 

• "Porchetta"

 

• "Char Siu"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

After about an hour and a half on the pit I can finally smell the pork, the pit is running at 250° - 275°. The Butts are mopped again after 2 hours in the cooker.

• The third hour the Butts are flipped and mopped again.

I was getting a bit concerned about the color of the bark being too black so I took of a piece and tried it and it definitely does not taste burnt, my assumption was that the smoke was darkening it more and more because when I did the flip it seemed OK on the underside. I did run the smoke a bit heavier at times on this, I usually opt for the least amount of smoke as possible.

 

• "Porchetta".

 

• "Char Siu"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

 

• Three hours in and I'm amazed at how dark these butts are, but the bark tastes fine, it had me worried. I'm pretty sure that since they are elevated by the drip pans they are getting more direct contact with smoke. The Butts are probed and they get their last mop.Internals are; 130° for the "Porchetta" - 150° for the "Char Siu" and 125° for the "Cuban"

4 hours in and they're ready to be foiled

• "Char Siu"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

 

Bark is tested prior to foiling and the taste is awesome, these have to be the three darkest butts I have ever cooked and I swear it must be from the extra elevation of the drip pans.
 



 



 

• Switched over to propane for the foiling stage so I could do some other food prep.

• Drip pans were removed allowed to cool 15 minutes then strained and placed in the refrigerator for defatting.

• "Porchetta", I'm not very happy with the looks of the "Porchetta" dripping, they will be tested after they are defatted.

 

• The "Char Siu" looks good

 

• And the "Mojo" looks good also

 


 


 



After the drippings were in the refrigerator I grabbed the "Maverick" and headed upstairs and took a long hot bath to loosen up a bit...sucks getting old, sorry no pics!
 

Fast Forward - The next day the drippings were defatted and placed in the pork.
 

• "Porchetta"

• "Char Siu"

• "Cuban"

 



Working on the Fat trimmings, fat was chopped and placed in the Sous Vide bath for two hours at 185°

Then they were transferred to a pot to simmer on low for 6 more hours or so and periodically strained into a mason jar.
 

 


 

 

 

• Fast forward - to the next day. Note the liquid at the bottom, this will be poured off.

 

Back to the cook.
 

• 7.5 hours in and the "Char Siu" and "Porchetta" are removed from the pit for their rest, shortly after (8 hours), the "Cuban" is removed, internals are between 205 - 207. Now they will rest an hour or two before tenting. Cooking time was under an hour per/lb.

• Meanwhile the other ingredients are prepared, starting with the stir fry with 1/2 cup of the "Char Siu" drippings. And the white rice is being cooked as well.

• Frozen stir fry vegetables.

 

• Stir fry is cooked about 40 minutes or so.

 

• The premixed sauce from the vegetable packet is added with a 1/4 cup of soy sauce, veggies are cooked uncovered for twenty more minutes then thickener is added.

 

• Veggies are brought to a simmer for another 10 minutes then removed from the heat.

• Tenting the butts.

Removed the shoulder blade from each butt to check for doneness.

 

• "Porchetta"

 

• "Char Siu"

 

• "Cuban with Mojo"

 


 

Threw the "Char Siu" together for the first course.
 

• White rice topped with stir fry vegetables a few large hunks of pork and drizzled with the Char Siu sauce.

OK I have made 10 recipes with this cook but I am only posting a few pics, this post is getting a bit too long and to be quite honest... this post is taking me longer than my actual cook lol.

I will be adding the other dishes and recipes next week and linking back to this page for reference, but here are a few that I have now.

• "Cubanos"

 

• "Porchetta Sandwiches"

• "Fried Char Siu Wrap with Stir Fry"

 

• "Three Cheese Fried Cuban Wrap"

I will hopefully post the rest of the recipes next week.