Hot Smoking Uncured Pork Shank

[tomlc]

I've seen very little posted here on this topic. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and share my first attempt at this cut/method. I want these to make my black-eyed peas for New Year's Day and I wanted yo do it all from scratch. Hopefully it will work out!

I brined the shanks in water, salt, dark brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder and celery seed for two days. Today they went in the Weber kettle with apple and hickory chunks as fuel. My temp is running a tad higher than I wanted at 275F. But, after an hour or so, they're starting to look (and smell) pretty good.

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• tomlc
• Dec 26, 2016

 

[tomlc]

At two hours my IT is 158F, I've got nice color and the outer flesh is beginning to shrink and fat is rendering.

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• tomlc
• Dec 26, 2016

I planned to get to 180F IT before removing from the kettle.

 

[tomlc]

While I'm waiting, this seems to be a good time to grab a cold beer and "taste test" some cheeses I smoked a few weeks ago. I mean I need to perform quality control techniques. Right?

 

[tomlc]

I got my heat under control and held at 225F for the past two hours. At the 4-hour mark I hit my targeted 180F IT. They're now resting, covered, and I'll vacuum pack them to hold until I'm ready to use them for cooking. I hope they taste as good as they look. But I have to wait a few days before finding out. I'll update and post the results on New Year's day.

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• tomlc
• Dec 26, 2016

 

[b-one]

Looking good,I'd have to sample!

 

[tomlc]

Looking good,I'd have to sample!

Thank you.