Pulled Pork Over Direct Coals

[jbk90]

I have been thinking about different ways to make pulled pork and was wondering if I could apply the same principles of whole hog bbq and shrink it down to cook 1-4 pork butts. I am thinking of making a cinder block pit, burning down wood to coals, and cooking the butts over direct coals (hoping to achieve 275-300 degrees or so at grate temperature). Does anyone have experience cooking in this method? I am also curious to know approximately how far above the coals the grate should be to help achieve even cooking, I know that the amount and location of the coals on the ground in the pit will be most important to controlling temp but assume the height of the grate will play in as well.

Any advice would be much appreciated, still trying to decide if this is a worthwhile endeavor before buying the blocks and grates. I have access to plenty of wood so I am not worried about the inefficiencies of burning wood down to coals vs cooking in my offset. Mainly just wanted to try to learn a new style of bbq and have always been intrigued by traditional methods. Looking to do pork butts vs whole hog in this method since I am not cooking for large crowds and pork butts are much easier for me to purchase.

 

[oddegan]

I've done this before but I had the wood fire in a different pit. That way I could shovel coals where and when I wanted them while continuing to add wood to the fire and keep a constant supply of ready to go coals. It's ALOT of work and hard to control your heat. For all of the effort the result wasn't any better or worse than my old stick burner. It also used twice as much wood. I understand the appeal of traditional methods but most folks don't do it this way anymore because new methods are much more efficient. That being said I would kind of like to try cooking Argentina style on the metal stakes next to big piles of coals. Looks a little dangerous though.

 

[jbk90]

Thanks for the advice, was planning to use some extra blocks to create a separate area (outside the pit) to burn the wood down to coals. Definitely understand that this is going to be more work than the offset, but for me the experience of tending the fire throughout the cook is almost as rewarding as the final product itself (which is probably why I haven't fired up my pellet cooker in a while).

I have seen pictures/videos of the Argentina style, it looks fascinating...but agree with you that it could be a little dangerous if you don't have the right conditions.

 

[oddegan]

This way of burning meat does give ample opportunity for plenty of 12 oz. curls.