Recteq Kalua Pork: happening

[Nefarious]

We are having a party for a friend who will turn 70. He has spent many years in Hawaii so the party is themed Hawaii 7-0. I am doing an experiment, seeing if I can make a tasty pseudo Kalua pork on the recteq from a pork shoulder.

My plan was to start smoking it today, but the people who were going to do the taste test changed their schedule and will not be back in town until Sunday.

I cut the shoulder in two parts and put 1.5 Tbs of Alaea salt on them. They have been in the refrigerator for 24 hours now.



My question is, can it sit in the refrigerator for another day, will it help or hurt the meat?

My plan is to smoke on mesquite for 3 hrs on extreme smoke, then increase temp to 275° and wrap in banana leaves and foil until they reach final tenderness.

 

[02ebz06]

If they have wrapped in plastic wrap, and fridge temp is below 40f (most seem to be set at 37 these days), I don't see a problem.
Probably others here that know more about meat safety than I.

 

[zwiller]

My question is, can it sit in the refrigerator for another day, will it help or hurt the meat?

IMO help for sure as the salt will penetrate further. Totally safe as long as fridge is cold and date is fresh. Not a lot of people talk about it, but ideally, you would want to hold (dry brine) large cuts like that a week or inject. Takes time for the salt to work it's magic. I dry brine my Xmas prime rib 2 weeks... Plan sounds about EXACTLY what I would do. LOVE the banana leaf wrap idea and use of mesquite. Good luck!

 

[chilerelleno]

Careful with thick mesquite smoke in large amounts, for that amount of time, it could be overwhelming or even worse be acrid.
I'd cut it back to 1 - 1.5 hours, or a much lighter smoke for 2 - 2.5 hours.
Then wrap as planned and finish the cook.

 

[Nefarious]

Careful with thick mesquite smoke in large amounts, for that amount of time, it could be overwhelming or even worse be acrid.
I'd cut it back to 1 - 1.5 hours, or a much lighter smoke for 2 - 2.5 hours.
Then wrap as planned and finish the cook.

I appreciate your concern. The mesquite is in pellets, lumberjack pellets, which are only 40% mesquite and 60% oak. I don't use them often, I had to drive an hr each way to get them.

 

[Fueling Around]

Pork is fine. It has a longer fridge life than we believe.
Where's the Kahlua?
Don't know anything on Hawaiian cooking except it all is wrapped in leaves and buried in charcoal.
LJ mesquite is pretty mild in my taste.

 

[Nefarious]

I put the two halves on at 9am at 180° with lumberjack mesquite pellets, .4Mesquite .6Ooak.

After 3 hours the IT was in the vicinity of 115°.



I decided to only make one of the halves with banana leaves and let the other half roll in the smoke as is. I switched to oak pellets because in is an hour drive each way to get the mesquite and given that one half was covered in banana leaves.



All wrapped up and back in the smoker until tender. I'll check periodically, I have never done this before.

 

[Nefarious]

Pulled at 204° and let it rest in the cooler for an hour plus.

When it came out of the banana leaves,


Nice smoke ring


Shredded.
A special thanks go out to Redicans and F Filipino-Boy who guided me through this.

I have a cup of liquid gold from the cook, is there a special sauce?

A little too salty for me, next time will have to tune it down some. Otherwise I could sit here and eat it all night. Yes, I have plenty of beer.

 

[Fueling Around]

Very nice looking pork.
Do you think the banana leaves added any flavor?
Did you use a commercial rub after the salt rub?
How did the unwrapped piece turn out at the end?

 

[babydocsmoke]

That looks great! Also wondering about the banana leaves. I know a lot of islanders use the banana leaves, but I thought that was more as a indirect heat thing and not for flavor.

 

[Nefarious]

Very nice looking pork.
Do you think the banana leaves added any flavor?
Did you use a commercial rub after the salt rub?
How did the unwrapped piece turn out at the end?

Yes, the banana leaves have a subtle flavor. I will taste again in the morning when the sounders are not playing. Too many beers to cover the bad play.

The only spice added was salt, too much for me, it is for someone else. We will see how they react.

The unwrapped piece also had too much salt, I used sorta proportional amounts. 1tbs for the wrapped and 3/4 Tbs for unwrapped.

The meat was very good, very juicy and I will do it again. The person who is making the party will want less salt.

 

[chilerelleno]

Pork is fine. It has a longer fridge life than we believe.
Where's the Kahlua?
Don't know anything on Hawaiian cooking except it all is wrapped in leaves and buried in charcoal.
LJ mesquite is pretty mild in my taste.

Kalua and KAHLUA are two completely different things.
Kahlúa is a Mexican liqueur made of rum, vanilla, and corn syrup. It means the House of the Acolhua people.

KALUA is the Hawaiian word for “cook in a underground oven.”

 

[chilerelleno]

That looks great! Also wondering about the banana leaves. I know a lot of islanders use the banana leaves, but I thought that was more as a indirect heat thing and not for flavor.

As Nefarious found, yes they do impart their own flavor.

 

[Redicans]

Yes, the banana leaves have a subtle flavor. I will taste again in the morning when the sounders are not playing. Too many beers to cover the bad play.

The only spice added was salt, too much for me, it is for someone else. We will see how they react.

The unwrapped piece also had too much salt, I used sorta proportional amounts. 1tbs for the wrapped and 3/4 Tbs for unwrapped.

The meat was very good, very juicy and I will do it again. The person who is making the party will want less salt.

Looks really good to me Nefarious!! Yeah it does not need much salt. I did one the other day and it came out damn good. Same thing for me, I could have cut the salt in half. Sorry I forgot pics! I wrapped in leaves from the beginning but if I do again I will smoke without out wrapping and do how you did it. Wrap after 3 hours in leaves and foil. My leaves were a bit crispy. It was tasty though. I think you nailed it, just adjust salt to taste!! Get some Poi if you can and your meal will be Epic!! My mouth was watering looking at your Pics!!

Sean

 

[Redicans]

That looks great! Also wondering about the banana leaves. I know a lot of islanders use the banana leaves, but I thought that was more as a indirect heat thing and not for flavor.

In a traditional Imu you put all the food being cooked on a bed of Banana leaf and cut up stalks. It helps to add moisture. Then put more leaves and Ti leaf on then cover the whole pit with wet burlap bags then cover with a sheet of plastic and seal with dirt around the edges. It creates a sort of low pressure cooker. Usually we leave it in over night. Yes the banana imparts a subtle flavor.

On a smoker or grill or even in a oven adding some Banana leaf and or Ti leaf adds that little flavor to help and replicate the traditional taste. Not exact but damn close.

 

[Redicans]

Some pics of a recent Imu done. Never got shots of the food being loaded but you get the idea. This was a thanksgiving Imu About 40 various pieces went in. Turkeys, Pork butts and shoulders, yams and sweet potatoes and even a corned beef brisket. You can throw anything in really, it all comes out good. This was for about 10 or 12 families.

Sean

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

When we moved to Oahu the very first time I tried Kalua pork, the one I tried was the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t really know what it was but couldn’t believe it was mostly just salt and pork. I never tried it myself but I should it’s just a big piece of meat if I mess it up

 

[babydocsmoke]

Some pics of a recent Imu done. Never got shots of the food being loaded but you get the idea. This was a thanksgiving Imu About 40 various pieces went in. Turkeys, Pork butts and shoulders, yams and sweet potatoes and even a corned beef brisket. You can throw anything in really, it all comes out good. This was for about 10 or 12 families.

Sean

Well...that's freakin awesome!

 

[Redicans]

Well...that's freakin awesome!

Thanks! Yeah Imu's are always a lot of fun!! Hard work but so worth it and great times with great friends!!

 

[Buckeyedude]

Some pics of a recent Imu done. Never got shots of the food being loaded but you get the idea. This was a thanksgiving Imu About 40 various pieces went in. Turkeys, Pork butts and shoulders, yams and sweet potatoes and even a corned beef brisket. You can throw anything in really, it all comes out good. This was for about 10 or 12 families.

Sean

Very cool! But where are the pics of walking over the coals barefooted? Seriously though, really cool cook! I like seeing the methods used by our ancestors without the use of modern tools and technology!