20Sep2021

Woke up today after the first nightmare I’ve had in…I don’t even know how long. I mean, I’ve had bad dreams. You know those dreams where you’re just too deep in them? And when you wake up you can’t shake them? I’ve had plenty of those, but I can’t remember the last time I actually had a nightmare.

I woke up to that soft pitter patter sound on the roof. The sound like a hundred squirrels running overhead that takes you a second to realize it’s raining. Except it wasn’t raining…

I couldn’t shake that dream. I could see it, but I couldn’t put it into words.

So I figured I’d use up the rest of the Costco pork loin I bought by making pulled pork.

Yeah, I know that the fat content isn’t ideal and I should have used a pork shoulder, but I didn’t have a pork shoulder and I like to prep my meals well in advance of the week when I can.

Plus, pork loin at Costco is so damn cheap for like 10 pounds of pork. And if you know how to cut it up, it’s a huge money saver! Here’s a great blog about it. Not mine, but very enlightening. Plenty of videos on YT as well.

Anyway, with pork loin I like to use Jamaican jerk seasoning. I tend to overcoat it, since I’m going to cook it until I can shred it and the spice will mix in. Use your favorite, this is just the bulk stuff that I found on Amazon, it’s a pain trying to find it in the store. Not as good as homemade, but it’ll do in a pinch.

I threw it in the smoker at 275 (pretty sure my smoker only gets to 250F, but that’s fine, I wasn’t going anywhere anyway. It did end up raining. I took a bath after lunch. It was nice.

I basically treat pork loin like I do a pork shoulder. Most of which is gleaned from Aaron Franklin’s Masterclass. Highly recommend! Few things are more enjoyable than listening to people talk passionately about their passions. Gordon Ramsey might be mean on certain TV shows, but he literally bounces with joy when he is cooking.

The first three hours I just make sure to keep woodchips and smoke going (I used Applewood this time, I think the sweet works with the Jamaican rub). After that, I spray the loin every hour or so with apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle to cool the outside while the dense loin come ups to temp. You could use beer or water or whatever. Or not at all. Do you.

Once the fat cap splits (after about 6 hours or so, I think mine was closer to 7 because of the temp), I spray again with vinegar, then wrap in foil (not expensive butcher paper, since I want the moisture) and wrap in tin foil, plenty so you can get a few layers. I overlap two pieces about three to four feet long. Lay it reflective side up so it doesn’t reflect the heat.

A couple hours later I’ll use a probe thermometer to see if it’s gotten up to 205F (shredding temp). Note, I forgot to take a picture when I checked the temp, don’t unwrap, just poke a small hole you can reuse if needed. I know the angle makes it look small, but the loin is about three pounds pre-cooked.

Like I said, 205F is the goal for shredding, I assume a little over is fine, I’m an imperfect person. Like my nightmare. We were all playing a game where we had to close our eyes, and when we opened them, everyone was missing body parts, fingers, limbs, etc. We also had surgical scars. Limbs were removed, but not lost, they were put inside of us and sewn up…

Here’s the money!

Because pork loin is a leaner meat, it can seem a bit dry, especially compared to pork butt/shoulder. I don’t add a sauce to this, but I bet a Caroline-style vinegar based sauce would be awesome. Instead I use an old recipe I found with equal parts mango and avocado. Add the juice of half a lime, salt, and pepper. Boom. I think the recipe included red onion, but I don’t like red onion much since it tends to overpower the other flavors. Only problem is that evidently it isn’t mango season right now, so I’ll be trying canned mangos from Target.

I can’t stop thinking about the look in the Albino’s eyes when he realized where his arms were…