28th Q: FINALLY, Pork smoked to PERFECTION! [w/ pr0n]

[This is not your pork!]

After last weeks not so overwhelming L&S pork it had to be done again, but this time H&F and pork necks instead of pork shoulders.

So here we are again for the Yardbird vs. lemon peppered pork necks showdown, starting with two equally sized boneless pork necks without speck with a weight of 6.28 lbs each:



I pretty much left them completely untrimmed, and removed only a little of the hard fat.





Firing up on a cold Sunday morning



Five small pieces of apple wood buried in a full charcoal ring with lemon tree lump, a full chimney dumped on top for starting Minion style with the intention of giving it all the WSM can do with all intakes fully opened at all times.



Lemon peppered pork on the left, Yardbird rubbed pork on the right.



Ready for foiling in apple juice at IT 165°F after 3 hours and 10 minutes.



At an outside temp of 33.8°F the WSM could get as high as ~385°F, but it remained below for most of the time. The pork hit IT 203°F after a total of 4 hours and 52 minutes, was put in the cooler for resting, and this is what it looked like when unfoiling:

The Lemon Peppered



and the Yardbird



Now the trick was to put both in the oven at max grill for a short time to re-crisp the bark, which worked out very nicely.

The result: Some juicy pork with spicy crispy bark! The best pork we ever had, and what I definitely would call PERFECTION. It can not get any better, it just can't!

The lemon peppered







The Yardbird







Honestly, the following was a huge mistake! It could have been perfect, if the wife hadn't forgotten to make the self-made pita bread, so my pulled pork sandwiches were made with emperor bun, the yogurt-based coleslaw without mayonnaise, vinegar based hot sauce in the one, and sweet 'Essence of Q' sauce in the other. Of course it was heavenly, but that pork should have been eaten pure (which I did afterwards in addition to the sandwiches, resulting in way too much pork intake).





This is what I mean: Pure spicy crispy fatty bark!



Each pork got pulled and put in a separate box for this week's pork feasting.



So how did the showdown of Yardbird vs. Lemon Pepper end up this week?

Again, the lemon pepper was a clear winner! Honestly, the Yardbird didn't even have a chance. Exactly what I said last week, the Yardbird just doesn't feel right on pork. Sorry Plowboys, we are definitely not in the target audience of yours, but we'll try the Yardbird on some poultry next.

Amazingly the lemon pepper produced a much better and crispier bark than the Yardbird, although the Yardbird contains sugar, and the lemon pepper not.

What else can I tell you, we are totally hooked on self-made lemon pepper, which must be the very best overall rub we have tried so far.

Greetings to all other pork lovers, I hope I gave you something to dream about.

[Phubar]

You're gonna turn into a porky very soon!
Nice pieces of neck!
The neck is what we mainly use for pulled pork over here.

[twinsfan]

Very, very nice Mike!

[bluetang]

That looks so good!

[This is not your pork!]

I just had another two pulled pork sandwiches for lunch, it's just freaking fantastic!

And I just discovered that the pork shoulder I used for the last couple of cooks will be on special offer later this week, so I'll have to do pork AGAIN next weekend, but this time I'll try tying it together with butcher twine to prevent it from drying out. Oh, and lemon pepper only!

[Desert Hawg]

While living in Virginia, the rub I was taught by an old gentleman, who smoked more pork in his life than we could even think about (worked for Smithfield hams), was chili powder and lemon-pepper. It is my go to rub, but there are still some fantastic ones out there that I am using, Simply Marvelous, John Henry's, Dixie meat rub and even Yard Birds. While I have never used Yard Bird's on pork, I think it is fantastic on bird. My wife who does not BBQ, but uses the oven to cook bird, uses Plow Boys almost exclusively. I have business interest in any of the products mentioned, other than as a satisfied customer of all products, and who will continue to purchase the said product.

Now back to topic. Never had pork neck, so ya can send some this way to verify your statements

[This is not your pork!]

Because there is no BB here, it's either pork shoulder roast or pork neck, both without bone without speck.

[Arlin_MacRae]

You are lucky you didn't go into a pork coma! Of course there's still time and leftovers. ;)

Thanks for the comparison and the gorgeous pr0n.

[Phubar]

Originally Posted by This is not your pork!

Because there is no BB here, it's either pork shoulder roast or pork neck, both without bone without speck.

The same deal over here...if you want a BB you'll have to order upfront at your local butcher.
Most of the Dutchies get their porknecks at the wholesalestore.

[This is not your pork!]

Austrian's are typical pork eaters, pork is cheap, pork is good, I guess I'll win the price for most pork in a row...

[Bonewagon]

Looks delicious!

[Rev Beard]

That looks bloody fantastic.

[code3rrt]

Great looking cook, thanks for sharing the continuing "experiment"!

[DownHomeQue]

I'd Hit it Nicely Done!

[Militant83]

looks like some good que