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I went to college in Oregon, which I was surprised to find has a large Hawaiian population. But once I discovered Hawaiian food and the fantastic plate lunches, I was hooked. Now, fast forward a number of years (not going into specifics there) and numerous moves later, I’m in Houston and have not had a good Loco Moco or Kalua Pork in years! So I did what any good Egghead would do and I pulled out the BGE to give my Kalua Pork recipe a run for the money.
For such a tasty dish, the ingredients are very simple – but do not stray! This cannot be replicated with table salt or pink salt. So if you can’t find Red Hawaiian Sea Salt in your local grocery store, order it online and save it until you are ready to go. I can often times find my Hawaiian Salt at World Market – otherwise I order from Amazon.
Ingredients:
- Pork Butt – 10-12lbs
- Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt
- Liquid Smoke Flavoring
Egg Setup: Set the BGE up for a long & slow indirect cook. Plate setter with legs up – drip tray with water (to catch drippings – if any), grill on top of that. Get the Egg to a dome temp of 350-450 and then bring down to hold steady at 250 (dome temp). Once it’s holding there for at least 30 minutes, you can then put the pork butt on.
Cooking Directions/Prep: The easiest and best tasting version of this recipe (in my opinion) consists of simply scoring the pork butt (the fat side), covering all over with the sea salt, adding 1 tbsp. liquid smoke and then wrapping tightly with foil – making sure to remember which side the fat is on as you want that to go fat side up on the Egg.
I’ve tried this recipe with banana leaves as well and it did not turn out quite as nice – the problem was that the banana leaves caused a hole in the saran wrap and foil that was covering them, causing all the juices to escape – so I just run this one on foil now – making sure that it’s secure and won’t drip. The juice on this recipe is pure gold!
Cook the pork butt for at least 1 hour per pound before you even lift the dome to check on it. Carefully insert your probe through the foil and check for temp. You are looking for 190-200 for pulled pork. So if it’s not in that range, close your dome and let it keep cooking.
Once you hit that magical zone, pull the pork butt off the BGE and let it sit in the foil for an hour or so to cool. Make sure you have a drip tray/bowl under the butt when you unwrap it to catch all the juice. Drain the pork butt then pull it (you should be able to do this with your hands) and then serve – I unusually pour the drippings back over the pork just before serving.
Preferred serving method in our household consists of Kalua Pulled Pork over white rice and a lime wedge on the side – trust me, the lime wedge/juice will really set off your recipe.
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Liquid smoke? Really??
C’mon man!
Don’t knock it till you try it! Seriously though, it transforms with the salt to make the most delicious sauce
Yep. Liquid Smoke always gets a pretty negative reception in the world of BBQ, but I’ll be honest – I think it can lend a great additional layer of smoke flavor when used sparingly.
Also, in the dead of winter, when I’m REALLY craving pulled pork, but don’t want to brave the elements to smoke a butt on my Kamado Joe, it’s a godsend for crockpot pulled pork! It always holds me over until the weather eases up.
Without the banana leaf, are you still wrapping in Saran Wrap and foil?