Pulled Pork

Remove the pork neck from the refrigerator and pat it dry with some paper towels. Now cut away any loose pieces of meat and fat. Are there thick pieces of fat on the outside of the meat? Then cut these away too, because your rub can't soak in here.

Take most of your BBQ Rub and rub the meat with it. Then wrap the meat with cling film and place it in the refrigerator, where the flavors can soak in overnight.

The preparation of pulled pork can take a long time, for a two-pound piece of pork neck it takes 7 to 11 hours, but for a larger piece of meat it can add up to a preparation time of 16 hours. Therefore, always start well in advance, so that you are at least ready on time. The meat will stay warm for a while after cooking, so it's not bad if you finish 2 hours earlier.

Take the meat out of the refrigerator, but do not unwrap it yet. In a large bowl, mix the apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Pour 400 milliliters of this mixture into your plant sprayer. Next, mix the remaining BBQ rub into the rest of the apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Now take the marinade injector and use the mixture of apple juice, vinegar and rub to inject the meat with. Do this in several places in the meat.

Now light the BBQ and prepare it for indirect heat and a temperature of about 120 degrees Celsius (248 Fahrenheit). Has the temperature been reached? Then add some smoke wood (I often use chunks of apple smoke wood) to the burning coals. Then remove the meat from the cling film and place it on the BBQ. Do you have a core thermometer with a probe on a wire? Then insert the probe into the meat now and close the BBQ with the lid.

The pork neck is now allowed to cook gently to a core temperature of 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit), spraying it with the plant spray every half hour with the mixture of apple juice and apple cider vinegar.

Has the temperature reached 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit)? Then brush the meat all around with half of the BBQ sauce. Close the BBQ again with the lid and let the meat cook for another 1.5 hours.

After 1.5 hours, temporarily remove the meat from the BBQ. Wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and put it back on the BBQ. Now cook the meat to a core temperature of 88 degrees Celsius (190 Fahrenheit) and start from there to feel if the meat is good. Because the meat is wrapped, the easiest way to do this is with a skewer. Stick it into the meat from time to time until the meat feels buttery soft. The skewer will then go through the meat without effort. As mentioned, this can be the case as early as a core temperature of 88 degrees Celsius (190 Fahrenheit), but it can also take longer. Sometimes pulled pork even cooks through to a core temperature of 95 or 96 degrees Celsius (203 to 205 Fahrenheit).

Is the meat done? Then remove it from the BBQ and place it in a large bowl. Now carefully unwrap the meat and catch up all the juices. Now wrap the meat again tightly, in aluminum foil and now let it rest for an hour. Don't think you can skip that resting, because first of all, the meat is much too hot to pull right away and secondly, resting ensures that the juices distribute a bit more over the meat and thus you get a juicier result.

Meanwhile, mix the collected juices with a few tablespoons of BBQ Sauce and some of the mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. After an hour, remove the meat from the aluminum foil again and place it in a large bowl. Now pull the meat, with 2 forks or meat claws, into pulled pork and mix in the sauce you just made.

You can, of course, eat the pulled pork on its own, but it is best served on a soft white bun with coleslaw and a little BBQ sauce. Enjoy your meal!