Pulled Pork on the Weber Summit Kamado

 Pulled pork is easy. 

Smoking on the Weber Summit Kamado is easy. 

So with this setup it's very difficult to mess up!

I will show you the method I used for this cook, but I often change up my method. The single most import factor for any smoked meat, including pulled pork, is Time and Temp. Make sure you cook it for long enough and get it hot enough to pull apart easily. This will can take anywhere from 5-12 hours depending on the temperatures and method you use. (If you think it's "done" after three hours, its probably not, it definitely needs more time to break down.)

 I started with a Boneless Pork "Boston Butt" Shoulder from Costco. They are cheap, uniform, and readily available. You can also use a bone-in pork shoulder. You can also use the Picnic cut, which is the lower part of the whole shoulder, or the "pork neck" cut, which is sort of a half Boston Butt popular in Europe.

 I like to score the fat. This ensures a crispier final product and lets more seasoning and binder and smoke and flavor down into the meat. This isn't necessary, especially for Pulled Pork, but I like to do it. I find I have more bit of tasty bark in the final product if I do this.

I generally use a Binder and Rub. Binders are "controversial" right now in that many people say you don't need them, and they're right that you don't need them, but the Binder allows you to add another layer of flavor, and also allows more seasoning to stick to the meat. I like to pick a Binder that complements the flavor profile I am using. Yellow Mustard is "standard" but the subtle tumeric hints don't really stand out against a typical aggressive seasoning, and the dominant vinegar notes are lost and sweated away during the cook. So like to use Hot Sauce if I'm going for a Spicy Rub, a sweet BBQ Sauce if I 'm going for a Sweet Rub, and Spicy Brown Mustard if I'm going for classic Barbecue Flavors.

This Pork seasoning I picked up has a lot of brown sugar and sweeter notes, so I used Sweet Baby Rays, the sweetest BBQ sauce I can think of, as my binder. (Later on we will balance this sweetness with a more aggressive smoke.) 
 

 One benefit of the boneless Pork Butt from Costco is you can fold it open and get seasoning inside this. Always do this when you have the opportunity. I dry brined this, meaning I left it in the fridge uncovered overnight. This helps draw more flavor in. When used without a binder, this can also dry it out and reduce your cook time. With a binder, your cook time will probably remain the same.

 

One reason I like the Weber Summit Kamado is that I can fit whole logs or wood splits into the base. This allows for an aggressive smoke profile. What you see here is a Mesquite Log, my personal favorite wood.

 

Simply place in the log in the Summit and cover it with coals.

 I am using Kingsford Professional Briquettes from Costco because they're what I have. I also like to use Natural Lump, which for most brands produces a subtle campfire flavor. Extruded Charcoal is good also; it produces no flavors at all and lasts especially long. 

I am using the Baskets from Slow and Sear. They replaced by aging, rusted, warping Weber Charcoal Baskets. They are much thicker, made of durable 304 Stainless Steel (instead of Chromed Stainless Steel), and a little bit taller. But they still fit in the base. They do NOT fit on the "second rack" under the grill grate since they are designed for the Weber Kettle, but they do work for me here.

I am using them as "void space" for a full 16-20+ hour Brisket cook I either would not use them at all, or I would use them filled with coals. But here I am using them to keep the coals and the log together for what I assume will be a shorter 5-10 hour cook.

 Not pictured is me placing a firestarter under some of the coals and lighting them directly. No chimney today! I want a lower, slower fire. Instead of my usual 275F-325F which I usually do for pork, I am doing a lower 225F because I don't want the brown suger in my rub to burn. In retrospect I absolutely could have done 250F-275F just fine, and it probably would have worked better. Sometimes you can go too low and dry the meat out without cooking it fast enough, like a food dehydrator.

 We put the deflector on, put a drip pan on, and put the pork on. I like to use a water bath with every cook, so I filled it with water. I find it helps maintain even temps. Part of the pork flap is falling off to the side; a balled up piece of foil will keep it next to the full butt for even cooking.

 Now comes the easy part. We keep the top and bottom vents cracked and we just let it ride at temp the whole way. I was aiming for 225F the whole time and that's essentially what I got. It may have spiked to 250F or as low as 200F but pork can take the variation. Again, in retrospect, I should have aimed for a little bit hotter, in which case I'd have cracked the vents a little bit more open, but the grill held the temperature I wanted at the time, for pretty much the entire time.

 A few hours in and everything is looking fantastic. Despite my best efforts, part of the seasoning is darkening faster than I'd like, but there's nothing I could have done to prevent that except use a different seasoning.

 Later on I added some wings, as an appetizer for dinner. I'll do a post on those later. At this point I really should have wrapped the pork since the bark was set. But, I chose not to, and the pork still turned out fantastic. 

Both are coming along nicely.

 Under a 275F fire my pork would eventually have hit 205F-206F and been ready to pull off. But at the <225F heat I was going, it was done at around 190F. The trick is to go by feel. It probed extremely tender, and at 11 hours in I knew any further I'd be drying it out. So I pulled it off and shredded it up. My favorite method for shredding (after seeing it on American's Test Kitchen) is to put it in a blender with additional seasoning, juices from the cook, and a pinch of MSG. This results in every bite of pork having a great, juicy flavor. 

Since I never wrapped, I was unable to preserve the juices (and a TON of fat rendered out) so this pork was slightly dryer than I am used to. It was still delicious, and VERY smokey. Might have been the smokiest pork I've ever made. 

 The Pork is so smokey and meaty that it really needs a sweet sauce to balance it out. I normally don't use Sweet Baby Rays but this smokey Marlborough Pork really benefited from the sweetness it added.

 The next day we look at the fire, and see a good portion of the log is still intact. Probably could have smoked on that for another 3+ hours! The Summit really allows you to smoke for a LONG time if you use a proper setup.

Smoker Tier List

 

 

This tier list of smokers will probably ruffle some feathers.

Charcoal Grill Tier List

•  This is based on Charcoal Grills, only. Although Smoke and indirect functions were taken into account, I am not listing dedicated smokers, like Barrel Smokers, Weber Smokey Mountains, or Offsets.
•  I am including things like, Versatility, Durability, Ease-of-use, and Value.
•  I have not used all of these grills. In fact, I do not believe I have used most of these. This is based off of reviews that I've read, watched, and seen, as well as my own experiences.
• This shouldn't be used as a buying guide. If you want any assistance with picking out a new grill, comment or reach out.  

Were Vintage Grills Better?

 

Short answer: No.

Long answer: 

 I recently purchased the Woodland Brazier.  It markets itself, "FOR THE BEST IN BARBECUING" and features an ADJUSTABLE 3 position GRATE

 

It cost me $30 at an antique store, which I thought was a pretty good deal considering it has obviously never been used and still has the original packaging.

Rest assured, this is a collector's item and I will not use it myself... at least, not without taking extreme care to ensure that the charcoal does not damage the paint job. 

It is VERY basic. One could accomplish the same with with a stainless steel cookie sheet over a campfire. Or a few coals in a Cast Iron Skillet they don't mind ruining the seasoning on. Or a stainless steel pan they don't mind warping.

If you watch videos of how to grill from the 1950s-1960s, the instructions explain that the griller has to constantly baste the meat. Because if they don't, it will burn, being so close to the coals.

Probably the neatest, most "advanced" feature on the Brazier is the 3-position grate system. This allows for cooking over the coals in roughly 1" increments, allowing for close direct heat, medium direct heat, and far direct heat. (I'll be doing a post later on as for why controlling direct heat is important.) But aside from that, the Brazier has almost no features of convenience.

 

There is no charcoal rack, which would allow for better airflow under the charcoal. 

There are no vents, which allows for better airflow into the charcoal and over the food, and ideally out a lid vent.

But this has no lid, which would allow for smoking and indirect cooking. 

I have an $8 clearance grill from Target that has all of these things. 

 It also has a carrying handle, foldable legs, and a sturdier grate. 

The grate on the Woodland Brazier is a single coiled piece of metal spot-welded to a second, bent piece of metal. 

In nearly every respect the $8 Grill Smith [MADE IN CHINA] is a superior grill. 

But there's something about the Woodland Brazier that harkens back to a simpler, happier, more optimistic time. It was made in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City. Its bright colors show an optimistic post-war mentality. The future was bright and fun. 

From a historical, I find this grill interesting. For literally millions of years, people have been cooking over fire. People have been cooking over fire since before they were people. Pre-human proto-hominids were cooking before Homo Sapiens even evolved. At every point in history, people were cooking over fire, all over the world, in every civilization, daily. Ancient Egyptions, Ancient Romans, Ancient Mesopotamians, Ancient Native Americans, Ancient Chinese, Medieveal Peasants, during the Renaissance, and before the Industrial Revolution, people were cooking over fire everywhere all the time. Grilling and smoking wasn't special, it was just "cooking." It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the gas oven and the electric oven that people forgot how to cook with fire. It wasn't until around 1900 that, suddenly, Grilling and Smoking became primitive and old-fashioned. It wasn't for another 40-50 years that it was then re-discovered as a unique, special outdoor thing practiced by only enthusiasts. And what did these enthusiasts, these consumers, these New York City dwellers do? They had to buy a product to cook over fire, they had to buy a product to do what humans had been doing for nearly a million years. 

And the Woodland Brazier wasn't unique, there are a lot of "grills" that are extremely basic and do little more than hold a grate over some coals. The most advanced ones included a rotisserie. 

But the best grills in the 1950s had lids, vents, and allowed for precise temperature control. Those better products still survive to today, those brands like Weber and PK Grills, mostly unchanged from the original.

Two Steaks One Way, Sous Vide then Grilled

For Friday night dinner I decided to cook up some steaks. I was out all day and so I sous-vide them while I was out. 

One was a Wegmans Strip Steak

One was a Tenderloin Filet from the Butcher.

 I dry-brined them in the fridge, salt only, for about an hour beforehand. I did not want to over brine them.

 

I sous-vide them for 133F, which I have found is a good temp for a perfect Medium-Rare. I ended up having them submerged for about eight hours total, which I believe was too long. In the future I think I will stick to 4 hours maximum for steaks. 

When they were done, they looked just fine, grey and unappetizing but extremely tender, which is what you want from a Sous-Vide cook. I patted them down with paper towels and let them come to room temperature before coating them in black pepper. I fired up the small grill for a sear. I re-used standard Kingsford charcoal for this. It re-lit just fine (but last time was a very short cook) though I'm not sure I could use them again.

I seared both until they had a nice, dark, blackened crust and plenty of browning where there wasn't black. The Interior temp never went above the original 133F, so this really was Textbook Medium Rare. I was surprised that the interior was a solid pink as opposed to red. Perhaps the long sous-vide?

 

Anyway, the Steak tasted fantastic from NEARLY all perspectives, except one. The flavor was great, very beefy, well salted but not overly so, and enough pepper for a slight kick. It was EXTREMELY tender. The filet nearly melted in my mouth and the strip steak had a pleasant "bite" but no real "chew" at all. We were happy with the steaks. 

Except that I personally felt they were too dry. My wife did not agree with me, though she remarked that the Tenderloin was actually too tender for her tastes.

So I think they were sous-vide for too long. That accounts for the extreme tenderness, and it accounts for the dryness. I had heard that overcooking in the sous-vide step can dry out all of the juices, and that's how I felt. Next time I would sous vide for less time, OR serve a long sous-vide steak with a sauce, or at least melted butter. NEXT TIME!

 

Natural Lump Charcoal vs. Briquettes vs. Extruded Charcoal

I've been grilling for over a decade and I've used all kinds of charcoal. There are LOT of opinions out there on charcoal, a lot of generalizations, and lot of just wrong information. 

 

I'm going to start by mentioning the things that are universally true of nearly every charcoal in the category. These three things are not opinions, but are absolutely true and everyone would agree with. The only exception to the following rules would be odd one-off brand-specific differences, things like Lump made from coconut husk or rare acacia wood.

• Natural Lump Charcoal is essentially whole wood chunks that have been baked without oxygen. It looks like campfire leftovers. It produces much less ash than both Briquettes or Extruded. It has no binders at all and therefore always burns more completely. Even the cheapest, worst natural lump produces less ash than the best briquettes. This is why Ceramic Kamados should use this type of charcoal exclusively. 
  
  
  
   
• Briquettes are the standard charcoal you think of. They are made of sawdust compressed with a binder, then baked. Briquettes are the best product for small fires. If you are trying to smoke in a portable grill or light just a handful of coals, you absolutely must use briquettes. The binder burns through first, allowing even a single briquette to stay lit on its own with proper airflow. Natural Lump Charcoal burns from the outside in and requires a minimum critical mass to crate a large enough coal pocket to maintain the fire.

• Extruded charcoals is also a sawdust mixture that has been compressed without binders into a tight ring and pressed out through a hole. Extruded Charcoal is the densest product, and therefore burns the longest. It is also the most difficult to light. 

This is a good website for ranking charcoals: https://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Now, everything else from here on out will be my personal opinion.

I personally use all three and tend to buy whatever is cheapest, or most interesting. I buy Natural Lump when it is under $1/lb and I buy name-brand briquettes or Extruded under 50c/lb. I do not like cheap, no-name briquettes and I only really use them in a pinch, or to do a burn off of the grill, or to light Extruded. 

My honest preference for smoking is Natural Lump. I personally find that in my conditions, with restricted airflow, Lump lasts longer than Briquettes (though not as long as Extruded). I also find that it produces a natural, pleasant aroma that complements most smoking woods. I'm used to how it lights, how it burns, and how it tastes. 

 

Good briquettes, like Kingsford Professional from Costco, or Binchotan Charcoals, produce no aroma at all and the smoke flavor comes from the smoking wood, not the flavor. 

When I buy Natural Lump, I try and buy American Made. Firstly because I like to support American Industry, but also because South American Lump Charcoal probably made from felled Rainforest.

Many Briquettes I use produce an off-odor when lighting up. After a few minutes it burns clean. But, Natural Lump smells like a natural camp-fire when lighting up. So, if I need to add new charcoal to an ongoing cook, I always add Natural Lump, even if I started with Briquettes.

My personal favorite brands are Rockwood and B&B. Cowboy and Royal Oak are fine in a pinch. Kingsford Profession from Costco is my go-to for Briquettes, and B&B Char-Logs are the extruded product I use most.

Weber Summit Kamado vs. Big Green Egg vs. Kamado Joe vs. Primo Grill

Let me start this by saying I am not a grill snob at all. You can smoke by digging a hole in the ground. You can grill with a few cinderblocks and a grate. I have an $8 clearance grill that I still use. But I also have a $1250 Weber Summit Kamado. Both produce fantastic food but its a lot easier to cook on and maintain the Summit. It also fits a LOT more food!

 

Three years ago, in Spring of 2022 I was in the market for a new primary grill. I had a Big Green Egg (Medium size) and wanted something larger. I was initially between the BGE and the Kamado Joe. After some research, I was between the Weber Summit Kamado (which, spoiler, I eventually purchased) and the Kamado Joe. After cooking on the Summit for three years I am convinced that I made the right choice. If I was in the market again, I'd buy the Summit again, although I might consider a Primo XL for reasons I'll outline below. Here are the Big Green Egg Medium and the Weber Summit Kamado side by side:

It's worth noting that not all Ceramic Kamados are built the same. Here is the founder and owner of Primo Grills doing a factory walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1b_A0GdHoU . At around the five minute mark, he puts a bunch of competitor Kamados through the same kiln process that the Primo goes through. The Primo and the Big Green Egg are unscathed. The Kamado Joe has significant structural cracks, and the cheap Chinese Kamado has just melted into oblivion.  

Up next, here's Amazing Ribs talking about the drawbacks of Ceramic Kamados (which really boils down to the inability to do multi-zone grilling well):
https://amazingribs.com/ratings-reviews/grill-smoker-combos/kamado-ceramic/

And, there are a few things that ceramic cookers like the BGE or the Primo do better than the Summit:

Ceramic Pros:

• Temperature retention. Because they're so heavy (the Big Joe is nearly 500 lbs), there's a LOT of thermal mass there. Meaning when you get your temp dialed in perfectly, the temp swings are going to be a lot more gradual. This may make them better in extreme Winter climates, like Canada.

• Baking. Ceramic Kamados are essentially brick ovens you can open. Because the lid gets so hot, and holds that heat, it will radiate evenly down from the top, allowing for pizzas or even bread baking.

• Rustproof. Because they're ceramic, the body of the cooker won't rust. The cooking grates will rust, of course, as will the hinges and bands and doors, but those can be replaced easily. Having said that, most people don't have problems with Weber grills rusting unless they're in extremely salty, damp environments. This might be why Kamados are preferred in Hawaii and other island communities.

  
  
   

Weber Summit Pros:

• Versatility. This is the biggest reason I like the Summit. It can do any cook out there. I can sear a steak at 1000+ degrees or smoke a brisket at 225, within minutes of each other. I can set up half the grill for direct and half for indirect. I have a second rack, allowing for up close searing, and further away roasting. I can do a charcoal snake or a kamado-style indirect with covered coals in the base. I can use briquettes or natural lump or char-logs. I can smoke with chips or chunks or even split logs. BGE's really have two modes of cooking: direct and indirect, and you have to pick which one you want before the cook. Kamado Joes have a system that allows you to do half-and-half, but you can't really change it up mid-cook.

• Temperature Control. The Summit is a lot lighter and it has less thermal mass. If you overshoot or undershoot your temps during a cook, its really easy to recover and adjust.

• Durability. The Summit is made out of steel. Mine has fallen over and had a cantilevered umbrella fall on it, and there was no damage or scratches at all. Worse comes to worse, it MIGHT dent, which would be a minor blemish. A ceramic cooker will shatter. I had the inside portion of my egg crack after years of use. BGE replaced it on warranty with no questions asked but it still happened.

• Portability. Because the Summit is a lot lighter it can be pushed around with ease. I move mine around on the patio depending on whether its raining or where I feel like sitting that day. I move it into the grass to clean it. I would never move my egg except how you might move furniture. It was very heavy, fragile, and generally stationary.

• Ash management. The Summit has the Weber ash cleaning system which allows you to easily clean out ash, even in the middle of a cook. This is important because on the Egg I would run into issues where the ash would buildup so much it would impede airflow and temps would drop. Cleaning out the ash on the egg requires complete disassembly and simply isn't possible during a cook. The Kamado Joe is a little bit easier with its ash drawer, but you can still get ash buildup all around the edges that require disassembly to clean.

• Cleanability. You can wash it with a garden hose, inside and out, scrub it with soap and water, or organic cleaner, or whatever you like. Ceramic cookers are very porous and you're not supposed to use any cleaners or liquids on them. All you can do is burn them super hot to burn all the gunk away... which you can also do on the Summit. 

  
  
   

If I were to buy a new cooker tomorrow, I'd buy the Summit all over again. If I were 100% invested in getting a Ceramic cooker, I'd get something that can do multiple zones, like the Primo.