How about a weird cooking question?

[Critterfixer]

Situation: One large pork shoulder, prepared with a dry rub for BBQ, to be refrigerated overnight and cooked tomorrow.

Equipment lacking: no grill.

 

But I really want to get some authentic smoke flavor and I'm feeling adventurous.

 

My recipe calls for a close to 275 fire for 3 hours, followed by 350 in the oven for an additional two hours. So a five hour slow cook, basically.

 

I don't have a grill or easy access to one, and I was going to bake the sucker in the oven. BUT...

I've got this great fireplace. Roomy. And a pile of well seasoned, clean red oak wood. Nice bed of coals should develop overnight....

 

CAN I BBQ the roast in my fireplace? Pretty please? Or will we all get worms? (I am still planning on finishing the roast in the oven as the recipe directs.)

[Mergath]

I've never done it, but apparently it's possible:

 

http://www.thekitchn.com/taming-the-flame-tips-for-cook-134707

[Flowing Brook]

hmmm. You might could, just when the meat looks cooked put it in the oven or maybe better the broiler for twenty minutes to kill worms.

[thebacabunch]

I would invest in a bottle of liquid smoke and add a bit to your rub.

[nevergiveup]

In spite of lack of barbeque sauce, many of our ancestors did the same thing.

[LaxMom]

I would invest in a bottle of liquid smoke and add a bit to your rub.

 

 

I would too. Or just put a pan of water with a little liquid smoke in it in the oven with the roast.

 

I can't imagine what a pork roast would do to your fireplace.

[jhschool]

Do it in the oven.

 

Later, try your fireplace with smaller amounts of food like bread or small pieces of meat

and check out if things are cooking properly in the middle. If after several tries with

smaller pieces you are convinced it is safe, then go ahead and try a large piece of meat

on some other occasion.

 

But for today, do it in the oven. I don't think 20 minutes in the oven afterwards will kill

worms.

 

And if it were something other than pork I would feel better about it. Pork can have very

bad parasites, that you definitely want killed.

Slow cook it for 5 hours in the oven and save the fireplace for another day when you

are sure of its safety.

 

Of course, these are just suggestions.

[Critterfixer]

Well, the parasite thing was very tongue in cheek. It's supermarket pork, it's a massive shoulder and I'm cooking it until it falls apart whether it is in the oven or the BBQ pit. No real fear of Trichina.

 

I'm intrigued by the article Mergath found. Now I'm not doing open grilling with this pork, but I'm really tempted to do more of my meat in there as shown--I've even got a reason to go get that cast iron griddle I've been wanting.

 

So I'm going to go for it.

I've got my massive cast iron dutch oven to sear the monster in, so I'm going to start by setting that pot above the coals and searing the roast in there. Then I plan on setting the cast iron pot to the side of the coal bed, for indirect exposure to the heat and I'll set my soaked hickory chips in packets on the coals, adding a packet every 1 and 1/2 hours. I'll keep the flue set to half open to build the smoke behind the fireplace doors. After four hours I plan on removing the roast, testing the pull-apart quality. If I want, at that point I'll oven roast it for 2 more hours, bag it in paper when it comes out, rest for an hour and then pull it apart.

 

Here goes nothin! It will be late when the results are in, but I'll post updates!

Now this is a project! Please let us know how it goes. I assume that you want that nice smokey taste in the meat, so are you planning to keep the lid on the dutch oven or leave it uncovered?

[Cosmos]

I've got my massive cast iron dutch oven to sear the monster in, so I'm going to start by setting that pot above the coals and searing the roast in there. Then I plan on setting the cast iron pot to the side of the coal bed, for indirect exposure to the heat and I'll set my soaked hickory chips in packets on the coals, adding a packet every 1 and 1/2 hours. I'll keep the flue set to half open to build the smoke behind the fireplace doors. After four hours I plan on removing the roast, testing the pull-apart quality. If I want, at that point I'll oven roast it for 2 more hours, bag it in paper when it comes out, rest for an hour and then pull it apart.

 

Wait, wait, wait. I'm worried about carbon monoxide. I was also wondering how you were going to keep the smoke in your fireplace and out of your living room, but I see you have fireplace doors.

 

But carbon monoxide? The flue half open and hours and hours of a smoky fire doesn't sound like a good combination to me. Do you at least have a working detector in the room where the fireplace is? Can you open windows for fresh air?

[Critterfixer]

OK: Update 1

The sear

By 10:00 the fire from this am was down to an immese bed of glowing coals, still quite hot. At 9:00 I had put out the pork shoulder to warm prior to cooking, which helps with the sear. (Don't worry--remember it is going to be falling off the bones when done. No fears of food poisoning!) I positioned my large cast iron dutch oven directly on the flat coal bed with the roast in place, skin side down. Ten minutes on that side, then I used my long fire iron to wrangle the pot out to me. No burns here, thanks! I flipped it, (gorgeous sear!) and did ten minutes on the other side. Because my fireplace hooks into my central heat the entire house now smells like BBQ. I then pulled the roast in the pan out, using the fire iron and set it on end, and applied a loose heat shield to the side that would be facing the flame for the next hour or so. The heat shield is a double thickness of foil, very loose. I then raked the coals to the very back of the fireplace, then set my pot in the front for indirect heat. I added two packets of soaked hickory chips (1 cup each) to the coals and a handful of wet chips directly on the coals for good measure.

So far, so good. Smells awesome in here.

 

Now for the questions:

1) No, I don't plan on covering it. It's hot enough in there, and I am doing this for the smoke flavor, because it just seems such a waste to have all that great red oak flavor going up the chimney. But I am planning on the foil shield on whatever side faces the flames.

2) Yes I have a carbon monoxide detector. It's going to be warm enough to open the windows. I open the flue every time I open the fireplace to check on the roast and that lets out all the smoke. We use this fireplace for our source of heat in the winter, and it actually hooks into our central heat and air. It's a pretty awesome thing, even if it does take a lot of wood to run. We've never yet had any issue with setting the flue for about half flow, but we always have our carbon monoxide detector armed and dangerous from the day we start the fire. I'll be tending the roast at least every hour, so we'll get a good drain of smoke and anything evil on the hour.

[Critterfixer]

Update 2

The first hour:

 

The first turn of the roast was one hour from the beginning of the smoke time, roughly 11:30. At that time I added one cup of wet hickory chips to the open coals, and pulled the pot out of the fireplace to turn it and check it. The smell, is, naturally, pretty yummy. I noted one thing right away. You need a dedicated fireplace pot. I'm not sure I will ever get this pot clean--however, it happened to be the camp pot, so a charred look isn't a big deal. I will have to report on the clean-up when all is said and done.

I was concerned about the meat drying out, so I did add about 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot, but honestly, I don't think I needed to have worried about it. I did an overnight dry rub with salt, so the meat should stay well hydrated, and when I poked it with the fork to turn it around it fairly spurted moisture at me. I turned the other side to the flame and replaced the heat shield. I also added two small sticks of red oak to the top of the coals to make sure I have enough fire for the next two hours.

The smoke smell is quite good with the hickory when I opened the doors.

 

Next update in about an hour.

[Critterfixer]

Update 3

The second hour.

 

Turned the roast again at 12:30. The exterior is rosy and a little charred, just the way I want it to protect the meat inside the skin. I added another cup of soaked wood chips directly on the coals. I have now decided that the foil packets that I would normally use for the grill are not needed in the fireplace. Chips directly on the hot coals seem sufficient and are easier-no foil to pick out of the ashes. BUT--I think I'd better do a quick soak on another lot of chips, because they seem to burn a lot faster. No more firewood was needed, and I don't think I'll have to add any more for the remaining cooking time. I also added one more cup of water to the pot.

The meat itself is beginning to get tender on the side that was facing the flame last.

[Critterfixer]

Update 4:

The third hour.

 

Turned the meat again and reset the foil shield. No water is needed as there is still a good cup of water and juices in the bottom of the pot. I added another cup to cup and a half of soaked hickory chips to the coal pile and added two very small sticks of wood. Not that the fire is near out, but it's doing so very well in there that I'm simply going to lid the pot and let it go the last two hours of cooking in the fire place.

The meat is now cooked, but not quite tender enough yet to pull apart. However, I stripped a few small pieces off for taste testing. My assesment was smoky and well flavored with the brine, fully seasoned.

The DH, who loves BBQ gave the comment of "approaching awesomeness." Dear man.

He wants to take some of the meat over to the FIL who will get a kick out of the method of cooking.

There are still a good twohours to go. I'm going to let some more smoke perk for another 30 minutes and then close the lid.

[Critterfixer]

Last update:

Final

The roast cooked in the fireplace, covered for almost 2 hours. Pulled at that point and raked off enough for dinner, but the center, although cooked fully, just wasn't tender enough. So we had the sample plate for dinner with some BBQ sauce and it was very good. Nice and smoky. The remainder I put in the oven covered to continue to bake until it was more tender. At six it wasn't quite falling off the bone, but good enough.

 

Conclusion: Roasting pork in your fireplace if you can close the doors does impart a nice smoky flavor to the meat if one doesn't have a grill/smoker.

Pros-It's sort of fun. I didn't even get singed, and it was easier than hefting my pot in and out of the oven constantly.

Cons-the pot is a mess. I'll get it off, but I may have to use hearth cleaner to do it. Good thing it's my camp pot! In the future I will foil the pot before putting the meat in it to smoke.

Total time is about the same as the last time I made this recipe the traditional way. Flavor is much, much better.

I'll likely tackle the project again sometime.

[LaxMom]

You are a brave and enterprising woman!

[Mrs_JWM]

I like that you assured us that no one would get worms. Phew - one more worry for me to check off my list! ;)

 

So glad this worked - what a fun idea!