Servings: 6 to 8
This juicy, flavorful pork takes time—a few hours to brine, overnight to marinate, and 7 or 8 hours to smoke. It’s mostly hands off, and well worth it. In Jamaica, this is street food that’s eaten with rice and peas, grilled corn, or fried cornbread called festival.
In a large measuring cup, combine all the brine ingredients with 3-1/2 cups water. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve.
Pour the brine into the bag with the pork, squeeze out any air, and seal, or cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 and up to 6 hours.
Stir the rum and molasses into 1 cup of the mixture and reserve for basting.
Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry. Discard the brine.
Use a fork or the tip of a sharp knife to poke holes all over the pork. Return to the bag or bowl. Pour the remaining marinade over the pork, squeeze out any air, and seal, or cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 8 and up to 24 hours.
Prepare a grill for indirect cooking over medium-low heat (300°F to 325°F) following the directions below.
Remove the pork from the marinade and place on the cool side of the grill, fat side up. Cover the grill and cook for 2 hours.
Using a silicone brush, baste the pork with the reserved basting liquid every 30 minutes until it’s used up. Continue cooking until tender when pierced with a fork and an instant-read thermometer registers 190°F in the center, another 5 to 6 hours, checking the temperature on the grill.
Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Let it rest until cool enough to handle. Remove teh pork from teh bone, cut into 2-inch chunks, and serve.
Made this for our Christmas dinner on my Traeger. I like things spicy and so put at least double the habeneros in the recipe and some serranos because...well they were there. Overall, it was a real hit! I'd classify this as flavorful, not spicy and you might want to bump things up a little with a good spicy sauce on the side. And honestly, the leftovers were even better the next day. I plan to use this recipe for my turkey next Thanksgiving .
My wife loved it. Me? Meh. First, the fat. I left it on, since the recipe called for having it facing up while cooking. Pork has enough fat inside to keep it moist. I should have taken it off, but thought it would render. It didn't. (Cooked on a Traeger for 9 hours total.) The bark that was lost when the fat was trimmed prior to serving was a tragedy. Second, you need to set aside a large chunk of time to make this. Lastly, the flavor. It just didn't make my taste buds happy.
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