Pliny the Elder Clone

 Back in 2016 I attempted to brew up a clone of Russian River's famous Pliny the Elder.  The beer turned out to be dark, murky, and didn't carbonate.  It tasted pretty good but was clearly not a very well made beer.  I'd like to think I've come a long way since then so I've decided to try making this again.

This recipe will be based on one that the Vinnie (the owner of RR) provided - found on the Bertus Blog.  Below is my interpretation of the recipe (which is all in percentages).  The grain bill is pretty simple with just a touch of caramel malt (which is about 25% of what we had last time which should help with the color) and some sugar to create a dryer and lighter bodied beer.  The hops are the star of the show - this recipe has a pretty big dose of flame out hops (although maybe not that high compared with the hazy beers being made today) and I've opted to dry hop with 8 oz which should create a satisfyingly hoppy Double IPA

I'm diverging a bit from the recipe by using Imperial's Juice yeast but it's contributions will be pretty subtle in a beer this hoppy.

I haven't brewed a Double IPA since making this beer previously.  They had been very popular back in the early 2010s but seemed to have diminished in popularity quite a bit since then.  Pliny the Elder was a very difficult beer to get back then as well but these days you can find if fairly regularly on tap here in SEPA as well as in Norther California some 90 miles away from the Brewery (which wasn't the case just a couple years ago).  It is still an excellent beer having had it just last week - I'm excited to drink a keg worth of a (hopefully) close approximation of it.

Recipe Details:

• Grain/Adjunct:
• 14.5 lbs Pale Ale
• 4 oz Crystal 60L
• 12 oz Sugar
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 2 oz Chinook (Leaf, 12.2% AA) at 60 min
• 1 oz Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) at 30 min
• 1 Cascade (home grown) at 0 min
• 0.8 Centennial (Leaf, 8.7% AA) at 0 min
• 0.8 Amarillo (Leaf, 8.8% AA) at 0 min
• 0.8 Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) at 0 min
• 3.3 oz Simcoe (Leaf, 10.6% AA) Dry Hop
• 2.6 oz Cascade (home grown) Dry Hop
• 1.4 oz Columbus (Leaf, 14.6% AA) Dry Hop
• 0.7 oz Amarillo (Leaf, 8.8% AA) Dry Hop
• Yeast:
• Imperial Yeast A38 Juice (Using a saved yeast from last year)
• Extras:
• 13 gal Spring Water
• 1 oz CaCl
• 1 oz Gypsum
• 1 oz Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 6 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash Temp:
• 154 for 50 min
• Boil:
• 60 min (Target 60 min)
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Mid 60s (Ambient Basement Temp)
• Primary Duration:
• 3 Weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.072 (Target 1.070)
• Efficiency:
• 75% (Target 73%)
• FG:
• 1.024 (Target 1.010)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 65% (Target 85%)
• ABV:
• 6.3% (Target 7.9%)

Brewing Notes:

• 3/25/23 - Setup a yeast starter for the beer.  I wanted to see yeast activity to confirm it was a healthy pitch so I didn't put it on the stir plate this time.
• 3/26/23 - Brewday - 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Heated 11 gal of spring water up to 180 F
• Milled my grain.  Added CaCl an Gypsum so I wouldn't forget

• Moved 6 gal of strike water into the mash tun and cycled through the RIMS until the system had settled out at 164 F
• Stopped the RIMS cycle and added the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate doughballs.  Let this sit for 10 min to settle (ended at 155 F).  Cycled the RIMS at 155 F for the next 50 min
• Heated 8 gal of spring water to 180 F for the sparge
• Fly sparged until 8 gal of wort was collected.  Started heating the boil kettle after collecting 4 gal.  Had it at a boil shortly after the end of the sparge
• Boiled for 60 min
• Added the bittering hops

• Added 30 min hops
• Added sugar with 20 min left
• Added Irish Moss at 15 min
• Put in the wort chiller to sanitize with 5 min to go
• Added the zero min hops
• Left the heat on low and chilled down to 190 F
• Let the hops steep for 30 min as the temperature settled down to 170 F
• Chilled the beer down to the mid 60s
• Drained the wort into the fermenter.  Added the yeast starter during the transfer

• Measured the gravity as 1.072 and collected 6 gal of wort
• 3/27/23 - Signs of fermentation being underway by this afternoon
• 4/10/23 - It has been a couple weeks since brewday.  I'm adding the dry hop addition now and will plan to keg in a week
• 4/13/23 - Checked the gravity today and found it has only fermented down to 1.032 when I'd targeted 1.010.  I guess my aged yeast just didn't have enough vitality to do the job.  I wish I'd checked this before adding the dry hop.  Anyway, I think I'll pitch some additional yeast to try to finish the job (WLP 99)
• 4/14/23 - When I went to add the extra yeast today I found krausen still on the surface of the beer.  The gravity was down to 1.026.  I'm going to give it a few more days and will check the gravity again.
• 4/24/23 - It seemed to settle at 1.024 which I'm calling "close enough". Chilled the beer down to 35 F and added gelatin to fine the beer
• 4/28/23 - Kegged the beer - still at 1.024.
• 6/24/23 - Tasting Notes - This is a boldly flavored hop forward beer.  I think the hop aroma and flavor have subsided a little bit over the almost 2 months I've had it in the keg but it's still plenty hoppy.  The haziness isn't an intentional trait here but it does look nice (if this weren't intended to be a clone of the clear Pliny).  This was intended to be a 7.9% ABV beer and I only managed to hit 6.3% but this is still a pretty strong beer - I like drinking it but it's not a beer to do 2 of on a week night.

French Style Pork Loin Pot Roast

This is one of my favorite Recipes from America's Test Kitchen.  I've made quite a few times and always have some trouble finding it so I thought I'd capture it here for posterity.

This recipe uses a fairly elaborate process to make a pretty boring and unflavorful cut of meet (a pork loin) rich and delicious.  Note, I said pork loin which is different than a pork tenderloin.  It is a cut with a fat cap but very little intermuscular fat.  Apparently a French Pork Loin has a bit more fat.  To try to approximate a French grown pork loin this recipe butterflies the roast which sort of unrolls a log shaped roast down down to a thin flat piece of meat, adds butter to increase the richness, and then rolls it back up into the log shape.  This also allows for more surface area for seasoning the meat.  It is a really great technique.

The recipe also focuses on a spice I haven't encountered much but which is really excellent:  Herbs de Provence.  They provide an amazing aroma and flavor that really go nicely with the pork, onions, apples and garlic which make up the rest of the recipe and really enhance the cooking process while they fill the kitchen with the wonderful smell.

As you'll see below, the process is complicated but it's worth the effort.  There are a few challenging steps but for the most part it's just waiting for it to slowly cook that is difficult.  It's a great meal that nig

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs Center Cut Pork Loin

• 6 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 tbs Butter
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp Herbs de Provence
• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Granny Smith Apple Pealed Cored and cut into 1/4 in pieces
• 1 Onion chopped fine
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 cups of Sauvignon Blanc
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tbs unflavored gelatin

Process Details:

• 1/22/23:
• Pre-heated the oven to 225 F and set the rack to the lower middle position
• Sliced the garlic thin and put about three cloves worth in a pan on medium-low with 1 tbs of butter.  Cooked this until golden brown.  Once at this stage I poured the garlic and butter to a small bowl which I moved to the fridge to solidify

• With the fat side up I butterflied the pork roast out to a flat piece.  I started 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom, sliced through, parallel to the cutting board, until about an inch from the other side of the roast and then cut the remaining 2/3 side of the roast roughly in half so that it was unrolled (or unfolded like a business letter).  It doesn't need to be perfect but don't slice all the way through the meat

• I then pounded the meat to an even thickness

• Then applied 1/2 tsp of salt to both sides of the meat, 1 tsp of sugar to the inside (side without the fat), and then the garlic and butter mixture to the inside

• The meat is then rolled up  and tied with kitchen twine spaced about 1 in apart

• Herbs de Provence are sprinkle on all sides of the roast at this point

• I then heated 1 tbs of oil in my Dutch oven on medium heat and cooked the roast on the fat side and the two sides until they were each brown (the roast will sit on the bottom during the long slow roasting step so it doesn't need to be browned separately.  Remove the roast to a separate plate after the browning

• Chopped the apple and onion

• Add an additional 1 tbs of oil to the Dutch oven and then cook the onion and apple until the onion is softened (5 min or so).  Then add the garlic and cook for 30 s.  Then stir in the wine thyme and bay leaf

• Added the roast back onto the pot, covered with foil and the lid (to try to better retain moisture) and put into the oven.  Cooked until the meat registered 140 F which took about an hr

• Once cooking complete I set the roast aside tented to rest for 20 min

• Removed the bay leaf from the pot
• To make a sauce I rehydrated the gelatin in chicken stock and then added to the pot along with 1 tbs of butter.  Simmered over medium heat during this.  Added salt and pepper to the sauce for taste

• Sliced the meat and served with a generous helping of the sauce

Raspberry Mead

This will be my fourth attempt at making a mead.  I've made a Spiced Mead, a Bochet (Burnt Honey Mead), and a Braggot (Mead with some Grain derived sugar) so far.  This time I will be attempting a Mead with Fruit which is also known as a Melomel.  I will be using frozen raspberries grown in my garden last year for this.

I've decided to try 3 lbs of rasberries for this one.  I'm going to make a syrup out of it so I don't have deal with fruit solids.  I think this should be a good combo.

I made something close to a 2 gal batch of mead which seems like a good size as honey in larger amounts would get pricy and it is easy enough to make that the volume produced to hrs of work ratio is still pretty good.

It has been over 3 years since I made a mead which is hard to believe.  I look forward to going through this process again

Recipe Details:

• 7 lbs of Honey

• 3 lbs of Raspberry

• 8 oz of sugar
• 1.5 gal spring water
•  0.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient
• Red Star Premier Cuvee Yeast

Results:

• OG:
• 1.139
• FG:
• TBD
• Apparent Attenuation:
• TBD
• ABV:
• TBD

Process/Notes:

• 2/26/23 - Brewday:
• Heated 3 lbs of frozen raspberries and 8 oz of sugar in a pot until the juice had been released and the fruit had degraded down to paste
• Separated the juice and fruit solids, using a metal sieve, into the fermenter

• Added the honey to the fermenter.  Heated some of the water to boiling and added to the honey containers to get all of it out

• Put in the yeast nutrient
• Added the remaining water.  Stirred well to mix everything

• Rehydrated the dry yeast and added it to the fermenter

• Set the fermenter up in a dark corner of the basement to ferment out

Dry Cured Meat - First Attempt - Spanish Lomo

This will be my first attempt at making a Dry Cured Meat after wanting to do so for several years.  I really enjoy Prosciutto which is a Italian Dry Cured Ham.  It has a rich and earthy flavor and really lovely chewy texture.  Prosciutto is a big piece of meat and requires a couple years of aging so I'm not up for trying one but I've come across a smaller piece of Cured Pork which seems much more doable:  this is Spanish Lomo as demonstrated by the Two Guys and a Cooler YouTube channel.

Dry Cured meat is typically aged in a cool and humid aging space, similar to cheesemaking, to allow for slow and even drying.  This recipe was written to allow for making it in a normal refrigerator using dry aged steak wraps which also slow down the drying.  It seems like a simple enough process so I'm going to give it a shot.

This Spanish Lomo (which I've never tried before) is made using Pork Loin and is spiced with Paprika among other things - this recipe is made with Pork Loin.  The recipe calls for the use of "the equilibrium" curing method where salt is added at 3% by weight of the meat and it is allowed to sit in a vacuum seal bag until the salt has had time to penetrate the meat and protect and preserve it.  Following this salting (which takes about a week for this size cut) it is dried until 35% of the water is lost

I am very excited to be trying this finally  I really love doing things that require a small bit of up front work and then become something much better with time.  Dry Aging seems very much like that kind of endeavor.

Ingredients:

• 1333 g Pork Loin

• 40 g Kosher Salt
• 20 g Sugar
• 2 g Black Pepper
• 5 g Paprika
• 5 g Spicy Paprika
• 5 g Smoked Paprika
• 4 g Garlic Powder
• 3 g Onion Powder
• 1.3 Bay Leaf

Process Details:

• 1/14/23
• Mixed the spices

• Covered the Meat with the spices

• Moved the meet to a Food Saver bag and moved this to the fridge to cure for a week.  Moved all the spices that hadn't stuck to the meat into the bag as well as they will need to be allowed to absorb into the meat for the cure

• 1/22/23:
• Removed the cured meat from the bag (removed the bay leaves but left the other spices)

• Wrapped it in the steak wraps and then a netting

• Weighed the meat as 1324 g (so, we'll be shooting for 860 g as our final weight)
• Moved the meat to a wrack in the fridge for drying

• 1/29/23 - Weighed the meat after 1 week at 1162 g.  It has firmed up a fair amount already
• 2/12/23 - Weighed the meat as 1031 g (lost 22% against the target of 35% so far)
• 2/19/23 - It now weighs 995g
• 2/26/23 - It is down to 956g.  The outside layer that is face up after the week is pretty dry and hard.  This seems to even out a bit after being on the down side for a week..

• 3/5/23 - Now down to 928g
• 3/12/23 - It is now 910g
• 3/19/23 - Measured the weight as 875g this morning and flipped it again
• 3/26/23 - The meat is down to 860g - Done! 
• The dry cure wrap has dried out a lot:

• I had to run it under cold water to soften up the wrap such that it could be scraped off (it turns into a gelatin)

• Cut it in half.  It looks really nice.  The bottom is pretty dry which isn't unexpected given that it aged in the fridge

• Sliced it on a home meat slicer my mother had from 30 years ago.  It does a really good paper thin slice.  I'll review the flavor later but it is a really nice flavor - the paprika smoky and spicy flavors really compliment the meat

• I decided to vacuum seal it and let it mature in the fridge to maybe reduce the dry ring a bit

Munich Dunkel - Take III

This is my third attempt at the Munich Dunkel Style (read about the first and second).  This is one of my favorite styles of beer - I really love the bready malt character in these as well as the great drinkability.  

Like with my last 2 attempts I will be executing a decoction step mash for this beer.  With this procedure you pull grain from the mash, boil it, and then add it back to the main mash.  This provides a controlled way to raise the temperature of the mash through the conversion range.  Additionally the boil is thought to create some of the color and malty flavor elements in the beer.  This could probably be achieved with specialty malts but the process is kind of fun and it worked well last time so I'll do it again.

Like with my last beer I'll be using only Munich Malt.  I'm going to make 10.5 gal this time to fill 2 kegs with beer (the second 5 gal will have an extended lager time while I drink the first so it will be interesting to see if that changes the character at all).  The last beer came in at over 6% ABV as my efficiency was better than expected and it attenuated a higher percentage than I'd hoped.  I intend to bring this beer in at 5% ABV.

I'll be using low AA Tettnanger hops like last time and will try to bitter to about 22 IBU.  This style is balanced towards the malt so the hops are largely in the background offering just a slight bit of bitterness to offset any sweetness.

I'll be using Wyeast's Munich Later strain (my first attempt with it).  This will be started at 50 F.  It supposed to be supportive of malt forward beer.  I look forward to reporting on the results.

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 20 lbs Munich
• 4 oz Acid Malt
• Hops:
• 3 oz Tettnanger (Pellet, 3.9% AA) at 60 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager Yeast
• Water:
• 16 gal spring water
• 2 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 12 (Target 10.5 gal)
• Mash:
• Triple Decoction:
• See Brewing Notes
• Boil:
• 60 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• 50 F for primary
• 65 F for Diacetyl Cleanup
• 35 F for Lagering
•  Primary Duration:
• 4 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• 4 weeks (second fermenter will get as much time as it takes to kill the first keg)

Results:

• OG:
• 1.052 (Target 1.050)
• Efficiency:
• 85% (Target 71%)
• FG:
• 1.017 (Target 1.012)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 66% (Target 75%)
• ABV:
• 4.6% (Target 5%)

Brewing Notes:

• 12/30/22 - Prepared a yeast starter and set this up on a stir plate to propagate over night
• 12/31/22 - Brew Day - 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM - Including setup and cleanup
• Brought 13 gal of spring water to 160 F
• Milled the grain and added CaCl to it so I would forget
• Moved 7 gal of strike water to the mash tun.  Added the grain.  Stirred well to eliminate dough balls.  Let this sit for 15 min.  Temperature settled at 146 F
• Moved 14 quarts of the mash (getting mostly grain and leaving behind most of the liquid) to a separate pot for the first decoction.  Heated this up to the high 150s and let it sit for 15 min.  Then brought this to a boil for 10 min
• Added the first decoction back to the main mash.  The temperature had fallen to 143 F.  This raised it up to 153 F.  Let this sit for 15 min
• Moved 10 quarts of the mash to a separate pot for the second decoction.  Boiled this for 10 min.
• Added the second decoction back to the main mash.  The temperature was still 153 F.  This raised it up to 156 F.  Let this sit for 15 more minutes.
• Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 180 F
• Moved 10 quarts of the mash to the separate pot for the third decoction.  Boiled this for 10 min
• Added the third decoction back to the main mash.  The temperature had fallen to 153 F .    Let this sit a final 10 min.  The mash fell to 151 F over this period.
• Fly sparged until 12.5 gal of wort were collected.  Started heating the wort after 4 gal were collected and had it at a boil shortly after sparging was complete
• Added the hops shortly after the hot break cleared
• Boiled for 60 min
• Added the Irish Moss at 15 min
• Added the wort chiller at 5 min to sanitize
• Chilled the beer down to 60 F
• Transferred the beer into 2 fermenters.  Let the beer fall a foot to aerate.
• Moved the fermenters into my chest freezer and chilled them down to 50 F.  Pitched the yeast onto the beer at this stage
• Collected 9.5 gal of beer.  Measured the gravity as 1.066.  This is an 85% efficiency when I only planned for 71% (highest efficiency I've ever gotten.  I'm going to top up the beers to 12 gal which should lower the gravity to about 1.052

• 2/11/23 - Time got away from me a bit.  I'm letting the beer rise up to the 60s for a diacetyl rest for a few days.
• 2/25/23 - Chilled the beer down to 35 F for lagering
• 3/25/23 - Added gelatin to help clear the beer
• 4/22/23 - Transferred the first fermenter into the keg.  Measured the gravity as 1.017
• 7/16/23 - Kicked the first keg and added the second fermenter of beer
• 7/29/23 - Tasting Notes - I really love the Munich Dunkel style.  I think this is a pretty good one.  The flavors are nice and it has a good bit of complexity.  It is also very drinkable and refreshing to have on tap here during the summer months

Mexican Pulled Pork

This is one of my favorite recipes.  It is based on a Carnitas recipe by America's Test Kitchen.  Carnitas are traditionally deep fried over a long period of time.  The America's test kitchen has a novel approach to replicating this by brazing the pork in a flavorful liquid until the fat has rendered out and the pork can be shredded, reducing the brazing liquid down to concentrate the flavors, and then crisping the meat up under the broiler with the brazing liquid used as a glaze.  

I've probably made this half a dozen times.  I've made some changes to it and the ATK recipe is hidden behind a paywall so I thought I'd document it here.

One of my favorite things about the recipe is that it is very good as a meal prepared in advance.  I freeze 1 meal portions of the meat (about 2 lbs worth).  To prepare the meal I just thaw them during the day we'll eat them and just have to perform the final, broiler crisping, step that evening.  The meat comes out as good as the day it was prepared this way.

With this in mind I've purchased a 16.5 lb pork shoulder butt to prepare several meals worth of Mexican pulled pork

Ingredients:

• 16.5 lb Pork Shoulder Butt

• 1 Bunch of Garlic - peeled and crushed
• 3 Small Onion - halved
• 2 Oranges - halved
• Juice of 3 limes
• 1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 7oz Cans Green Chillies
• 3 tsp Salt
• 3 tsp Oragano
• 3 tsp Cumin
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 4 Cups of Water (to cover the meat)

Process Details:

• 12/17/22:
• Cut my meat up into 2-3 inch square blocks.  Wasn't at all careful about this cutting step.  I did remove some of the biggest pockets of fat but left a lot of it in since the rendered fat is used to provide a fried character when the sauce is used as a glaze during the final broiler step

• Moved the meat to a large pot (5 gal in my case) and then added the other ingredients to it

• Pre-heated the oven to 300 F
• Brought the pot to a boil on the stove top
• Covered the pot with aluminum foil to minimize evaporation of the liquid at this step

Lid is upside down here because it wouldn't fit into the oven otherwise

• Moved the pot to the oven and ended up cooking it for 6 hours (3 hrs would probably have been enough but 6 hrs had no ill effect)
• Confirmed the mead was easily shredable with two forks and then moved it to another container while next steps were performed

• Scooped out all the other solids and threw them away

• Boiled the remaining liquid until it was reduced by about 50-75% (maybe 3/4 a gal left).  This is a step I feel could use some refinement

• Tasted the reduced brazing liquid and decided to add 2 more tsp of salt
• Put 2 lbs of meat, shredded into "bite sized" pieces, on a roasting pan lined with foil and poured 1/2 cup of the glaze over the meat

• Put the meat under the broiler, at the top slot of the oven, for a couple minutes and then flipped.  Repeated the process a couple times.
• Added another half cup of the glaze over the meat, did a bit more shredding, and then broiled for a couple more cycles until the meat had a nice crispy outside on all sides.  You have to get a feel for this as more time under the broiler makes the meat better but if you take it too far the meat will become dried out.  I'm thinking a third or fourth round of glazing could have improved the meat further.  Having a better feel for how much of the glazing liquid will be available for the leftovers is a tricky thing.

• The meat is now ready to be served.  We made taco with cilantro, red onion, avocado and lime.  The meat was very good.  Ended up with about half as leftovers which I ate over the next couple days

• Separated out the meat into 3 2 lb servings each in a freezer bag.  Saved off the remaining liquid into another gallon freezer bag.  Got a bit less than half a gal of liquid (although did spill a good amount which was heartbreaking).
• Moved the leftovers to the freezer to but eaten later

Updated Recipe - 12/26/23:

This is a large batch of pulled pork which should provide many easy week night meals for us.  I'm going for something very similar to what we made last time but am going to salt a bit more aggressively up front (am going to try adding 0.6% salt per weight of the meet.  I'm also changing up the spicing levels slightly and adding Chipotle Peppers which will give a bit of spice and the nice smokey flavor

Ingredients:

• 21.8 lbs of Pork (this is pretty close to 3 pork sholders)
• 59 g of Kosher Salt (this is 0.6% of 9888g of meat)
• 1 pork shoulder bone roasted at 425 for 45 min (completely option but used since I had it)
• 3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1.5 tbs Cumin powder
• 1.5 tbs Oragano Leaf
• 1.5 tbs Garlic Powder
• 1.5 tbs Black Pepper
• 1.5 tbs Green Chile Powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 7 oz can of Chipotle Pepper
• 3 oranges halved and juiced
• 3 onions halved
• 4 cups of unsalted beef stock which was just about enough to cover the meat

Process Details:

• Mixed the ingredients

• Heated up to a boil on the stove top
• Cooked in the oven at 250 F - let it go for about 8 hrs and it was fork tender

• Removed the meat from the pot and gave it an initial shred.  Discarded the other solids
• Reduced the sauce from maybe 1.5 gal to 8 cups on the stove top

• Prepared a 2 lb portion of the meat that night and used 2 cups of the reducing liquid for the glaze
• Prepared 7 1.5 bags of leftover meat.  Moved the meat and the 8 cups of sauce to the freezer for use later.  This will be 1 cup of the concentrated sauce per meal

Results:

• I think the salt level in this one was very good - definitely not too much and pretty much enough
• The Chipotle peppers add a nice flavor and a bit of heat but I think the recipe is just as good without them (might try something different next time)
• I was pleased with the large amount of leftover we got from this.  Cooking a 20 lb batch isn't really any more work than a 7 lb batch.  I think I'll do this again next time.  Also happy to be getting a better grip on how to manage the glazing liquid with this batch

Updated Recipe -5/31/24

We ate all the pulled pork from December (every couple weeks we'd have pulled pork taco).  For this next batch I decided to cook roughly the same amount and to increase the spices a bit for some extra flavor.  I got 4 boneless pork shoulders for this batch and removed the coppa from them for another cured meat project.  The remaining meat (24 lbs) is used in this disk

Ingredients:

• 11100g of Pork Shoulder
• 111 g of Kosher Salt (this is 1% salt (up from 0.6% last time)
• 3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tbs Cumin powder
• 2 tbs Oragano Leaf
• 2 tbs Garlic Powder
• 2 tbs Black Pepper
• 2 tbs Green Chile Powder
• 4 oranges halved and juiced
• 4 onions halved
• 4 cups of unsalted beef stock which was enough to cover the meat

Process Details:

• Cooked the meat at 150 F over night and then raised to 225 F for 4 more hour in the morning
• Removed the meat once easily shredable and set aside in chunks to be shredded at serving time
• Divided the meat into 1.5 lb servings in Ziplock bags - got 9 bags of meat (we didn't make a meal of the pork on cooking day this time)
• Reduced the cooking liquid down to 9 cups (or rather 8 cups and then added a cup of water to it).  Put this into a large Ziplock back
• Froze the meat and sauce

Results:

• The meat itself tastes about the same as always but the sauce seems quite a bit more flavorful with the extra spices.  I think it's going to be good