Pulled pork.....

[phaelon56]

I got tired of buying frozen one pound packs (at $7.99 each no less!) of Dinosaur BBQ brand pulled pork at my local grocery - got out my Char-Broil electric smoker and decided to give it a whirl for something other than ribs (which is all I've ever used it for). In all fairness.... the Dinosaur product (produced in Syracuse NY and sold at Wegman's and Price Chopper groceries in the Northeast) is pretty darn good for a commercial product but I spotted a decent looking bone-in pork shoulder butt at $10.40 for a 7.25 pound at a local "wholesale" store and decided to try making my own.

Did some trimming to get rid of a small bit of excess fat, dropped it into just off the boil water for 60 seconds to open the pores.... put on the dry rub and an hour later started it in the smoker. Replenished the hickory chips once about half way through and basted every half hour or so with sauce during the last two hours of cooking. Total cooking time was just over 6 1/2 hours to internal temp of about 178 degrees.

Being impatient and not wanting to leave it for morning, I began pulling apart sections for packaging and freezing as soon as the meat was cool enough to touch without burning my unprotected hands. There was a bit of fat trimming required here and there between the sections but overall it came out beautifully - nice and moist with a good smoky flavor and good texture.

Here's the question(s):

Is there a "best" time to do the pulling? Does the meat pull apart more easily in stringy sections if one let's it cool off for longer or even refrigerate overnight? Does that process also make the residual bits of fatty connective tissue easier to remove?

Is pulling with the hands the best and simplest method for home use? Using a couple of dinenr forks seemed to work a bit better but it was tedious.

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By the way.... I just did an A/B taste test - the Dinosaur package had already been open for several days but was sealed in the fridge and of course it was now thawed from its frozen state. Used the same Dino slathering sauce on the Dino product and the stuff I smoked myself. Thumbs up on smoking at home! My fresh batch totally blew away the commercial product in texture but more significantly in taste - lots of rich smokiness that wasn't there in the Dino pork.

Edited September 8, 2003 by phaelon56 (log)

[Stone]

Acutally you need to go the other way -- cook it longer. There are a bunch of smoking threads (here's one) that explain the basics of the process.

When you pull the shoulder off at 178ish, you've really just got roast pork. You need to get the temp higher (I've read anywhere from 190 to 220) before you get true pulled pork. At the higher temps, the collegen breaks down and the muscle fibers separate more easily.

I smoke my shoulders overnight until they're about 200, then wrap them in foil and sit them in the oven (off) until I'm ready to pull. I usually pull with my fingers if I can take the heat, or use forks.

Also -- I don't trim any fat before smoking. I usually scrape it off to the side during the pulling.

[Bicycle Lee]

I typically smoke the pork and then add peppers, onions, tomatoes and my very own bbq sauce then bake relatively low temp (325) for like four or five hours....at the end of that time it is so good....

[Stone]

Can you give us the recipe for your bbq sauce?

[Toliver]

Is there a "best" time to do the pulling? Does the meat pull apart more easily in stringy sections if one let's it cool off for longer or even refrigerate overnight? Does that process also make the residual bits of fatty connective tissue easier to remove?

There are other posters on the board who are much more qualified to answer this (and hopefully they will weigh in with comments) but I would say do NOT refrigerate the meat and then try to pull it. If you do refrigerate it, you will find the meat (actually, the grain of the meat) will be stuck back together. The object of cooking pork to pull is to get it to that stage where everything that bonds it together starts to break down, making the pulling apart easier...so do it while the meat is warm/hot.

And try to find some big ass forks, too...should make the pulling go faster.

[Bicycle Lee]

ummm....well, the sauce is ever-changing, kinda depending on what I have in my cupboard or what season it is. It is tomato based, and I make it more full-flavored with molasses, hoisin, some reduced stout beer, fresh onion, tons of garlic, rooster sauce, honey, fresh tomatoes, the intense drippings from smoking the meats (whatever they may be...this also effects storability but makes the flavor incredible)....uhhh, multiple vinegars (cider, champagne...etc).... and picante of your choice ( I dry my own thai peppers-ooooh they're good). Some bourbon can be good too....lime juice....whatever....it's sort of a kicthen-sink type condiment, but interestingly enough after it is cooked for hours and hours each flavor is very prominent....

try it out, let me know any changes you make, I'm always looking for a new addition...

PEAS

[phaelon56]

When you pull the shoulder off at 178ish, you've really just got roast pork. You need to get the temp higher (I've read anywhere from 190 to 220) before you get true pulled pork. At the higher temps, the collegen breaks down and the muscle fibers separate more easily.

Ahhhh..... this makes sense. It separated okay but didn't quite pull apart with the stringiness that I was expecting. This makes sense. It definitely has a taste and characteristic closer to pulled pork than roast pork but it was also definitely not all the way there. I'm all for the overnight method except I have to get on the stick and do it soon - my electric smoker is sensitive to ambient temps and I doubt that it will maintain adequate internal heat when the outdoor temps go much below the high 50's (they're already dipping into the 40's at night around here).

I also found that basting it with BBQ sauce during the final stages seemed to do nothing of real significance as far as I could tell.

[woodburner]

When I bbq Boston butts, the bone will pull out from the meat freely, an indicator that it is now at the pullable stage. Then I double wrap in foil and set the meat into a empty ice cooler for about two hours, before pulling it apart.

BBQ is an art, not science, but here are some general guidlines I follow for pork butts.

Ensure the meat reaches 140F, within the first four hours of cooking.

At or around the 160F mark, the temperature will plateau, for upwards of two hours. Stick with it, it will move up to the target temperature of 195F.

Just about every other item in between these couple of guidlines is fair game, to suit the pitmaster.

woodburner

[babyluck]

Use thick rubber gloves (I have the fancy European blue cloth-lined ones that don't smell or make you itch). If the pork's right, it should be absolutely effortless. There's enough grip to grab the meaty bits and let the fat slide through.

Don't worry about being called a pussy -- all the BBQ heavyweights are wearing 'em, didn't you see 'em on A Cook's Tour last week?

[=Mark]

As stone said, keep that puppy in the smoker until it hits at least 190. Prior to that fat and collagen are still rendering out. Regardless of time and temp, an easy way to gauge doneness is to stick a standard issue dinner fork in it and give a twirl. If it turns easily the hunk 'o pig be done. Yank it, wrap in butcher paper, parchment or foil (No foil if it was basted with an acidic sauce), and let rest for 30 to 45 minutes.

As far as pulling it I've found an excellent tool is one of those cheap hard plastic pasta utensils, the ones that have sort of a claw like end for pulling long pasta out of a pot (Pulled 8 smoked pork butts at once for my son's graduation party). Hold firm with one hand and shred away with the pasta claw, you can finish a butt in just a few minutes and you get nice chunky shreds, not that dog food texture of over worked pulled pork.

[phaelon56]

These are great tips - thanks to all. The electric H2O smoker is great for ribs, fish and chicken but in this climate (central NY state where it's already down in the 40's at night) I need something that stays hotter. I believe I can get the butt to 195 degrees if ambient temp is mid 70's or above but on this last endeavor, as it got later at night (11 PM or so) and the temps were dropping, the temp gauge on the smoker showed that it was dropping toward the low end of the "ideal" range. I lack the space, patience or time to deal with using all wood or charcoal and wood but there is a cabinet type smoker available locally that runs on propane - I'm guessing that it would allow me to maintain the higher temps even when it gets cooler outside.

I unquestionably needed a few more hours for this one - it's between roast pork and pulled pork in terms of texture but pretty damn tasty - better than anything I've had in any commercial joints in the northeast (not yet tpo the standard of Carolina or texas 'cue but I'll get it there).

[Rachel Perlow]

The answer then, is to start it in the morning, and not do it overnight.

[Varmint]

The answer then, is to start it in the morning, and not do it overnight.

Unless you're doing a big whole hog, which is an entirely different situation. I'll be cooking all night (with the assistance of many helpers, of course), but the first 4 hours will be at a very low heat.

[woodburner]

I start my pork butts right around 7p.m or so, and they are ready to come off about noon time the next day. You can very easily cook them hotter to make it go quicker. To me bbq is a bit like Viagra, it keeps me up, all night.

If your not quite ready to spend your hard earned money for a new cooker, you might consider constructing an opened end box from 2" thick, rigid, foundation insulation. Keeping the open end to fit over your cooker, and slightly propped off the ground to allow, just a bit of air in. Then cut a small opening in the side/ top for smoke exhaust.

A very neat little cooker is available in the North East from most TrueValue stores made by Weber, called the, Weber Smokey Mountain. They can be had for less than two hundred, and perform very well.

woodburner

[sacre_bleu]

I use the Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker ($179). On one load of charcoal, it'll do 14-hour pork butt cooks. I cook 'em overnight and wake up once or twice to check temps, don't usually have to adjust anything.

I loves me my Bullet. Pull the butts when they get squishy, double-wrap in plastic grocery bags (to catch the juice) and let 'em sit for a few hours. Pluck the bone, finish sparingly with a mixture of apple juice, vinegar, soy sauce and Sriracha chile sauce, so you can still taste the smoke and porky richness.

[ianeccleston]

Thanks to everybody that contributed to this thread - I got a new Weber for my birthday last week and decided to christen it with some Carolina Pulled Pork. I couldn't get the pork up to temperature in time for the meal (8pm, 8 hungry guests, might as well pull it off and feed them at 160-70), so I ended up with roast pork rather than pulled pork. Still pretty tasty though - I can recommend the mustard bbq sauce/vinagrette without reservation.

I made two crucial mistakes: 1) I didn't let the pork stand at room temperature before putting it on the grill and 2) roasted two, four pound cuts rather than one, six pound roast. Assumably that meant that I should have been cooking it at a slightly higher temperature than I had been (225 for most of the time).

Curiously, one of my guests whose from North (central) Carolina had never heard of the mustard BBQ thing, and he was devoted to Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches with coleslaw on top. It must be a pretty small appelation that produces this great stuff.

Ian

Edit: Oh, found out the mustard thing is from South Carolina, not North.

Edited September 15, 2003 by ianeccleston (log)

[=Mark]

The first pork butt christening my Weber Smokey Mountain.

[Toliver]

Still pretty tasty though - I can recommend the mustard bbq sauce/vinagrette without reservation.

Was this from a recipe? If you can post it, I'd appreciate it.

[Dave the Cook]

Still pretty tasty though - I can recommend the mustard bbq sauce/vinagrette without reservation.

Was this from a recipe? If you can post it, I'd appreciate it.

= Mark has posted an excellent example in the eGRA. Click here.

Edited September 15, 2003 by Dave the Cook (log)

[ianeccleston]

I also used a recipe that =Mark posted:

MID-SOUTH CAROLINA MUSTARD SAUCE

1 c cider vinegar

6 T Dijon mustard

2 T maple syrup or honey

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot red pepper sauce

1 c vegetable oil

2 tsp salt

I also found a link on the web that has a quite I few variations on Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauces.

[Toliver]

Thanks for both recipe posts!

[woodburner]

I've had no problems ramping the cooker temperature up to over 300F, with pork butts, if guests are starting to get hungry. Not allowing yourself enough time, is the most common bbq, cooking miscalculation.

Here is the sauce I like most:

Pulled Pork Vinegar Sauce

1/2 cup White Vinegar

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1 tsp. Kosher Salt.

1 tsp. Freshly cracked black pepper

1 tsp. Hot pepper flakes

1 good shot of Tobasco Sauce

1 tsp. sugar

Heat Vinegars to a low simmer, add remaining ingredients, remove from heat and allow to cool. Allow to cool to room temperature, and pour off into a squeeze bottle and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Happy Birthday!

You done good in the gift department.

woodburner

[=Mark]

The tommy tested and approved South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce. Will be preparing this for the NJ Pig Pickin' this weekend...

[fifi]

I can't say enough about my WSM. That thing is incredible. I know it has been mentioned on some of the other threads but this link is unbelievable. These folks are SERIOUS! (And the site is not done by Weber.) I love the graphs. Also check out that method of loading up the charcoal and let 'er rip. It really works. I have held a rock solid 250 at the top vent (it is cooler and just right on the racks) for well over 12 hours.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/index.shtml

[ianeccleston]

Yes, I probably should have stuck it in the oven at 300 (no coals ready, lost my old chimney in the move to the new place). I hadn't remembered that someone posted that the meat plateaus at 160 for awhile - I was hoping that it would get up to the proper temperature in time. I cooked that sucker for 6 1/2 hours, thought that would be enough time...

That bullet looks sweet. I think I'm going to have to stick with the new Weber Performer for awhile though - I think our grilling budget has been surpassed for a couple of years.

Ian