Pulled pork.....

[fifi]

er... um... You are supposed to have a budget for toys? Hmmm... I didn't know that. Damn!

[CRUZMISL]

I've been doing pulled pork for years with excellent results. Here is my method but others will have their own way. Whatever works for you is fine but the same basic principles apply.

You MUST cook the pork longer. You want your cooking temp to be no more than 250. For about 10 lbs of butt you'll be looking at 12-14 hours give or take a few hours. Really depends on how often you open the BBQ to look at it. You want to pull it off when it reaches an internal temp of 196. You won't have the temperature surf of a roast done at 350 so keep that in mind. You will also want to have a water bath to add moisture and catch fat drippings. NEVER trim the fat prior to cooking. Leave that goodness on. You'll thank me for that when your eating it. Also, I find the cut without the bone easier to cook but that's preference. If I recall it's a different cut and the one without the bone is better in some way but I'm not sure how.

Be careful not to get too much smoke. Everyone is always worried about that but after the first few hours the smoke won't penetrate the meat anyway so your wasting your time. I rub my meat the night before and have it sit at room temp for about an hour before I get it on the grill.

I hope this helps,

Joe

[jmcgrath]

I guess everyone has their own way of cooking pork butt. The one thing in common is that it needs to be smoked at a fairly low temperature, between 225 and 250F. Long, slow cooking is needed to break down the collagen. In some regions of the country, sliced butt is more common. The proper temperature for this is 180 to 185F. For pulled pork, you need to get to 195 to 200F. Aim for about 2 hours/pound. Aim to finish an hour or two early. An unsliced/unpulled butt wrapped in foil or Saran will hold for hours in a dry cooler. Fill the empty spaces with balls of newspaper.

I'll take the liberty to disagree with an earlier poster. Most smoke flavoring occurs when the meat is colder. After about 6 hours, the smoker contributes little or nothing to the taste of the butt. Finishing in the oven is not unheard of. Wrap the butts, put in a roasting pan to collect fat leakage, stick in a 225F oven and go to bed.

Jim

[phaelon56]

I haven't had my smoker out and in action since last summer but decided to try making pulled pork again. The attempt that originally prompted this thread was tasty enough but didn't pull apart properly due to not cooking for long enough.

This time.... thanks to sage advice from fellow eGulleteers... things are different!

For better or worse - here's what I did:

- Got a nice big shoulder butt with a decent cap of fat on top.

- Dropped it in boiling water for exactly 60 seconds to open the pores of the meat, removed and applied Montreal Steak Seasoning as a dry rub. Rubbed in liberally and wrapped tight in plastic wrap to be refrigerated for one hour.

- Had my cheesy but wonderful electric smoker preheated and threw in some pre-soaked hickory chips - then went to work.

- Came home for lunch, threw in more smoked wood chips and replenished the lower pan of the smoker with more boiling water

- Took it off after about eleven hours in the smoker.

Magnificent!!! This stuff is truly incredible. I'm sure the pro's and serious amateurs can surpass this but I'm stoked. It pulled apart effortlessly and the limited amount of fatty tissue to be discarded was easy to separate.

Today I'm testing a few East Carolina style 'cue sauce recipes but wish to thank all who contributed to this thread.

[=Mark]

I would recommend skipping the initial dunk in boiling water. Meat in a smoker will only take on smoke until it begins to cook. In other words, smoke wil only be absorbed into the meat for the first hour or so of smoking, after this it will only accumulate on the surface. By placing in boiling watter you are seeentially pre cooking the meat and sealing it from taking on smoke.

The concept that the boiling process "Opens Pores" is as flawed as the idea that searing meat "seals in" juices...

Be that as it may, you can still be assured that the product you make at home is guaranteed to be better than 99% of commercial product, and that it can only improve!

[snowangel]

I would recommend skipping the initial dunk in boiling water. Meat in a smoker will only take on smoke until it begins to cook. In other words, smoke wil only be absorbed into the meat for the first hour or so of smoking, after this it will only accumulate on the surface. By placing in boiling watter you are seeentially pre cooking the meat and sealing it from taking on smoke.

The concept that the boiling process "Opens Pores" is as flawed as the idea that searing meat "seals in" juices...

Be that as it may, you can still be assured that the product you make at home is guaranteed to be better than 99% of commercial product, and that it can only improve!

I toss mine on the grill (Weber Kettle, yes you can use it as a smoker) directly from the refrigerator. I think a long time ago I read a piece by someone (Cathy L?) that mentioned sticking the butt (already rubbed) in the freezer for an hour or so. As I recall, the reasoning was that the colder the meat was, the more time it had to absorb the smoke.

And, for pulling, two forks work just fine.

[tirgoddess]

For those short on time, but want to enjoy shredded pork, Trader Joe's (No. Cal) has a new product that they call Carnitas. It is a quarter of a cooked pork shoulder. Heat it in the oven for about 20 min. Fat renders off during cooking. Let cool and pull away. It is delicious.

[woodburner]

I haven't had my smoker out and in action since last summer but decided to try making pulled pork again. The attempt that originally prompted this thread was tasty enough but didn't pull apart properly due to not cooking for long enough.

This time.... thanks to sage advice from fellow eGulleteers... things are different!

For better or worse - here's what I did:

- Got a nice big shoulder butt with a decent cap of fat on top.

- Dropped it in boiling water for exactly 60 seconds to open the pores of the meat, removed and applied Montreal Steak Seasoning as a dry rub. Rubbed in liberally and wrapped tight in plastic wrap to be refrigerated for one hour.

- Had my cheesy but wonderful electric smoker preheated and threw in some pre-soaked hickory chips - then went to work.

- Came home for lunch, threw in more smoked wood chips and replenished the lower pan of the smoker with more boiling water

- Took it off after about eleven hours in the smoker.

Magnificent!!! This stuff is truly incredible. I'm sure the pro's and serious amateurs can surpass this but I'm stoked. It pulled apart effortlessly and the limited amount of fatty tissue to be discarded was easy to separate.

Today I'm testing a few East Carolina style 'cue sauce recipes but wish to thank all who contributed to this thread.

Looks great.

How did you wind up serving it?

Also, did you have a favorite sauce?

woodburner

[phaelon56]

Funny that you should ask - I used the sauce recipe that you posted earlier in this thread! I had a bit of Maille red cider vinegar left and some white champagne vinegar. Used about 1/3 and 2/3 of those, respectively, along with flaked red pepper, some honey, a bit of cayenne and some Dijon mustard.

Most of the pork was packed and frozen for heating up but the small portion I did with the sauce was remarkably good the next day. I didn't even bother with buns, slaw or anything else apart from a fork and a plate.

I just picked at a few pieces the night it came out of the smoker because there was a separate dinner already prepared.

[Jensen]

Magnificent!!!  This stuff is truly incredible. I'm sure the pro's and serious amateurs can surpass this but I'm stoked. It pulled apart effortlessly and the limited amount of fatty tissue to be discarded was easy to separate.

Today I'm testing a few East Carolina style 'cue sauce recipes but wish to thank all who contributed to this thread.

Oh, I am drooling with envy!

Being a poor foreigner, I'm never sure about the nomenclature of the sauces. My racing buddy, Lynne, and I went to the Dixie Pig in North Little Rock on one of our major tours and I bought some of their sauce. It's not sweet or thick but is made with vinegar and hot peppers. Is that what they call "East Carolina" style? I never liked barbecue sauce until I had that Dixie Pig sauce...

Hmmmm. Carnitas at Trader Joe's. Maybe I can have pork for dinner tonight!

[woodburner]

Being a poor foreigner, I'm never sure about the nomenclature of the sauces. My racing buddy, Lynne, and I went to the Dixie Pig in North Little Rock on one of our major tours and I bought some of their sauce. It's not sweet or thick but is made with vinegar and hot peppers. Is that what they call "East Carolina" style? I never liked barbecue sauce until I had that Dixie Pig sauce...

Hmmmm. Carnitas at Trader Joe's. Maybe I can have pork for dinner tonight!

Your nomenclature would be correct.

woodburner