The Pulled Pork Thread

[ewth8tr]

I tried this a few days ago and it worked great.

[FMCoug]

I tried this a few days ago and it worked great.

[Youtube]lTr3hPvYVTQ[/youtube]

Great idea. I don't have a mixer in the RV but I'll for sure be trying that next time I do it at home.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Why would you want to shred a perfectly good pork roast? That just dries it out and changes the texture. I like to keep it in larger chunks. It is supposed to be "pulled" pork, not "shredded" pork.

[cowboy]

I need help. I'm cooking for700 people this weekend, 400 lbs of butts. My computer is down with a virus, so Google is difficult from my phone. If i start cooking this afternoon, can i cook the butts without wrapping them? I just don't have time to wrap all that if i can help it. Also, im cooking a full pig Monday and want to do the same. Will it be too dry? Also, will it pull apart? I dont have time to scroll through this whole thread, so apologies if you've discussed all this.

[kccougar]

700 people !?!

I don't remember wrapping my pork. You'll probably want to spray them occasionally with a water/vinegar solution.

[Joe Public]

Yes, you can cook the butts without wrapping/"crutching" them. It will just take longer to hit your final temps because they will stall for a while once they get to around 150F to 160F degrees internal temperature. A lot of people spray, like KC mentioned, but I think that's more to keep the surface cooler during the smoking phase (which allows for more smoke to penetrate) and to add flavor. As I understand it, the moist mouth feel of a slow-smoked pork shoulder comes from the melted collagen/fat and not from water. Also, a 50/50 solution of apple juice and apple cider vinegar works great with pork as well if you do decide to spray. My $0.02.

I've never cooked a whole hog. Good luck with that. We'll be watching for photos of all of this, of course.

[Drunk Tank]

I need help. I'm cooking for700 people this weekend, 400 lbs of butts. My computer is down with a virus, so Google is difficult from my phone. If i start cooking this afternoon, can i cook the butts without wrapping them? I just don't have time to wrap all that if i can help it. Also, im cooking a full pig Monday and want to do the same. Will it be too dry? Also, will it pull apart? I dont have time to scroll through this whole thread, so apologies if you've discussed all this.

400lbs of butts will yield approx. 250-300 lbs. cooked, which is plenty for 700 people. Can you fit them all on your smoker at once? With that much meat in smoker I wouldn't worry about spritzing. The cooking chamber will be plenty moist. Pork can hot hold in an insulated cooler for hours if you are done early, so don't be afraid to cook at a little higher temp (250-275ish) no big deal. I feel sorry for whoever has to pull all that meat.

How big a pig? I'd cook it at 250-275 otherwise it could take a long time. Start skin side up and flip it after about 6 hours or so, more if it is a big hog. Be liberal with whatever rub you are using and inject if possible. A 75lb pig will feed approx. 50 people and take 9+ hours at 250.

[cowboy]

400lbs of butts will yield approx. 250-300 lbs. cooked, which is plenty for 700 people. Can you fit them all on your smoker at once? With that much meat in smoker I wouldn't worry about spritzing. The cooking chamber will be plenty moist. Pork can hot hold in an insulated cooler for hours if you are done early, so don't be afraid to cook at a little higher temp (250-275ish) no big deal. I feel sorry for whoever has to pull all that meat.

How big a pig? I'd cook it at 250-275 otherwise it could take a long time. Start skin side up and flip it after about 6 hours or so, more if it is a big hog. Be liberal with whatever rub you are using and inject if possible. A 75lb pig will feed approx. 50 people and take 9+ hours at 250.

I didn't make it clear that this is two events. The first is today for 400 people and the second is for 300 Monday. The pig won't be enough, so I'll augment with beef and butts, which I'm cooking today, then I'll freeze them tonight and warm them up Monday. I'm smoking in batches, then putting them in covered foil pans to finish for tonight's meal. I can smoke about 200 lbs at a time, and I can fit a total of 400-500 lbs in the smoker once it's wrapped/covered . I'll try to find time for pics.

[YOhio]

You have to be the busiest person I know, cowboy. You can say no every once in a while.

[cowboy]

You have to be the busiest person I know, cowboy. You can say no every once in a while.

My wife said the same thing. I told her she already says 'no' enough for both of us.

[cowboy]

I ended up putting the butts in roaster pans rather than wrapping each one. I cooked them for 12-16 hours first, so the bark ended up staying rather than disintegrating.


Here is the finished product (actually, these are chucks) before pulling.


And the pulled product.


My three cowboys helped me cook, and decided they needed some music, so they tied the radio to the mirror with a horse halter. Cowboy ingenuity at its finest.

[cowboy]

The smoke marathon is complete. We cooked 350 lbs of meat and fed roughly 650 people total in two events. Last night was 300 people for the hospital employees and their families. A doctor who came here last year and has spent most of his life in Kansas City told me he'd had pulled pork in dozens of states from coast to coast, and this was some of the best. I'll take that as a very good compliment coming from a Kansas City native. Thanks, folks, especially DT, for the pointers. This is an excellent thread, even though it is dedicated to an inferior animal/meat.

[TripletDaddy]

Cowboy, why didn't your hired help simply set the radio on the hood or roof of the truck??

[cowboy]

Cowboy, why didn't your hired help simply set the radio on the hood or roof of the truck??

The cord wasn't long enough, and they didn't have an extension cord.

[TripletDaddy]

The cord wasn't long enough, and they didn't have an extension cord.

another option would have been to take 2 minutes and move the truck over a few feet