The Pulled Pork Thread

[Drunk Tank]

That's quite the undertaking, and it looks like you're more than up to the challenge.

Are all of those temperature probes leading to the same unit? If so, what kind of unit is it?

3 different units. A maverick and 2 cheapo units I got at Walmart.

[Coach McGuirk]

3 different units. A maverick and 2 cheapo units I got at Walmart.

I've had a unit from Walmart.


The dump has it now.

[Surfah]

Doing a shoulder tomorrow. Probably use Famous Dave's Rib Rub. Looking forward to some good sandwiches.

[mtnbiker]

Ok, I tried a couple of pork shoulders from Costco. First, I also added 8 fire bricks to the Traeger to hopefully help keep temps consistent. I picked up these 1" thick bricks at Lehi Block, $1.28 per brick. They have the 2" thick bricks at something like $1.57.



I put the shoulders on at 5:30am cooking at 225 degrees, with a hopper full of Perfect Mix pellets. Here are the shoulders mid-cook, at about 150 degrees. Looks pretty good so far. I've got Bad Byron's Butt Rub on the left, and Spade L Ranch for pork on the right.



I let it cook and cook and cook, and the meat temps just never really rose. After 10.5 hours, the temps were still around 170. I was pretty disappointed. I finally cranked up the heat to 275 and got the meat temp up to 185 when family arrived for dinner. I gave up and pulled it off the smoker and let it rest for 30 minutes, figuring we'd have to go with sliced pork instead of pulled pork.



Here it is sliced. It was really tasty, and everyone enjoyed it, but wasn't what I was shooting for. So I count this as a bit of a failure, albeit a tasty one. Everybody liked the Spade L Ranch rub better than the Butt Rub. But my daughter said that of the things I've cooked on the smoker so far, she liked the tri-tip the best.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Hey mtnbiker, that looks like a delicious failure.

Where did you get your roasts? Bone-in or boneless? How big?

[mtnbiker]

Hey mtnbiker, that looks like a delicious failure.

Where did you get your roasts? Bone-in or boneless? How big?

They were the standard 2-pack boneless pork shoulders from Costco. I just checked the wrap, and they were 15.5 pounds together. Oops, I had thought it was a couple of pounds less than that. I thought it would take 10 hours to cook, with 2 hours to sit at 170 in the oven, but no such luck. How much extra time do you allot to multiple roasts vs. a single roast?

[Moliere]

They were the standard 2-pack boneless pork shoulders from Costco. I just checked the wrap, and they were 15.5 pounds together. Oops, I had thought it was a couple of pounds less than that. I thought it would take 10 hours to cook, with 2 hours to sit at 170 in the oven, but no such luck. How much extra time do you allot to multiple roasts vs. a single roast?

If your smoker holds at 225 then you shouldn't need extra time. I've had butts take 14 hours before.

[Coach McGuirk]

If your smoker holds at 225 then you shouldn't need extra time. I've had butts take 14 hours before.

Yeah, i agree. they have been the most stubborn of the cooks I have done.

[Jeff Lebowski]

They were the standard 2-pack boneless pork shoulders from Costco. I just checked the wrap, and they were 15.5 pounds together. Oops, I had thought it was a couple of pounds less than that. I thought it would take 10 hours to cook, with 2 hours to sit at 170 in the oven, but no such luck. How much extra time do you allot to multiple roasts vs. a single roast?

Just checked my notes and for a package in the 12-14 lb range, it usually takes about 9-10 hours to reach 195. Size-wise, yours was a little north of that, but I am surprised it would take that long for you. Bone-in definitely adds on a ton of time, but that shouldn't have been a problem here.

Since you can keep them in FTC mode for a long time, it is always a good idea to give yourself a big cushion on the cook time.

[mtnbiker]

If your smoker holds at 225 then you shouldn't need extra time.

That's what I thought.

I've had butts take 14 hours before.

Well, that's just crazy. Oh, well, next time I try them, I'll start the night before so I don't have to worry about a deadline. Once done, I guess I'd just let them stay in the FTC stage a lot longer.

[mtnbiker]

Yeah, i agree. they have been the most stubborn of the cooks I have done.

Just checked my notes and for a package in the 12-14 lb range, it usually takes about 9-10 hours to reach 195. Size-wise, yours was a little north of that, but I am surprised it would take that long for you. Bone-in definitely adds on a ton of time, but that shouldn't have been a problem here.

Since you can keep them in FTC mode for a long time, it is always a good idea to give yourself a big cushion on the cook time.

Yup, I have that experience now, Coach. JL, Sounds like I need to keep some notes like you mention, and refer to them in the future to remind myself. Can't count on everything going perfectly every time I light the smoker. Thanks to you all for the comments.

[Moliere]

That's what I thought.



Well, that's just crazy. Oh, well, next time I try them, I'll start the night before so I don't have to worry about a deadline. Once done, I guess I'd just let them stay in the FTC stage a lot longer.

I always use bone in butts so that might change the time. I plan for 14 hours and usually only go 12, but it's nice having a cushion.

In any case, your pork looked good. Nothing wrong with sliced pork, but it's better sliced off a loin. But pork tastes good no matter what.

[TripletDaddy]

I've had butts cook in 8 hours and Ive have them take 12. What I find frustrating is when one of them is read an hour before the other one.

I don't even bother with Butt Rub anymore. It doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't taste great.

[CJF]

If your smoker holds at 225 then you shouldn't need extra time. I've had butts take 14 hours before.

Mine yesterday took 16 hours. Part of the reason was I cooked at 200 the first 6 hours trying to get more smoke flavor to compensate for no sugar in the rub. Turned out really different but really good.

[CJF]

I've had butts cook in 8 hours and Ive have them take 12. What I find frustrating is when one of them is read an hour before the other one.

I don't even bother with Butt Rub anymore. It doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't taste great.

Since I'm now completely off sugar, Butt Rub is a really solid option. I miss sugar when smoking. It especially makes pork better.