The Pulled Pork Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

I seem to have the best luck with the big pork shoulder package from Costco. We purchased a 14 lb package yesterday and applied rub last night. Put it on the smoker this morning at 7:15 am at 225 deg with an apple/hickory mix of pellets. No injection, no mop (I was at work!). It hit 195 deg around 4 pm. Moved it to FTC and pulled at 6 pm. Fabulously moist and tender. Flavor was terrific.

We gave half away, ate as much as we could, and we still have a ton left over for tacos tomorrow.

Pics:

[TripletDaddy]

My word. Ridiculous.

What does that pork shoulder cost?

[Jeff Lebowski]

My word. Ridiculous.

What does that pork shoulder cost?

Cheap cheap. $1.59/lb or something like that. My wife picked it up and she said it cost around $24-25. Each package has two pork shoulder roasts (bone removed). This was one of the smaller packages. She said that one of them was 19 lbs.

[Coach McGuirk]

Yum, Jeff. I am going to give your stuffed spinach Salmon a try this weekend, but these have me pretty tempted to switch!

[CJF]

I've never bought one from Costco because they're boneless. Sounds like I'll have to give it a try. Looks delish.

[FN Phat]

Dammit man. That looks amazing.

[Art Vandelay]

Prepared a pork butt last night, by making my own rub, filling the pellet hopper on the traeger, and having everything ready to go for early this morning. Started this morning @ 5:30 smoked and mopped with apple juice until 8:00, increased the temp to 225 and went to play a golf course I've been wanting to play for the last couple years (Wine Valley in Walla Walla).

It starts raining like crazy on our way to the course. My buddy and I are the only ones stupid enough to attempt to play, the course is empty. The pro thinks we're nuts and comps us the cart for free and gives us several towels to wipe the seat down with. The fairways are immaculate and the greens are crazy big with one minor nuisance, several have rivers running through them or areas of standing water. It had all the makings of a priest from Caddyshack round, except I didn't play that great - 48 for 9, which isn't terrible considering how impossible it was to judge the speed on the greens from the water. After 9 holes, we were wet, cold, and ready to head home.

Driving home my buddy and are chatting away, when I notice a state trooper turning on his lights. Uh oh! When he comes up to the car, he notices the clubs in the back and asks if we've been golfing in this crap. After telling him how bad the conditions were, he tells me he doesn't want to stand in the rain anymore and I need to slow down. Yay, no ticket!

Get home check the pork, it looks fantastic, temp is up to 159. I pour on some apple juice, make sure there is enough pellets, and go to run errands. When I return after a couple hours, I glance at the thermometer and see it is at 142 Immediately notice the smoker is cool and can't figure out what is going on. Look in the hopper and Moses has parted my pellets. There is a ton on the left and right, but none in the middle to feed into the firepot

I immediately turn on the oven, quickly foil and get the butt into the oven, while I work on getting my traeger back up to temp, while mumbling several @#$%#@$^s

Right now it is back on the smoker, still loosely wrapped in foil, cooking at 250. The temp is only at 150. I have no idea how long it will take to hit 190, and I likely won't have time to FTC, unless i want the pork for breakfast instead of a late dinner.

This has not been a good day. Oh yeah, I scratched the bumper of my wife's black car - not deep but enough to be noticeable on the plastic; she will be thrilled when she sees it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Bummer, Art. I am guessing it will take three hours to get there from 150. Good luck.

Was your hopper completely full? I only used about 1/2 of the hopper on my cook yesterday.

[Art Vandelay]

Bummer, Art. I am guessing it will take three hours to get there from 150. Good luck.

Was your hopper completely full? I only used about 1/2 of the hopper on my cook yesterday.

The hopper was full, to the brim. I've run out of pellets before due to not checking before cooking burgers or something quick. But this was crazy, there was still a ton of pellets, they was just hole in the middle missing. It really was an unintentional engineering marvel. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too mad.

The temp is up to 175, so it seems to be warming up quicker this time. Hopefully, cooking at 250 isn't going to dry it out. I have pretty low expectations for the finished prodcut. Oh well, better than McDonalds when the wife is out of town.

[CJF]

The hopper was full, to the brim. I've run out of pellets before due to not checking before cooking burgers or something quick. But this was crazy, there was still a ton of pellets, they was just hole in the middle missing. It really was an unintentional engineering marvel. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too mad.

The temp is up to 175, so it seems to be warming up quicker this time. Hopefully, cooking at 250 isn't going to dry it out. I have pretty low expectations for the finished prodcut. Oh well, better than McDonalds when the wife is out of town.

I would foil it tightly. It will cook faster and keep it moist.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Look in the hopper and Moses has parted my pellets. There is a ton on the left and right, but none in the middle to feed into the firepot

I don't believe Moses would condone eating pork, so it might have been his resurrected being that sabotaged you. I would share this with your ward next open mic.

[Coach McGuirk]

So I went with the pulled pork. Besides rinsing and rubbing, is there any prepping that needs to be done to a picnic butt?

[Jeff Lebowski]

So I went with the pulled pork. Besides rinsing and rubbing, is there any prepping that needs to be done to a picnic butt?

Some people inject (see above), but it isn't essential.

How big is your roast?

[Coach McGuirk]

it is the Costco 2 pack total 14lbs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

it is the Costco 2 pack total 14lbs.

Sweet. I hope you have a lot of hungry friends.

Quick suggested strategy: Cook at 225 deg until it hits 195. Should take 7-9 hours. Then put it in FTC or in a covered roaster in the oven with a little water at 170 deg (my preference) until you are ready to pull. This makes it more tender so it is good to adjust your schedule to leave 2-4 hours available for this step. You can maintain it in the oven for 6 hrs or more if you need to. Then let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes before you pull. Pour some of the juice on the meat after pulling.