The Pulled Pork Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

It was called "pork seasoning" sold at Albertsons. I'll have to order some rubs online, I went to three stores and nowhere had rubs.

I put it on at 11 last night, took it off at 1:30 temp was 190. FTC until 5, ate at 5:30.

Maple pellet DDD.

Wow, that is a long cook. I bet they were tender. I assume you did it at 225 deg? How big were the roasts?

I haven't tried maple yet.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Wow, that is a long cook. I bet they were tender. I assume you did it at 225 deg? How big were the roasts?

I haven't tried maple yet.

I did the 180 temp from 11-11, then bumped to 225 for the last 2 hours because the meat temp seemed to be stalling out at about 165-170.

About 13 lbs each, total package weight was just over 26 lbs. I went that long basing on 1 hour per pound of meat. Is that not normal?

[CJF]

Looks great, HFN. Your pulling looks fine also. Although I see a couple pieces that look to be fat only. I assume you picked those out.

I wouldn't start ordering a bunch of rubs online quite yet. I did that at first but now I really like making my own rub. It is easy and I have much more flavor control. Especially around heat and salt.

I'm craving pulled pork now.

[Coach McGuirk]

I did the 180 temp from 11-11, then bumped to 225 for the last 2 hours because the meat temp seemed to be stalling out at about 165-170.

About 13 lbs each, total package weight was just over 26 lbs. I went that long basing on 1 hour per pound of meat. Is that not normal?

Actually should be a little higher, 1.5 hours per pound at 225 to get to 195 meat temp. But those are huge shoulders.

[Shaka]

The smoker bunch is probably the best community on this board. I salivate whenever someone posts a pic on these threads. Congrats on the successful cook HFN!

[Jeff Lebowski]

I did the 180 temp from 11-11, then bumped to 225 for the last 2 hours because the meat temp seemed to be stalling out at about 165-170.

Aha... That explains the long cook time. Yes, it will slow down the closer you get to your setting. Were you intending for it to get to 180 before you cranked it up? That would probably take forever to get the last few degrees.

I used to do something like what you describe. I would smoke overnight (180) and then crank it up in the morning (225) to finish it off. But my current method is to do the entire cook at 225 deg. You still get plenty of smoke that way. You can only get so much smoke penetration either way so I don't think it makes a difference on the flavor. Furthermore, I have read several websites that say you need to get the internal temp to 140 deg within 4-5 hours or you run the risk of spoilage. Not sure if that is real or not, but that made me switch to the 225 method and the results have been great.

About 13 lbs each, total package weight was just over 26 lbs. I went that long basing on 1 hour per pound of meat. Is that not normal?

Holy cow, that is a ton of meat.

[CJF]

I did the 180 temp from 11-11, then bumped to 225 for the last 2 hours because the meat temp seemed to be stalling out at about 165-170.

About 13 lbs each, total package weight was just over 26 lbs. I went that long basing on 1 hour per pound of meat. Is that not normal?

The stall is normal. Especially when not foiled. My experience is that it starts at about 170 and can take hours to hit 180. Brisket is really known for the stall, but it happens on pork also.

That said, 180 seems very low for pork. I've never done one below 220.

[Drunk Tank]

A James Beard award was given to a small BBQ place that has one thing on its menu....Pulled Pork sandwich on wonder bread. It is a great story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7407878n&tag=mncol%3Blst%3B1

[Art Vandelay]

A James Beard award was given to a small BBQ place that has one thing on its menu....Pulled Pork sandwich on wonder bread. It is a great story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ncol%3Blst%3B1

That was great, thanks for sharing.

• I love the fact he uses wonder bread
• His wife doesn't know the BBQ or cole slaw recipe.
• The seem to have both Coke and Pepsi on the menu. Variety is good.
• First plane trip.
• First vacation, since graduation from HS in 1963

[FN Phat]

That was great, thanks for sharing.

• I love the fact he uses wonder bread
• His wife doesn't know the BBQ or cole slaw recipe.
• The seem to have both Coke and Pepsi on the menu. Variety is good.
• First plane trip.
• First vacation, since graduation from HS in 1963

Agreed. That is a fantastic story.

[TripletDaddy]

St. Louis pork ribs were a successful maiden voyage.

This weekend, I'm going to keep it simple and go with a low risk/high return follow-up: pulled pork. Plan on hosting 7-10 adults and 9 children.

Based off what I have read in this thread, I have decided to do the following:

1. Buy the meat at Costco (will it be called picnic, shoulder, butt, or Boston Butt?)
2. Go boneless
3. Smoke both shoulders, save some leftovers, freeze the rest.
4. Skip the smoke setting and go 225 the entire time
5. Try new rubs....Butt Rub on one and maybe Coach's SYD rub. I am having fun trying rubs. Last week I used a homemade rub on the ribs and it was a huge hit. I want to continue to mix it up to see what everyone likes. Coach, is there a local place to buy SYD rub?
6. Will skip FTC. I'm with Lebowski. There doesn't seem to be anything magical about a towel and a cooler. Why not just use the oven? Less work and one less thing to lug out, clean, etc.

Still need some more convincing on the following. Help me out, dudes:

1. Injection (leaning against)
2. mop (leaning towards, just to try to get a nice vinegar tang going...any recs on a mop recipe?)
3. mustard (leaning towards just so I can say I tried it but is this really necessary? rub sticks to meat without the mustard and do I want my pork to taste like mustard?)
4. Someone earlier in the thread was talking about specific sugar to use in conjunction with the rub...should I add this sugar to the Butt Rub or SYD or will it screw up the flavor?
5. I also want to keep trying new BBQ sauce. Not enough time to mail order for this weekend but any place locally to buy some good sauces? Someone mentioned sissy sauce. I'm open for suggestions beyond the normal ones you can find in any grocery store.
6. Wood type? I wanted to try apple. I also have oak, hickory, and mesquite. Suggestions?

General questions to verify my understanding:
1. At 225, I should budget approx 1.5 hours per pound of meat, correct? So if I buy a 12 lb. two pack at the Co, that should take around 9 hrs in the smoker? ((12/2)*1.5)
2. When do I pull it off the smoker? I've read several temps in this thread. 195? 180? over 200?
3. Post-smoke oven at 170, correct? And if I go oven, I can skip the foil altogether and just cover the pan?
4. I believe all of you, but just out of curiosity, why do you put the pork in a trash bag? What happens to the meat overnight in the fridge?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Great idea.

My replies in bold. I am too lazy to copy and paste all of the quote tags.

St. Louis pork ribs were a successful maiden voyage.

This weekend, I'm going to keep it simple and go with a low risk/high return follow-up: pulled pork. Plan on hosting 7-10 adults and 9 children.

Based off what I have read in this thread, I have decided to do the following:

1. Buy the meat at Costco (will it be called picnic, shoulder, butt, or Boston Butt?)
I think it is marked as shoulder. You won't miss it. The packages will each have two roasts and the total weight will be in the 13-18 lb range.

2. Go boneless
3. Smoke both shoulders, save some leftovers, freeze the rest.
We like pulled pork tacos so much we just might to straight to the tacos first time around next time rather than sandwiches. It is also great straight up (with bbq sauce of course).

4. Skip the smoke setting and go 225 the entire time
Yes.

5. Try new rubs....Butt Rub on one and maybe Coach's SYD rub. I am having fun trying rubs. Last week I used a homemade rub on the ribs and it was a huge hit. I want to continue to mix it up to see what everyone likes. Coach, is there a local place to buy SYD rub?
Be aware that the Butt Rub has a strong kick to it.

6. Will skip FTC. I'm with Lebowski. There doesn't seem to be anything magical about a towel and a cooler. Why not just use the oven? Less work and one less thing to lug out, clean, etc.

Still need some more convincing on the following. Help me out, dudes:

1. Injection (leaning against)
2. mop (leaning towards, just to try to get a nice vinegar tang going...any recs on a mop recipe?)
I am not sure if I would mess with injecting again, but I might try the vinegar mop again as I thought it added a nice flavor to the bark. But next time I am going to use a spray bottle rather than a mop as it seemed that the mopping process took off some of the rub. I think I used a variation of CJF's recipe.

3 C white vinegar
2 T sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T lemon juice


3. mustard (leaning towards just so I can say I tried it but is this really necessary? rub sticks to meat without the mustard and do I want my pork to taste like mustard?)
Skip it. You don't need it. The roasts have plenty of moisture for the rub.

4. Someone earlier in the thread was talking about specific sugar to use in conjunction with the rub...should I add this sugar to the Butt Rub or SYD or will it screw up the flavor?
You don't need it. That was in the context of a discussion on making rub from scratch. If you are using prepared rubs you will be fine.

5. I also want to keep trying new BBQ sauce. Not enough time to mail order for this weekend but any place locally to buy some good sauces? Someone mentioned sissy sauce. I'm open for suggestions beyond the normal ones you can find in any grocery store.
Harmons seems to have the biggest variety of brands.

6. Wood type? I wanted to try apple. I also have oak, hickory, and mesquite. Suggestions?
I suggest apple or an apple/hickory mix (about 70/30).

General questions to verify my understanding:
1. At 225, I should budget approx 1.5 hours per pound of meat, correct? So if I buy a 12 lb. two pack at the Co, that should take around 9 hrs in the smoker? ((12/2)*1.5)
Just checked my notes and my last time took 9 hrs for 14 lbs. You want to be sure and budget a few hours for the FTC (oven) stage as I think this makes the meat more tender.

2. When do I pull it off the smoker? I've read several temps in this thread. 195? 180? over 200?
I cook to 195.

3. Post-smoke oven at 170, correct? And if I go oven, I can skip the foil altogether and just cover the pan?
Yes. Cover the pan and add a little water in the bottom. If your pan does not have a rack, put something in the bottom (jar lids, cookie rack, etc.) to keep the roasts out of the water.

4. I believe all of you, but just out of curiosity, why do you put the pork in a trash bag? What happens to the meat overnight in the fridge?
Trash bag? What are you talking about?

[Jeff Lebowski]

One more thing, DDD. On one end of the de-boned Costco roasts you will see several flaps of meat hanging there. I think it is a good idea to bundle them up tightly when you place the roasts on the grill. Otherwise, they will dry out on you.

[TripletDaddy]

Trash bag? What are you talking about?

After applying rub and wrapping in saran to sit overnight in the fridge. I read some talk about putting in a plastic bag or else it will make a mess in the fridge. Maybe I misunderstood.

[TripletDaddy]

One more thing, DDD. On one end of the de-boned Costco roasts you will see several flaps of meat hanging there. I think it is a good idea to bundle them up tightly when you place the roasts on the grill. Otherwise, they will dry out on you.

Butcher twine?