The Pulled Pork Thread

[Bo Diddley]

That is the way the celestial kingdom is going to smell.

That's incentive enough to behave myself so I can get there.

[Green Monstah]

The pulled pork was excellent yesterday. Maybe my best ever. Instead of brown sugar, I just used granulated sugar. I'm not sure if that made a difference, but the bark was outstanding.

[Eddie]

We're having a going away party for someone at the office tomorrow and I offered to smoke a butt for some pulled pork sandwiches. I'll be throwing it on the smoker when I get home from work today. Costco had a vacuum sealer on a sale that ended yesterday - so I picked that up too to keep any leftovers. I'm kind of tired of stuff going to waste when we don't eat it fast enough, and a simple ziplock in the freezer just doesn't keep as well as vacuum sealed.

[Eddie]

OK - my latest cook got me thinking. Or maybe even over-thinking, which I'm prone to doing.

I like how pulled pork breaks down a little more with time in the cooler between cooking at eating. This last cook, I had one shoulder that took easy 3 hours longer to cook than the other - which made no sense to me (I mean, it was a little bigger - but I've NEVER had one take that much longer). I know some folks feel like the meat only takes on smoke for the first 3-4 hours, so they cook that long on the smoker and then move into the oven.

Anywho...I got to thinking, would there be any benefit to cooking whatever set amount of time I want to cook on the smoker and then finish it off in the sous vide? This time around, depending on where I put the thermometer there were pretty big temperature swings. Like 15-20 degrees. Seems like dropping it in a sous vide bath would remedy that - particularly if that was done when it hits the stall, and then just leave it there to finish.

Any thoughts? What am I missing?

[Bo Diddley]

I'm still a novice, but this seems like heresy to me. Better be careful you don't find yourself on a scale being weighed against a duck.

[Eddie]

I'm still a novice, but this seems like heresy to me. Better be careful you don't find yourself on a scale being weighed against a duck.

Well...there is THAT.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Pulled Pork Thread

OK - my latest cook got me thinking. Or maybe even over-thinking, which I'm prone to doing.

I like how pulled pork breaks down a little more with time in the cooler between cooking at eating. This last cook, I had one shoulder that took easy 3 hours longer to cook than the other - which made no sense to me (I mean, it was a little bigger - but I've NEVER had one take that much longer). I know some folks feel like the meat only takes on smoke for the first 3-4 hours, so they cook that long on the smoker and then move into the oven.

Anywho...I got to thinking, would there be any benefit to cooking whatever set amount of time I want to cook on the smoker and then finish it off in the sous vide? This time around, depending on where I put the thermometer there were pretty big temperature swings. Like 15-20 degrees. Seems like dropping it in a sous vide bath would remedy that - particularly if that was done when it hits the stall, and then just leave it there to finish.

Any thoughts? What am I missing?

After four hours I foil and finish in my oven. Sous vide sounds like overkill.

If I sense it is taking longer I kick up the temp to 250 or 275.

[CJF]

I’ve cooked somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 briskets since the first of May. And I was out of the country and not cooking for four of those weeks. I realized this week that I have done a pork shoulder in over a year. Just put one on the smoker. Really strange only cooking one piece of meat at a time, but really looking forward to some 4th of July pulled pork sliders.

[Jeff Lebowski]

350? Wow.

[kccougar]

I’ve cooked somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 briskets since the first of May. And I was out of the country and not cooking for four of those weeks. I realized this week that I have done a pork shoulder in over a year. Just put one on the smoker. Really strange only cooking one piece of meat at a time, but really looking forward to some 4th of July pulled pork sliders.

What have you been doing??

[CJF]

350? Wow.

I went through receipts last night. Just under $25k on briskets alone. It’s been nuts.

[CJF]

What have you been doing??

Catering at a golf course. It’s been really busy. Very challenging, especially doing it with a new smoker, but it’s been a blast. I am looking forward to Fall.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That is awesome. Way to go.

[All-American]

What sauces do you all like to use with pork? We made up a mustard/vinegar Carolina-style sauce to go with pork we brought to a ward potluck yesterday that I think went underappreciated; most still went for the regular barbecue sauce, but I've been thinking about that homemade sauce ever since.

[Pelado]

What sauces do you all like to use with pork? We made up a mustard/vinegar Carolina-style sauce to go with pork we brought to a ward potluck yesterday that I think went underappreciated; most still went for the regular barbecue sauce, but I've been thinking about that homemade sauce ever since.

Was there any kind of mind-controlling substance in that sauce?