Keeping my pulled pork moist


 

Peter Near

New member
BBQ isn't that common up here in Canada, but I've been holding an annual BBQ for the last few years and treating my friends and family to some southern fare. I'll be host a little over 70 people on Saturday.

One of my challenges has been keeping the meat moist after it's pulled. I'll tell you what I do so you can suggest changes to my routine:
- Pull each butt off when done, foil and hold in a cooler
- Starting with the first one off the smoker, I unfoil and pull the meat with cotton and latex gloves on
- I put the pulled meat into a slow-cooker on low to keep warm, it is moist and amazing when it first gets pulled
- For about half of the meat, I add a commercial pulled pork sauce (my wife insists, not my choice)
- For the other half, I mix it well and leave the slow cooker lid on until served (usually as soon as I've pulled the last butt)

Now I'm last to get my food, but it always seems to be dried out and not nearly the same taste as when I pulled it about 30 minutes prior. I'd like to preserve the taste but also preserve some of the juicy texture. The finishing sauces all seem like they might significantly alter the flavour and/or spicyness.

Any advice?
 
You said you only foil? . Another way to keep big hunks of meat warm/hot til ready to pull or slice is to foil, wrap in towels and stick in a cooler (FTC for short).* Can easily go 4-6 hours.
 
I agree, coolers are as good at keeping things hot as they are keeping things cool. Adding more heat is not a good idea.
 
I add a finishing sauce to add to pulled pork leftovers for moisture. You might try that. Carolina Red is a go-to for me.

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon (packed) brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Stir all ingredients in small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve.
 
I add a finishing sauce to add to pulled pork leftovers for moisture. You might try that. Carolina Red is a go-to for me.

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon (packed) brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Stir all ingredients in small bowl until sugar and salt dissolve.

Yep, it doesn't matter how juicy the pork was when first pulled if you're the one eating the last serving. Even if smoked to perfection and pulled into chunks, not shredded...the challenge is KEEPING it moist and they've been at this for a LONG TIME over in North Carolina. So if you've got some folks that don't like vinegar sauces, just don't let them see you add it to the pan, and don't add any more than is needed. I've tried AJ, meat drippings (both skimmed and not), chicken broth, etc, and I always come back to something that at least resembles a Carolina red sauce if serving multiple pans for a big event.
 
As to Carolina sauce recipes, I guess I should've mentioned above that we finally tried the one that T. Bounds has mentioned; the one that's on the Food Network website. It should be easy to look up and is simply called N. Carolina Barbecue sauce, if I'm not mistaken. It's one of the best red Carolina sauces I've ever had, but how could it not be with bacon in it?
 
Peter, I have cooked dozens of butts over the last few years for groups as large as 100 people. I will usually pull them out of the smoker at about 195 to 197 degrees and place them in foil pans sealed with foil, Then I let them rest for a couple of hours in a 175 degree oven or coolers with heated towels. When I'm getting them ready to serve, I'll pull them apart in their foil pans and all the juice that has come out will be mixed back in the shredded pork. The pork is very moist with these juices added back in and I never have to add anything else to keep them moist. I do frequently take some tongs and sort of toss the pork so as to pick up any juice that made it to the bottom of the pan.

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Hi Peter.
Along with some of the guys, I have found that just using your cooler as heat storage is more than enough to keep your pork warm enough with out drying it out. I must admit to trying the oven on a few occasions because I was paranoid the pork wouldn't be warm enough and all it did was ruin it. So for my last couple of get togethers I have utilised the cooler with towels and even used on one cooler day hot water bottles between the towels and the food stayed warm for hours.
good luck
Alan
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone, here's the update...

- Cooked five butts
- Held in the cooler with foil
- Pulled each butt and put it into a warm crock-pot
- Squirted about half a cup of carolina red on top of the meat from each butt

No complaints on the flavour (it tasted great!) and it did seem to keep its texture much better.

Sorry for the late reply, I lost my password there for a bit.

Pete
 

 

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