Tough pulled pork


 
S

SaraL

New member
I'm a new 14" owner. I've made ribs 3 times with great success. No troubles regulating temp etc.
Tried to make a pulled pork. Had trouble with temp (almost up to 150 once) and dropped near the end of the smoke (aroundhr 8).
However, the internal temp of the pork stalled at 160 and then jumped up to 195ish. After 12 HOURS (4lb) I pulled it off.
It's hard as a rock.
I suspect it's overcooked? Or is it undercooked?
Any hope of rescuing my hard little brick of meat? I sliced off a piece and it tastes pretty good, just a little dry.
Maybe braise it for a while?

Sigh.

Sara
 
I'd say that it was undercooked and that the connective tissues hadn't broken down yet. A braise would definitely work. That or wrap in foil and basically steam it. Or cube it up and throw it into a batch of chilli or soup.
 
Surely a "dry, rock hard brick" that reached 195ish and was cooked for 12 hours is more likely to be overcooked?

But... "almost up to 150 once" Did you mean that?

What grate temp were you getting. Should be 225f - 250f for a low and slow cook, although some go for higher heat.
 
Generally speaking, overcooked pork will be mushy. If seriously overcooked, it will eventually dry out like most meats do.
 
I can't help you with what went wrong, but if the meat is dry and still tastes good then use it in soup, or beans
(speaking from experience, I did this with way overcooked and dry beef ribs, and it tasted good in bean soup)
 
If your probe was in a pocket of fat you could have been getting a falsely high reading as well.
If it's tough it's probably a little undercooked, I usually take my butts to 205°ish but mostly it should probe soft as butter.
I suspect the dryness comes from almost being dehydrated from the long cook time.
My 2 cents worth....
 
Yesterday, I started a 3.5# pork shoulder picnic roast at noon. The stall hit at 5:00, IT of 165. At 10:00 PM I pulled it at 190 (iGrill2 + another thermometer I have to confirm temp)! It pulled OK, but I would have liked to hit 205. I meant for it to be dinner last night, LOL. We ended up having pizza. Pork was put in a glass container to reheat today :)

I know about the texas crutch and smoking at a higher temp, but is 10 hours at all normal for a roast that size? Smoker temps were between 225-240 most of the cook.. until 6 when I added some charcoal and opened up the vents a little more.
 
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OK, since nobody else has asked, what cut of pork did you cook? In my area, it's actually tough to find pork butts or shoulders (the ideal cuts for traditional pulled pork) in the 4 lb. range, but there are always lots of "pork loin roasts" around that weight in the meat bins at the grocery store. If that's what you cooked, then, yeah, it's majorly overcooked. Loin is very lean and shouldn't be cooked to far past 140. It's fantastic when brined and cooked indirect, or sliced (about 1-1.5" thick) and grilled (basically, center cut pork chops), but doesn't have the right structure or fat content for pulled pork.

Way back when, before I knew better, I tried making pulled pork from pork loin in the crock pot. I put a 2 lb. chunk in there, rubbed with typical pulled pork rub, and a half cup of apple juice. 6 hours later, it was falling apart. It smelled wonderful, but had the mouth feel of chewing on cotton balls (not that I've done that, except maybe once when I was young and drunk and thought they were marshmallows).

Now, assuming you did you a butt or shoulder, there should have been enough fat (even if you got all the surface fat off, there's a ton of internal layers of it) to keep it moist. I'd suspect it was undercooked. All that good fat inside doesn't even start to break down into gelatin until about 180-190, and then it takes a while (hour or so) to do so.
 
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