Please help…Pork won’t pull a part!


 
C

Chris G (Detroit)

New member
I appreciate everyone’s help in advance. I only hope I did not “ruin” my first attempt. Anyways, let me provide a quick summary and hopefully I can attempt to recover this.

I just bought a WSM 22.5” and it is my first cook. I went with a 6 – 6.5 lb pork butt no bone. I was using regular Kingsford with a little apple wood chips (about half a hand full) in the beginning and towards 1.5 hours into the cook. The temperature was fairly consistent, around 225 degrees for the first 3.5 hours then reduced to about 180-200. So I got the temperature back up to about 225 for another 3 hours. The pork reach 190 internal temperature and looked good, so I took it out and let it rest for 30 minutes covered in foil. When I went to pull it a part, it just really wouldn’t do it. It tasted good and was not dry, so I don’t think I overcooked it. I feel like perhaps I undercooked it (in terms of smoking time). It was late and I had to work early so I couldn’t cook it anymore, so I covered it up and put it in the fridge.

Ultimately, my question is can I put it back on the WSM for a couple more hours tonight or even in the oven for a few hours? What are my options? Honestly, I wouldn’t mine it drying out a bit if I could get it to pull a part as I could add sauce on it. I just really want to have pulled pork, not sliced or chopped or cubed.

Thanks to all for their advice and knowledge!
 
Hi Chris,

The key to see if it's ready is to insert a probe into the meat and it should feel as if your putting it in butter. It should go in effortlessly. I usually start checking around 190, although sometimes they have not been ready until after 200. Think of temperature as only a guideline, the butt is ready when it's tender. Sounds to me like it is undercooked. You could probably throw in the oven at 275 for a bit then recheck.
 
Undercooked...Foil it with a splash of apple juice to help with moisture and finish in the oven (or the smoker) to get it to 195, then rest for 1 hour minimum before pulling. Patience, neighbor.....

BTW, I would suggest wood chunks rather than chips (3 or 4 chunks on the WSM will do just fine.
 
I have had butts PERFECT @ 190. But some needs 200-205 to be tender. I ALWAYS check my butt(no jokes needed)
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with a probe for tenderness. Some pull at 185. It all depends on the individual cut. On the reheating for tenderness question i really dunno.
Might dry it out more then wanted if going to cook it tender the day after.
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But if you wanna do it. My vote is in foil with some AJ. But i have never done this myself so wait for another quality response from one that have. Good luck!
 
Sounds like it needed more cooking time. If they aren't fall apart tender, they usually are undercooked. Temperature is the key.

I cook mine from 225°~250°, not by time, but by temp. I leave it sealed up in the kettle for at least the first 2 hours as long as temps are stable, and after 2 hrs., I rotate the butt 180° to make sure it cooks evenly. Some don't do this additional step but it works for me. A good rule of thumb is "if you're lookin' you ain't cookin'." Try not to open the lid if possible unless something appears wrong.

Check temps in several places with an instant read thermometer, avoiding the bone if there is one in the shoulder which will give a false temp reading. I pull mine from 185°~200°, judging by feel when I insert the temperature probe as others have noted. It should easily slide into the meat with little or no resistance.

If I am in a hurry or just feeling lazy, I will leave it on the smoker for 3-4 hrs., and not worry so much about the temp. Then, I will pull it, wrap in foil in a large aluminum pan, and spray with apple juice before putting into a preheated 250° oven until the correct temp is reached. Total cooking time is usually anywhere from 8.5-11 hrs., and that varies according to several factors - size of the shoulder, temp when you put into smoker, weather conditions, etc. Using the oven, a.k.a. "Texas Crutch method" after smoking the butt for a few hours is a good way to get them done without having to maintain the smoker temp for that long, and doesn't require babysitting for the entire cook, although some people enjoy that.

I like to put one or two on the kettle around 8-9pm after dinner, then put into the oven around 11pm-midnight, then let them finish in the oven overnight. This gives less crusty bark on the finished product, but they always come out tender. I will check the temps about the 5 hour mark, and re-spray with apple juice. Once temp is reached, I pull the pan out of the oven, remove the butt with BBQ gloves, and double wrap in foil. Then, place the foil wrapped butt into an old cooler and cover with some towels for at least an hour. I cooked one a couple of weeks ago for our monthly lunch, and it was still over 150° after 4 hrs. in the cooler.

Hope this helps. Good luck with future cooks!
 
Well it won't get any smokier tasting so just through it in the oven till its done. I've had to do this and it turns out fine since it still has lots of unrendered fat left in it it should come out moist.
 
Nothing new as far as advice, Chris (foil with AJ and cook till probe tender). That wasn't really a large butt, so it's possible that it wasn't as fatty as some (the rendering fat increases the juiciness and tenderness). I had a large butt take 16 hours to be ready and it turned out to have MUCH less fat than others I had done.

Anyway, one sure cure -- do another!
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Rich
 
Thank you everyone. I am going to put it in the oven with some juice like most suggested.

My next one I'll make sure I go longer. And I'll just bought some chunk to use instead of chips, because I do think chunks will be nicer.

I'll update in a few hours when it is done.
 
The above can be said for not only butts but most cue. Brisket is done when it is done, ribs are done when they are done.....

The only thing that I use a thermometer as an indication of doneness is for chicken and pork tenderloins.
 
I will echo everyone else's advice, in that it was undercooked, even if it did hit 190. But don't worry, you can recover the current butt and you will do better on the next one with the advice given.

Looking at your initial post, it looks like it cooked for 6.5 hours at 225. If that was the cook time, then it needed to go a lot longer if the cooker stayed at 225. How long was the cooking session? It must have been longer for your thermometer to read 190, unless it is not reading properly.
 
The total cook time was about 8 hours. Still too short though I suppose.

Originally posted by Barry McCorkle:
I will echo everyone else's advice, in that it was undercooked, even if it did hit 190. But don't worry, you can recover the current butt and you will do better on the next one with the advice given.

Looking at your initial post, it looks like it cooked for 6.5 hours at 225. If that was the cook time, then it needed to go a lot longer if the cooker stayed at 225. How long was the cooking session? It must have been longer for your thermometer to read 190, unless it is not reading properly.
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Here is a thought. Cook with no thermometer and just go by texture. I cooked for years without temping meat and went by look and feel, I never checked meat temperature till I joined here and read about the stall so I was curious and checked out the meat temp on a couple of cooks,after a couple cooks "flying by the seat of your pants" I think you will be much more comfortable cooking on the WSM.
 
Ok, so after some errands and dinner I started the pork. I wrapped it in foil and splash some apple/cherry juice on it. Put it in the oven at 200 (much too low) for about 1 hour. Than I raised it to 350 for another hour. Still not quite enough. So I raised it to 400 for two more hours. After those last two hours the meat felt ready to go. So I wrapped it in a towel, let it sit for 30 minutes, then shred.

Oh yeah, it is done now. Bark still in tact...VERY good. Well worth the second late night making this turn around.

Thanks to all.
 
Originally posted by Bob Sample:
Well it won't get any smokier tasting so just through it in the oven till its done.
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Just curious about the "won't get any smokier tasting" part. I thought anytime there is smoke present it would add to the flavor of the meat. The smoke deposits on the outside of the meat. But after the meat reaches 140 F the smoke ring won't increase. Am I missing something. I'm a noob trying to learn as much as possible from you folks. Thanks
 
Originally posted by Brian B (Muncy):
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bob Sample:
Well it won't get any smokier tasting so just through it in the oven till its done.
Click to expand...
Just curious about the "won't get any smokier tasting" part. I thought anytime there is smoke present it would add to the flavor of the meat. The smoke deposits on the outside of the meat. But after the meat reaches 140 F the smoke ring won't increase. Am I missing something. I'm a noob trying to learn as much as possible from you folks. Thanks </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey, Brian. To me it's just a question of "how much smoke can you actually pile up on the outside of a piece of meat"? I've made sure the smoke was going for almost the whole cook (say 8 hours) and on others cooks, just kept smoke (with small wood chunks) going for the first two hours (temp over 140*). There may be a difference, but only what I might notice on a side by side taste test (and THAT, btw, is the right answer for you).

I tend to do multi-meat cooks adding and removing meats as needed -- so that has me adding wood chunks more or less continuously.

How about this, which is smokier -- a chicken smoked for 2 hours or a pork butt smoked for 8 - 9 hours? Lots to consider -- do what feels right and tastes best for you. (Some people would object to a heavily smoked meat.)

Rich
 
I am going to disagree, just a tad, with those who say there is no need to bother with a thermometer. Unless you have a pretty high level of expertise, which the OP clearly does not, a thermometer is far and away the best indicator of when your cook is done.
 
Brian I've found after 2-3 hours the smoke flavour doesn't increase much unless you have been using very little wood to start with. This being said you can "over smoke" something but that has more to do with the strength of the smoke and not the duration.

Billy the reason I suggest trying the no thermometer route is that people get to hung up on temperatures. I learned to cook with no thermometer, not sure if they were invented yet, and learned the "feel" of how to do it. I didn't ruin to many meals but we did eat late a lot. I just figured that's why appetizers where invented.
 
I have heard that meat will not take any additional smoke once the IT hits 160°. Whether this is true or not, it makes a good point as to finishing a butt in the oven. After 3-4 hrs, in decent weather conditions, the temp should be close to 160°, so all you are doing at this point is cooking until the desired temp or feel is achieved. Why waste wood/charcoal unless you want to finish the butt completely on your smoker?
 
Originally posted by Chris G (Detroit):
The total cook time was about 8 hours. Still too short though I suppose.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Barry McCorkle:
I will echo everyone else's advice, in that it was undercooked, even if it did hit 190. But don't worry, you can recover the current butt and you will do better on the next one with the advice given.

Looking at your initial post, it looks like it cooked for 6.5 hours at 225. If that was the cook time, then it needed to go a lot longer if the cooker stayed at 225. How long was the cooking session? It must have been longer for your thermometer to read 190, unless it is not reading properly.
Click to expand...
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Chris, glad you ended up with some good pulled pork. On the next butt cook, you will need to cook it longer if you are going to maintain 225 - 250 at the top vent. I would count on 2 hours per lbs. By the end of that time, the butt should be tender and easy to pull. Internal temp could be anywhere from 180 - 200, depending on the meat itself.

If you are new to bbq, I would advise that you keep a log of cooker temps and internal meat temps by time - maybe in 1/2 hour or 1 hour increments. It truly is a good way to learn about your smoker and how to cook various meats consistently.

Good luck and have fun.
 
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