First attempt at pulled pork-advice


 
R

Rory Malone

New member
I'm looking for some advice. This weekend I tried my first smoke in my 18.5 WSM. I was smoking a 4.5 lb boneless pork shoulder and a 3 lb beef brisket. The beef was done after about 6 hours and was perfectly tender. The pork, after 9 hours, was not.

Here's my question, the temp on the shoulder hit 170-175 after after 7 hours and never really got any higher. The fire stayed between 215-245 for the entire cook.

Is this normal? 190 is the internal temp for pulled pork. Did I just not give the shoulder enough time?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated as I have 30lb of Boston Butt that I want to pull on Labor Day, so I need to figure this out.
 
Hi Rory, welcome to the best forum on the net!

You almost certainly hit the temp plateau with your butt. It's that period of time when the temp stalls for a long time. I think technically, it's when the collagen is breaking down.

It's gonna happen every time. Just knowing that it's gonna happen is half the battle. Keep on keepin' on, keep your smoker temp up and it will eventually break thru to your target temp.

Remember, cook to doneness, not to time. "It's done when it's done".
 
Originally posted by Charles Howse:
Remember, cook to doneness, not to time. "It's done when it's done".
Click to expand...

This.

I cooked the best pulled pork I've ever made this weekend because I didn't fuss with it at all. Therm at grill level to keep an eye on temp and left it alone.
 
AH HA! That explains my results. I like your response the best Charles "it's done when it's done"

I need to get past the idea of precision in terms of time and focus more on the results. I suppose you can't hurry along good Q.
 
Actually you can. If languishing in the plateau you can simply bump the temp up 25?. This will shorten the lag to no ill effect and shorten the cook.
 
I like your response the best Charles "it's done when it's done"
Click to expand...

Way back when, they say that most, if not all, of the pitmasters would take a little sip of shine every now and then while tending the fire.
They got sleepy, took a nap, the meat cooked on, the fire got a little lower, it didn't matter, it still made great Q.
icon_cool.gif


Do you drink?
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I'd recommend you run 250º~275º and, assuming your "30lb of Boston Butt" are 4 7~8lb'ers, plan on about 12~16 hours.

To avoid any rush, cook them the day before or do a over-night. Butt will keep for hours in a cooler wrapped in towels.
 
Originally posted by Charles Howse:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I like your response the best Charles "it's done when it's done"
Click to expand...

Way back when, they say that most, if not all, of the pitmasters would take a little sip of shine every now and then while tending the fire.
They got sleepy, took a nap, the meat cooked on, the fire got a little lower, it didn't matter, it still made great Q.
icon_cool.gif


Do you drink?
icon_wink.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have been known to take a pull of whiskey from time to time.....
 
Yeah... you hit the dreaded platue, almost all big pieces of meat do that. Temps will go up fast for a while then stop! This is a good thing... it is during the stall that the heat is working on all the fat and conective tissues and breaking them down to a soft tender juicy piece of meat. BBQ is the art of patientce, don't rush it!

And to make it even better... every piece of meat is differant... lol. Some will stall for 5 or 6 hrs., others for only 3 hrs. One thing you can do to help get through a stall is when you hit about 165° intenal temp wrap the butt in heavy foil with about 1/4 C. of apple juice.
 
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