How do you do pulled pork?

[TristanH]

Smoked my first two butts last weekend.

I used the Big Bob Gibson injection recipe with 5 chunks of cherry. In his book, they have a mop you're supposed to use but I didn't bother. I was smoking overnight so there wasn't much opportunity.

It was really good in a sandwich with a vinegar & ketchup based sauce and some bare bones slaw, but I felt it was a bit salty. I think I might prefer a less tricked-out recipe.

What recipe do other folk on here use? Any tips on a more basic direction?

Thanks
Tristan

 

[TravisH]

I don't inject.

I usually slather with yellow mustard and use one of a few rubs.

1 - Obie-Que's Sweet Rub

2 - Southern Succor Rub from The Renowned Mr. Brown

3 - My variation of Alton Brown's Rub

8 tablespoon Brown Sugar
3 tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Chipolte Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Thyme, dried or rubbed

 

[Dave Russell]

No injection, no mop, no foil, just rub and smoke.

You want to smoke overnight, low and slow 225-250.

You want it done in a day? smoke 250-275.

Don't want to get up early? Smoke 275+

Whatever temp, most folks don't cook long enough. Cook to IMT of 195 or so. It should about "pull" all by itself. I actually try to leave chunky so impede evaporation. It's hard, though, since if done it's about falling apart.

 

[Ron G.]

I (And my relatives / friends who have tried some) like the Chris Lilly version - I make the following modifications:

In the rub, I:
-Sub Granulated Onion & Garlic for Garlic Salt
(Reduces the salt a bit)
-Use ALL "Sugar in the Raw" in place of the white & brown (less prone to scorching).

I skip the mop

Like Dave said - "It's done when it's done". Use temperature to get you "in the ballpark", but then check it for tenderness by poking it with a probe. (When it's done, you can pop the bone out with little effort.)

 

[K Kruger]

Howdy Tristan-

No injection, no mop, no foil either. I've never quite seen the point of injecting meat that is going to be pulled - it's too easy to add flavors during pulling so why bother injecting?

E.g., I usually add a tablespoon of finishing sauce per handful of pulled pork as I pull it. (My PP is a combination of chopped and pulled.) The sauce equalizes the moisture and flavor levels and not much goes in so the pork is seasoned, imo, not sauced. Sauce(s) I serve on the side.

I make a different rub every time I cook. A couple of examples are here and here. I make all rubs without salt and salt the meat first, separately, as noted in the recipes. Sauces change each time I cook too.

 

[Steve Cutchen]

What I do I learned here. So a lot of similarities.

I don't inject. Just rub. Then low and slow until it feels done.

I've collected a lot of pork rub recipes and tossed them into a spreadsheet to look for common ratios. I do the salt separately, per Kevin's recommendation.

Here's my current rub:

Steve's Pork Rub

½ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup paprika
¼ cup chili powder
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried thyme

I don't add sauce or seasoning when I pull because I might want to use some of the pork for other things rather than just BBQ.

Also, I save EVERYTHING that I remove from the pork; bones, connective tissues, fat... and I make a quick stock. Don't have to add much to it because there is so much flavor already in the pork butt detritus:

Pork Butt Stock:
2 bone-in pork butts, the remains after smoking and pulling, no BBQ sauce
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, medium, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
olive oil

Heat a large pot and add a turn of olive oil. Saute the carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Add the onions and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Add the pork butt remains. Cover with water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 2 hours. Add water if needed. Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove most of the solids. Strain, eventually through cheesecloth, to remove remaining bits. Defat.

This stuff is AMAZING as a soup base. I could see using it to flavor and moisten reheated pork as well.

I DO add sauce when eating the pork as BBQ. I like a bit of vinegar flavor, but not a Carolina-style sauce. I also didn't want to add anything from the BBQ itself, like drippings, that might shorten the shelf life. I also don't like an overly sweet sauce. I'm looking for moderation in flavors. Here's my current recipe:

Steve's BBQ Sauce #2

2 cups ketchup
? cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce
1 tablespoon dry rub
½ teaspoon black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer until dark, thick, and richly flavored, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for several months.

 

[jason.yee]

i follow Troy Black's recipe on his Real BBQ Know How dvd. made a few butts with this method along with 2 chunks sugar maple and 3 chunks cherry and have had no complaints.

 

[Ernie D]

If you really want to simplify... Go VERY simple.

Season with salt and pepper only.

Serve with #5 sauce only (recipe on this site)

These are all very recognizable flavors for you to build on in later cooks.

If the pulled meat is drying out, moisten it with a couple tablespoons of equal parts sauce and water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is a cheap and easy way to make very delicious, simple, classic pulled pork. It will be very easy to taste your smoke wood. Also the perfect way to learn about the flavors you like.

 

[Charles Howse]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">If you really want to simplify... Go VERY simple.

Season with salt and pepper only. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Although I'm currently using Chris Lily's Butt Rub, I really like the idea of salt and pepper only, because I'm still searching for the history behind WHY the first person said, "I'm gonna rub some of this on the pork and see what it tastes like when it's done."
Who was that guy (so to speak) and when and where did it happen?

 

[K Kruger]

Tough meat has been cooked slowly for centuries. Salt and/or other things were likely applied once they were available. No one really knows.

Me, I can't stand salt-and-pepper only. It's too much like most commercial Q out here, without the sauce. Smoke and salt alone - well, two bites and I'm done. The notion that this allows one to 'better taste the meat' or some such doesn't make sense - to me - because I don't find meat all that compelling so simply prepared (I am the same way with steaks, btw). I think there is too much opportunity to add complements and contrasts to the flavors created by cooking and those created by the smoke. This need not be a recipe a mile long but, for me (again), it needs to be something.

With barbecue I love sauces. But I want the meat to stand on its own and subsequently serve sauce(s) on the side. After eating at literally many hundreds of Q places I have only had a handful of experiences where the meat actually tasted other than bland and/or entirely uninteresting without adding sauce. Not something I care to recreate.

However, YMMV. Many people like salt- or salt-and-pepper only. I always think it is worth experimenting to see what one prefers. Experimenting means cooking and cooking means eating so...

 

[K Kruger]

Another thing: If interested in experimenting, forgo (at least for a while) the recipes that are sugar- and paprika-centric, i.e., most recipes for rubs one finds, especially those that are comp-oriented. Either mod the recipe, replacing the paprika with a chile (or a blend of chilies) that have good flavor to start with, and flavor that will stand up to long cooking (neither of which paprika has), and cut the sugar quantity to around 10-15%, tops, by volume - or find recipes already written this way.

A lot of sugar flattens flavors. Any bright notes from herbs, say, or the high notes some hotter chilies have, are lost under all that sugar (just think of how the bright notes of lemon vanish when lemonade is made with a lot of sugar). Many flavors created by smoke and many created during the caramelization and/or Maillard reaction browning of the meat's surface are also lost when buried under a lot of sugar.

One can certainly add more sweetness via the sauce - although I would still recommend not going whole hog on the sugar - unless one is competing (comp Q is quite sweet) - so as to keep the balance.

 

[Marc]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">just think of how the bright notes of lemon vanish when lemonade is made with a lot of sugar </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Excellent example!

 

[TristanH]

Thanks for all the info and tips! I was looking for a strategic perspective and all this helps.

I really like the salt first, then rub idea. I can max out the spices without turning the pork into a salt lick.

I think I'll likely do an ultra basic butt sometime.

Tristan