Optimizing pulled pork


 
S

Sandy B

TVWBB Super Fan
I think that a lot of people get into BBQ because of pulled pork, it seems to be the most forgiving and is always a crowd pleaser.

I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but if you look within these forums there are lots of different opinions out there ( water or not, foil or not ). I want to preface this by saying that there is no " right" answer and even if there was it probably would not be mine. But since I have a rather analytical mind I decided that the only way to get the " optimal" pulled pork is to do a shootout which is a comparison between two methods that differ in one variable.

Since I only have one " big" smoker I decided to compare butts in which the rub was added directly to the meat and one that was coated with mustard first. On this forum you will see many people saying that lather it on as thick as you want because in the end you wont be able to test it. So i made my traditional homemade rub
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Then I got out a whole lot of pulled pork ( for me at least)

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took them out and separated the two butts, coated one in French's mustard ( you can see the short bamboo skewer in the mustard one so that I can keep track)

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Here they are with the same rub on the smoker ( used KBB and apple chunks), if you strain you can see the skewer on the butt on the right

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Here they are when they were done ( it took a long time like 20 hours at 225-250, there was a short period of time when it dropped to 180 as the coals were exhausted but I was watching the Olympic hockey gold medal game and if the WSM would have caught fire, I would have let it burn).

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As this wasn't just an analytical exercise I also made some ABT's. For reasons I do not understand my wife likes the turkey bacon way more than regular bacon. I don't but if you have to eat turkey bacon this is not a bad way to do it. Here is the before shot

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And after ( sorry a little blurry)
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Here is the not mustard butt after resting in foil, wrapped in foil and a towel in the cooler

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and the final product
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THE VERDICT

I have to say that to my taste the straight rub was way better. Although I did not taste the mustard, the mustard coated butt the bark was less " set" and less sweet ( likely due to the vinegar in the mustard). One thing I did notice, that may or may not be of value, is that when I was pulling the butts apart the smoke ring was noticeably deeper on the mustarded butts, perhaps because of the lower pH on the surface.

Both were good but for me the clear winner was no mustard ( and if you swear by mustard please don't attack me). My wife, who could care less about the specific of preparation said the no mustard butt was the best I've ever made that she has tasted ( out neighbor, a frequent recipient of my wares agreed but I think she says this every time to keep the gravy train running).

I will probably keep posting these types of experiments, until I reach the best pulled pork for my tastes.
 
could you add the pic of the rested mustard coated butt? Nice documentation.....seems in line with mine. I got the best bark when I forgot to use a rub at all.
 
Clint said:
could you add the pic of the rested mustard coated butt? Nice documentation.....seems in line with mine. I got the best bark when I forgot to use a rub at all.
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in the absence of a souped up Delorean, unfortunately, no. I dont know why I didnt take a picture, but I didnt, sorry.

I'll try to be more diligent next time
 
do you recall if there was a noticeable difference in appearance? The one you posted looked good!
 
Clint said:
do you recall if there was a noticeable difference in appearance? The one you posted looked good!
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The only picture I have is coming off the smoker. I'm not sure that the pictures can capture the difference but the bark on the mustarded buts did not seem as " set", like you could kind of slide it off in a sheet ( not that you could, perhaps that's not a great description). The bark was also decidedly less " dry", whether it was from the mustard directly, or that the mustard prevented the carmelization in the sugar I don't know.

Speaking to my wife, she was also of the opinion that although neither butt was dry that the non mustared but was not as greasy. Anecdotally, I seem to remember that the butt sweat ( now there is an appealing image, you know what I mean the orangeish liquid that pools withing the foil as it is resting) there was more in the non mustarded but than the mustard one.

Aside from the more penetrant smoke ring, the pork was pretty similar between the two but the difference between the bark was readily apparent with my taste buds favoring the no mustard by a landslide.
 
Both look good to me!!! Practice makes perfect I think you need to get a few more butts and do a little more experimenting. Maybe even take a day off so it gets your undivided attention. Just tell your Wife its for science, I'm sure she will understand!!! :cool:
 
John Solak said:
Both look good to me!!! Practice makes perfect I think you need to get a few more butts and do a little more experimenting. Maybe even take a day off so it gets your undivided attention. Just tell your Wife its for science, I'm sure she will understand!!! :cool:
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I've already tackled two of the big questions. Water or not ? (WATER), mustard or not ? (NOT). I dont think that everyone has my tastes ( I'd be creeped out if they did). I don't have two WSM's so temp comparisons are not doable by me, I could use my mini and likely will try but its not technically a shootout.

My next experiment will likely be on ribs ( foil or not) or chicken (brine or not) because I'm not afraid of the tough questions.
Alternatively, I'll stick to butts and do the " room temp vs cold butts on the grill, which has the deeper smoke ring ?" if I do it, I'll post pics of the ring next to a ruler.

( and I know that the smoke ring can be manipulated and its not taken into consideration in competitions but I'm shallow enough to take great pride in things that have no effect on the end product).

The quest continues.
 
Thanks for all your work. Very informative and interesting. The only reason I've used mustard in the past is for rub adhesion. Now having said that, I don't slather on the mustard, just a light even coat. It seems that when I don't use mustard or another binder, there is a lot of my (sometimes expensive) rub left on the plate when I move the roast and I end up re-rubbing it to my satisfaction. As you, I will continue to experiment. Thanks again.
 
I used mustard an my very first butt (a long time ago) and haven't used it since. I really see no advantages to it. My butts are always a hit. :)
 
Thanks for the comparison. As for using mustard to make the rub adhere, most of ya'll probably know that all it takes is to leave the meat out a bit to lose it's chill. Then the rub adheres just fine. My ribs and briskets have lost their chill and are ready to take the rub by the time I'm done trimming and/or pulling off the membrane. I do prefer to put BBQ cuts back in the fridge after rubbing though, to let the rub and sweat let the meat get cold again for the best smoke ring and adsorption.
 
Great experiment. They both look great. I'm a mustard and empty water guy but I think I will try it the other way when I do another butt.
 
Nice thread Sandy, I look forward to more. A smoke ring will get larger as you increase the moisture of the surface.

If you want another test do one dry again and one with oil.
 
First of all complimenti!!!!!!
Both of them look meteoric and that is the look I love.
Second , these experiments are really useful to all. Keep on doing them. Please, before moving towards ribs stay on butts: it could be useful to try with EVO, or Worchestershire Sauce or a mix of EVO+Worchester+mustard like I do.
I read on amazingribs.com that each of those adhesives have some properties by combining with dry rub. So I mix them all in equal parths.
 
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