Porkbutt quesiton

[Bryon Piequet]

I have cooked about 10 pork butt, all have been great. yesterday I cooked a Farmer John bone in butt that was 8lbs. I injected the night before. cooked as I normally do at 260-275. On smoke for 7 hours, until bark firms up was @ 169-171 degrees. Foiled with a littled apple juice until it hit 198 and probe tender (like butter). I let it rest for 35 minutes. What was strange was when I pulled it, it almost was tough, but then at the same time the texture was a bit mushy???? The bone pulled clean. I tasted awesome, but the texture was not string like. Any thoughts???

 

[Bob Sample]

Any chance it was enhanced when you bought it? What was your injection made of?

 

[Bryon Piequet]

No, it was not enhanced. The injection is, white sugar, salt,, Apple juice, Apple cider vinegar, hot sauce.

 

[Bob Bass]

... Foiled with a littled apple juice until it hit 198 and probe tender (like butter). I let it rest for 35 minutes. What was strange was when I pulled it, it almost was tough, but then at the same time the texture was a bit mushy???? ...

Tough and mushy at the same time... ? Let's try something. Take a (small) bite of the pork and, using your tongue, press it into the roof of your mouth, does it turn to mush ? If so, that bite was overcooked.

If it turned to mush, at what temperature did you start checking for tenderness ? If it was 198 for your first check, might suggest starting at an lower temperature, say 190 or so. It is important to remember that each and every piece of meat is different than any other piece of meat. You may have had one that became tender at a lower temperature than the others you cooked...

Bob

 

[Bryon Piequet]

Thanks, the majority of it was firm, I will have some leftovers tonight.

 

[JimmyE]

Couple of things...for best pulling, take it up to over 200, 205 seems to be the magic number for me. Secondly, all meats are different, some meats are tough, which is why I would rather pay a bit more for quality as opposed to buying meat on sale. Just my opinion.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

Did you use water in the pan?

 

[Bryon Piequet]

No I did not

 

[Stuart S]

I did 5 butts on the weekend, they were at 180 after 15.5 hours on the cooker so I probed them with the non pointy end of a wooden skewer and it slid right in...temperature is a good indicator, but not the holy grail.