Pulled Pork on Weber Kettle -- Is it possible?? (w/Pics)


 

Paul H. Potter

New member
Long time Lurker -- First Time Poster . . .

So I am trying my first pork butt today. Don't have a WSM so am indirect grilling on my Weber performer.

Consulted both my Racheilin (how to grill) and Purviance (Real Grilling) and thier recipes for cooking in the kettle call for temps much higher than I see advocated for the WSM. Between 300 and 350 for 4-6 hours. However they still are listed as pulled pork recipes.

My question is if it is truly possible to get pulled pork in such a fashion? I'm 3 hours in and it looks pretty good, feels pretty tender still and I'm up to about 165 internal. My suspicion is that I'll end up with more of a chopped pork product but hopefully it will still be good. Wonder if the more experienced folks have any thoughts on this.

I know this isn't true BBQ but would still appreciate any thoughts . . .
 
My guess is that neither feels that the majority of their readers would want to go through the necessary motions required to make their kettles cook at lower temps.

Yes, you can get pulled pork off the kettle but it will work best if you are cooking at the lower end of the range you note, and if the butt is not too lsrge. At higher temps it is true that you could be looking at more of a choppable finish (nothing wrong with that) but, if bark texture isn't a concern, you can foil, especially if the cook was at higher temps or the butt was larger. Foiling will speed cooking by making heat transfer more efficient. This will boost rendering of the interior portions and, if taken to the fall-apart stage, will give you pullable results.

Welcome to the board.
 
Thanks for the quick feedback Kevin. I've been trying to keep it between 300 and 325 and it is a smallish butt (about 5.5 lbs). Am about to go check temp again . . .
 
Good.

Remove it when the meat feels very soft and it separates at the seams very easily. After a foiled rest it whould be quite pullable.

If it starts to look or become overcooked on the outer portions just foil it to finish.
 
Yeah man, no problem I think.

I just did two picnics totaling ~ 19lbs overnight last night around 275-300, and I ended up pulling them after only 9 hours or so. IMO they turned out great! Don't see any reason why you can't cook a smaller roast a little hotter, indirect, on the kettle.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
Good.

Remove it when the meat feels very soft and it separates at the seams very easily. After a foiled rest it whould be quite pullable.

If it starts to look or become overcooked on the outer portions just foil it to finish.

I never quite got to 190 but the meat was as you describe above, quite tender and was pulling away from the bone very easily. So I took it off and wrapped it in foil. Hopefully the fact that it did not get to 190 is not a health issue?? It got to 185 in some parts and a little less in others. However going on feel it sure felt done. We'll see after I take it out of the foil and try to pull it.
 
Well, for the most part I was quite pleased with the results. About 2/3rds pulled pretty easily. The part that sat on the grill was bit dried out and I had to just chop it.

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Paul that looks really good and you won't get any complaints from here. Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing!

joe
 
Paul, does look great. I had a smiliar experience this weekend. I purchased a 13# Beef shoulder roast with the intent of smoking it low and slow all night Saturday, ready for Sunday. However, found out at 2 pm my wife had made plans for Sunday already.

I did a high heat smoke on the WSM, foiled and finished in the over cause my temps were not staying up. Mine looked as good as yours, but didn't have the flavor I was expecting. All we did was chopped sandwiches, so nothing lost. Not sure if it didn't have flavor due to such a short cook, or if shoulders just aren't that great for beef. I used the same rub and preparation I use with Briskets, which are dynamite.

Regardless, looking good with the butt.
 
I do it all the time. I will say that I use the smokenator insert that I've had for about two years to do it. (You could get similar but less efficient indirect using firebricks and foil.) I can maintain 225 degrees when using the water insert at the grill surface and can do butts and brisket that are perfect. Here's a pic of my OTG with the 'nator and two boneless buts with a brisket on top. The brisket is sitting on the hovergrill accessory for the smokenator. Cooked with Kingsford competition and some hickory chunks over about 12 hours.

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I'm in no way related to or do I benefit from mentioning the Smokenator. I do like how easy it is to use though.
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