Pulled Pork question


 
R

Rick Smith

New member
I made pulled pork over the weekend for the umteenth time. I leave the pork butts in the smoker until internal temp hits 190. I them remove wrap and foil and let set for 30 minutes or so. My question is why are there times when I go to pull the pork it is tuff and hard to separate? For instance yesterday I did 2 butts from the same pack. One was done and pulled easily while the other one was tuff. It seemed more like a pork roast.
 
Since you have cooked Butts previously I am surprised you didn’t mention anything about probing for tenderness as that’s my go to for being done,can’t always rely on temperature as all cuts of meat will be different.Maybe shoot for 200 plus internal next time and probe to see the results.
 
It is also not unusual to find two butts in the same cryo pack a la Costco that cook at different speeds. But I assume you are checking both butts for temp already.

I would also make sure you are checking the temp in each butt in multiple places, and pull only the butt(s) that have reached temp everywhere. It is not unusual to find one muscle on a butt that is at 190 or 195 and another on the same butt at 180 or 175. Patience. Wait for the rest of the butt to catch up and make sure you keep you smoker temp steady at the end (if it shoots up you could dry out that 190/195 muscle.)

And while I also pull butts off the heat at 190 and tent them for an hour, there is no harm in going to a higher temp (200) if you find that they are not as tender as you like. I would rest them longer if you go at 200 or 205.
 
Temperature only tells you the temperature. Tenderness tells you when it's done. Once it reaches ~195, probe with a skewer or temperature probe. It should penetrate deep into the butt with little or no resistance. If it doesn't, cook for another 20 or 30 minutes and repeat until it does. Every piece of meat is different, so treating them the same often doesn't produce the same results.
 
Thanks all for your advice. Next time I'll check better for tenderness! BTW these butts were from Costco. Just curious. Since the one butt was still tuff could I have put it back in the smoker or maybe in the oven on a low temp? Thanks again.
 
Butts are like noses, everybody has one and, they are all different! It’s barbecuem and it will be done when it is finI shed. I’m a huge fan of the three hour rest (minimum) when I can get it. Temperature is all well and good but, probing for tenderness is more realistic. I like the tactile “hands on” way to test. Brisket should jiggle, pork should be soft as marshmallow fluff(well, almost). It’s just really all about patience. I’m doing a big feed next week, I’m doing brisket and something (as well as some appetizers) and will put that on at maybe 7:00 PM for 4:00 slicing time on Saturday.
I’m hoping for a three to four rest but, I’ll kind of need to take what I get. I’m thinking that the early touch off should work well.
 
rick smith said:
Thanks all for your advice. Next time I'll check better for tenderness! BTW these butts were from Costco. Just curious. Since the one butt was still tuff could I have put it back in the smoker or maybe in the oven on a low temp? Thanks again.
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Cooking more depends on how much it cooled. Yes, you can heat more and get some benefit for tenderizing, but if it's really cooled, not much. Personally I would go with a pot in the oven or possibly a crockpot at 225-250 if it was still too hot to pull. Add a little apple juice or your sauce. (I was once so tired the butt went into the fridge and I pulled it the next day. Not ideal, but still good.). Once the original temp is above 150, it really doesn't matter to how you apply the finishing heat.
 
Many people swear by cooking to a temp of 203 for pulled pork. I don't. I probe for tenderness starting at 195 and pull when the probe goes into it with little resistance. The 203 temp works because, statistically, 203 is about where 10 years of pork butts would average out. Some butts aren't ready until 205 or 210 but 203 is close enough to give a good result but not necessarily the best. If the butt is ready at 195 then 203 isn't going to overcook it much. So, 203 is good enough but not always the best.
 
If you can pull it..... it's done.
If the meat comes off the bone..... It's done.

Some people apparently like mush.... I like a little stringy meat texture to mine.
I usually go 193-198... With the probe in the thickest part.
Yes some areas closer to the surface are much more done...200 or more.
Of course.
That's how it works.

I have never had a problem pulling it using just 2 dinner forks
Whether I wrap or don't wrap

Are some easier to pull than others? Sure.
Who said they all got the exact same amount of fat?
No one.

Does it matter?
No
 
My cooks seem to be all different time wise.
Not by incredible amounts but enough to make a difference to me.

Not only are butts not all the same size I think some days are just different than others.
I prefer mine slightly stringy as well over total mush.

The only time I get into trouble is when I promise some to my Mother and brother at a certain time and I think I can cheat to make the deadlin.
It’s done when it’s done is the bottom line.
 
I start probing at 200, usually ready to pull it off at 203 almost always. Regardless of the temp, probe tender will tell you when it's done.
 
That’s one of the things I really like about the Thermopen. Not only does it show the temp as you move through the meat, since it’s a nice sharp probe, I also get a sense of how tender the meat is. Bottom line is that the probe is more helpful in determining doneness than temp. Temp just tells you when it’s time to start probing.
 
I think it is really hard to pinpoint a single temperature for a shoulder. It is one temperature for one set of muscles. Then it is a totally different temperature if you probe somewhere else. If the money muscle finishes at 200+, then the main muscles inside are much lower in temperature.

It is a good argument for cutting up the shoulder so it has a better chance to cook more evenly. Nothing that large will cook evenly throughout. The other approach is to cut off parts that finish first and continue cooking the rest.
 
Lew Newby said:
Many people swear by cooking to a temp of 203 for pulled pork. I don't. I probe for tenderness starting at 195 and pull when the probe goes into it with little resistance. The 203 temp works because, statistically, 203 is about where 10 years of pork butts would average out. Some butts aren't ready until 205 or 210 but 203 is close enough to give a good result but not necessarily the best. If the butt is ready at 195 then 203 isn't going to overcook it much. So, 203 is good enough but not always the best.
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Agree.

My wife has Thermapens laying around in almost every generation including the new Thermapen One. I use them for measuring steak temperature, but for bbq, I've gotten to where I just use them as probes to check tenderness. That brisket I just did with my pellet pooper...I can't tell you what temp I wrapped at nor what the temperature was when I removed it from the smoker and put it in the Cambro. But I had a perfectly good Thermapen in my hands to probe it. Harry Soo said to cook to set the bark, then wrap and cook to tender (ribs, brisket, butt). Too much is made of temperatures.

When I cook a corned beef cut for luncheon meat slicing, I leave it just barely short of probe tender so it doesn't crumble when slicing. I dunno what the temperature is. Also, "probe tender" will be a different temperature when using a different cooking temperature. So... hot and fast cooking temperatures will have a higher probe tender temperature than low and slow cooking temperatures, because it's a combination of temperature + time that renders connective tissue. If you raise the temperature of the meat more quickly, it has less dwell time above the minimum temperature required to render. So hot and fast tender temperatures usually are around 210+
 
Jerry N. said:
That’s one of the things I really like about the Thermopen. Not only does it show the temp as you move through the meat, since it’s a nice sharp probe, I also get a sense of how tender the meat is. Bottom line is that the probe is more helpful in determining doneness than temp. Temp just tells you when it’s time to start probing.
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Technically, it's done to eat at about 150°. After that it's just a question of how much more done do YOU want it to be....

. If you can shred it.... It's done. Some people like it really really overdone. And that's okay too I've had scoops of meat fiber mush sold as pulled pork before..... Not my preference. But that is what will happen to it if you keep it in a steam pan all day at a restaurant, in a finishing liquid that's basically chicken broth and barbecue sauce. One of the reasons you can easily outdo a restaurant at home
 
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Donna Fong said:
I think it is really hard to pinpoint a single temperature for a shoulder. It is one temperature for one set of muscles. Then it is a totally different temperature if you probe somewhere else. If the money muscle finishes at 200+, then the main muscles inside are much lower in temperature.

It is a good argument for cutting up the shoulder so it has a better chance to cook more evenly. Nothing that large will cook evenly throughout. The other approach is to cut off parts that finish first and continue cooking the rest.
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That's the thing. People get hung up on a temperature as in that should relate to tender.
It doesn't work that way. I go by time at a certain temp and feel and color. Gave up on the temp thing for butts years ago.
That's fine for starting out but once you learn your pit it's second nature.
 
MartinB said:
Technically, it's done to eat at about 150°. After that it's just a question of how much more done do YOU want it to be....

. If you can shred it.... It's done. Some people like it really really overdone. And that's okay too I've had scoops of meat fiber mush sold as pulled pork before..... Not my preference. But that is what will happen to it if you keep it in a steam pan all day at a restaurant, in a finishing liquid that's basically chicken broth and barbecue sauce. One of the reasons you can easily outdo a restaurant at home
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I use pork broth, no sauce. (with rub)

pork broth.jpg
 
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