1st Successful Pulled Pork thanks to you guys (PRON)

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BecknCO

Knows what a fatty is.
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Started with a 4.3lb Berkshire mini butt that I paid too much for, but was hoping for the best. Smoked at about 250-275 for about 8 hrs, only foiled when it hit about 183, so I could throw the ABT's underneath.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions - it turned out pretty decent!
 

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Fantastic looking pulled pork. I take it your friends loved it
 
aawa said:
Fantastic looking pulled pork. I take it your friends loved it
Click to expand...

They did..thanks especially to you for all the help! I learned a few things doing this now....I think next time I'll foil earlier (could've been a bit more juicy and moist) since I foiled around 183. I waited so late becuase I was looking for more bark. I also think I screwed up when it hit 198, the bone wiggled nicely and pulled away, but I immediately wrapped it and threw it in the cooler. You told me to wait 20 mins before doing so, and since I didn't it may have cooked too long in the cooler.

I'm also not too sure about putting the rub on the night before - seemed to draw out a good bit of liquid and there was a mess in the fridge - did I do something wrong there and with not getting enough bark earlier? What do you think?
 
BecknCO said:
They did..thanks especially to you for all the help! I learned a few things doing this now....I think next time I'll foil earlier (could've been a bit more juicy and moist) since I foiled around 183. I waited so late becuase I was looking for more bark. I also think I screwed up when it hit 198, the bone wiggled nicely and pulled away, but I immediately wrapped it and threw it in the cooler. You told me to wait 20 mins before doing so, and since I didn't it may have cooked too long in the cooler.

I'm also not too sure about putting the rub on the night before - seemed to draw out a good bit of liquid and there was a mess in the fridge - did I do something wrong there and with not getting enough bark earlier? What do you think?
Click to expand...

I prefer to rub the pork butts over night and place it on a tray and put it in the fridge. The liquid that comes out actually is good as it helps smoke flavor stick to the meat. It isn't necessary but I feel I get the best smoke flavor whenever I do let the rub sit overnight.

The nice thing with bbq, is make adjustments for your next cook and then decide which you like more. Next pork butt you do, rub it then get the smoker ready. The liquid will still come up out of the meat as the salts and dehydrated spices will pull some of the water out of the pork butt. Then cook it. After you do a cook with rubbing the meat before you get the smoker going, you can decide what your preference is.
 
Ok - that makes sense, but how I do I get better bark sooner than 7 hours running mostly in the 260-275 range? I felt like I should've had more bark after 7 hours....The butchers also trimmed it reaaaalllly well. There was only a tiny bit of fat cap and it was on the side (if that makes any kind of difference)
 
BecknCO said:
Ok - that makes sense, but how I do I get better bark sooner than 7 hours running mostly in the 260-275 range? I felt like I should've had more bark after 7 hours....The butchers also trimmed it reaaaalllly well. There was only a tiny bit of fat cap and it was on the side (if that makes any kind of difference)
Click to expand...


If you want more bark don't wrap it. Wrapping a pork butt helps cook it faster, however your bark will soften up since you are basically braising the pork butt in its own juices once you wrap.

I personally don't wrap as I like more bark. Once it comes off, I vent it for 20mins then wrap it in foil. This will allow the bark to soften up enough so it isn't like eating shoe leather. The outter meat though is a lot more firm than the meat from inside the pork butt. It gives different textures (soft and succulent and saltier harder texture) in the same bite.
 
That looks great....esp for a 1st go 'round !!!!!

The pic below was PB, no slather, Big Ron's In the House, right onto the cooker, not wrapped during the cook.....this is just going into foil for a
1-1/2 ~ 2 hr nap.....
Cooking about same temps as yours................
3-31-2013Porkampbeans011.jpg


aawa has good ideas there....the bark will soften a bit during the resting, so if you like REALLY crunchy bark ( think Cap'n Crunch, no milk ) then you'd have to stick it back on for a few to crisp it back up after the rest......
Personally, I like the inside of my mouth too much to do that to it!!!
 
Here is a pork butt that I did without wrapping. I let it rest uncovered in a pan and you can see how thick and dry the bark is.
NOEGH.jpg


Here is a pork butt that I did without wrapping during the cook. Then i wrapped it after venting for 20mins. You can see that the pieces that have the bark are a lot more moist and pliable than from the picture above. This is the way I prefer it.
eDk3RqH.jpg
 
1buckie said:
That looks great....esp for a 1st go 'round !!!!!

The pic below was PB, no slather, Big Ron's In the House, right onto the cooker, not wrapped during the cook.....this is just going into foil for a
1-1/2 ~ 2 hr nap.....
Cooking about same temps as yours................
3-31-2013Porkampbeans011.jpg


aawa has good ideas there....the bark will soften a bit during the resting, so if you like REALLY crunchy bark ( think Cap'n Crunch, no milk ) then you'd have to stick it back on for a few to crisp it back up after the rest......
Personally, I like the inside of my mouth too much to do that to it!!!
Click to expand...

holy BARK:clap:
 
aawa said:
Here is a pork butt that I did without wrapping. I let it rest uncovered in a pan and you can see how thick and dry the bark is.
NOEGH.jpg


Here is a pork butt that I did without wrapping during the cook. Then i wrapped it after venting for 20mins. You can see that the pieces that have the bark are a lot more moist and pliable than from the picture above. This is the way I prefer it.
eDk3RqH.jpg
Click to expand...

Oh man...that is just gorgeous....crazy smoke ring too! Mine didn't have so much despite it being wet the whole dang time....I gotta work on that!
 
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