Competition Pork Question

daedalus

daedalus

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Ok, so this weekend my team practiced our pulled pork, and I have a question about an issue that came up. I noticed that by the time I got it all pulled, it had cooled down too much. It would have been cold by the time it reached the judges. Unless I am mistaken, it is illegal to put the pork back into the smoker once it is pulled, so what do you guys do to keep it warm or warm it back up? I feel like I am missing something. Thanks in advance.
 
How long between the time you took the butt out of the smoker and the time you pulled it? Where did you keep it during its rest time?
 
Wrap in foil when you pull it from the cooker, and either wrap it in old towells or crumpled newspaper and put in a cooler to hold until you're ready to pull and box. It will stay piping hot for hours. Just try to leave a little room for steam to escape so it doesn't keep cooking too much
 
^^^yes^^^

Plus, you don't have to pull the whole butt for your box. Just find the good parts and pull/chunk/slice.
 
RobKC said:
How long between the time you took the butt out of the smoker and the time you pulled it? Where did you keep it during its rest time?
Click to expand...
I only let it rest about 15 minutes after pulling it off of the smoker, then I pulled it immediately. It was plenty hot when I started pulling it. It cooled down DURING the pulling process.

RobKC said:
Plus, you don't have to pull the whole butt for your box. Just find the good parts and pull/chunk/slice.
Click to expand...
Good point.

Reheat your pulled pork in a preheated Dutch Oven OFF the fuel source...
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This sort of sounds like exploiting a loophole in the rules...I LIKE IT!:thumb:
 
It's the same for everyone. Even if one was to rewarm the pulled pork it would lose a lot of heat again by the time the judges tasted it. I consider this a non-issue as everyone deals with it to some extent.

I pull the butts out of the cooler at 12:40 andstart tearing into them at that time. I don't think the cooling has ever effected our pork scores.
 
goodsmokebbq said:
Reheat your pulled pork in a preheated Dutch Oven OFF the fuel source...
Click to expand...

I believe I would run that by the event rep before I tried it. The Dutch oven may be considered "a cooker" which would break the rules.

Pork is too easy to keep hot for me to gamble with a DQ by trying to reheat it in any way.
 
roksmith said:
I believe I would run that by the event rep before I tried it. The Dutch oven may be considered "a cooker" which would break the rules.

Pork is too easy to keep hot for me to gamble with a DQ by trying to reheat it in any way.
Click to expand...


Can't possibly see how a Pot off of a fuel source can be considered a "cooker". Is warm sauce a "cooker"? Is a warm cambro a "cooker"?

It is not illegal to reheat your pork, it is illegal to separate your shoulder and put back on the cooker.
 
Last edited:
goodsmokebbq said:
Can't possibly see how a Pot off of a fuel source can be considered a "cooker". Is warm sauce a "cooker"? Is a warm cambro a "cooker"?

It is not illegal to reheat your pork, it is illegal to separate your shoulder and put back on the cooker.
Click to expand...

I'm going to make some popcorn :pop2: and find the couch. :behindsofa:
 
goodsmokebbq said:
Can't possibly see how a Pot off of a fuel source can be considered a "cooker". Is warm sauce a "cooker"? Is a warm cambro a "cooker"?

It is not illegal to reheat your pork, it is illegal to separate your shoulder and put back on the cooker.
Click to expand...

I don't know the answer. I would run that by a Rep though. A Cambro isn't giving off heat for the purpose of reheating or cooking. Sauce is not a steel container, and it's something that's going in with the entry and will be consumed by the judges.

If you toss parted pork into a dutch oven that's above the temp of the meat there WILL be folks that could make the arguement that you are continuing the cooking process.

Like I said; I don't know the answer. I would make sure that I did before I tried it though.
 
Jorge said:
I don't know the answer. I would run that by a Rep though. A Cambro isn't giving off heat for the purpose of reheating or cooking. Sauce is not a steel container, and it's something that's going in with the entry and will be consumed by the judges.

If you toss parted pork into a dutch oven that's above the temp of the meat there WILL be folks that could make the arguement that you are continuing the cooking process.

Like I said; I don't know the answer. I would make sure that I did before I tried it though.
Click to expand...

Heat is heat no matter what the purpose is, and a cambro can get very hot, as well as sauce.

There is a line and right now the BOD has decided that it is at the cooker. There are very good arguments that anything that imparts heat to the meat is cooking. I believe in this. How far down are they going to regulate? the thickness of the metal in my pot? the temperature of my sauce? I am on the legal side of the line and until the BOD decides to move it out further. This method was stated in the rules meeting and was said to be OK.


This is a gentleman's sports and adherence to the rules is very self governed. We all know how easy it could be to go inside the RV and switch with a precooked brisket. Why can't the rule just say don't cook the money muscle or any other chuck separate and trust us to do it?

I just want to give the judges a warm meal. The money muscle guys still accomplish what they want by leaving it intact by the thinnest piece of meat. So why can't the pulled pork guys have a bone?
 
goodsmokebbq said:
Heat is heat no matter what the purpose is, and a cambro can get very hot, as well as sauce.
Click to expand...

Let's make sure we're comparing apples to apples here. The cambro is never going to be hotter then the first piece of meat one puts in there (for our discussion purpose). If it is, that person's got bigger issues to worry about than this rule.

A cambro is not warmed in a smoker. It's an insulated box that keeps the heat or cool of whatever is put into it within the box for an extended period of time. It's no different then putting an ambient temperature blanket around the product to help keep hot/cold ... it's just a lot more effective.

I'm not saying I'm for or against the dutch oven method - just concerned that it could be viewed as a rules violation and I'd personally check with the rep prior to doing it.
 
It is legal to heat sauce to 200 degrees on a propane burner, turn the burner off and throw pulled pork into it. This will warm your pork.

A cambro with a couple briskets in it will be hot. If my pulled pork is room temp, then the cambro will be significantly hotter. The pork will be warmed by being placed in the cambro.
 
i have never "parted" pork, but I have been known to checkerboard the top of it with a knife, slather in a little sauce and rub and return to the cooker....Illegal or not??
 
Let's get back on topic..
It sounds as if you pull the pork a little early. You may want to keep it hot til the last possiable moment, like KCBobby, at 12:40. And agian, like bob said, we are all in the same boat so don't sweat it too much.
 
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