First Pulled Pork Success - Questions and Pr0n

J

joeysmac

Guest
So I did a pork shoulder? butt? (is there a difference?) over Labor Day weekend and it turned out perfect. Used Emeril's Southwest Rub cause that's what I had handy and let it sit over night. Put it on the 250* smoker at 10:00 AM. Took 4 hours to get from 34* internal to 160* internal. Foiled it until 4:00 PM at which point is was 205*. Put it under towels in the cooler and it was down to about 175* by 6:00. Pulled and chowed down with Bishops 3-n-1 sauce from Smokin' Rub's website: http://www.smokinrub.com/Bishops-3-n-1-sauce-Bishops.htm (which I highly recommend if you are looking for a simple vinegar sauce!)

Also, I sprayed with Cider Vinegar throughout the smoke and heavily before foiling.

Anything I didn't do that would make it even better (if possible) next time?

As usual, I completely lost all self control and didn't get any pics of the finished product...I was eating it while I was pulling it...so good.

Out of the fridge...
IMAG0162.jpg


And before I foiled it...
IMAG0163.jpg
 
It looks great. Congrats.

How was the texture of the meat? Was it really mushy?
 
I am also curious if there's a difference between a shoulder and a butt? I've bought packaging that have said both and they appear to me to be roughly the same.
 
joeysmac said:
So I did a pork shoulder? butt? (is there a difference?)


IMAG0162.jpg
Click to expand...

Yessir.

A shoulder consists of the butt (boston butt, pork butt, shoulder roast, shoulder blade roast, blade roast) and the picnic (picnic shoulder), where the shank is. The shoulders I've seen still had the rind on, part of it at least, like a picnic. This is what's smoked in a lot of restaurants and in western North Carolina, along with other places where tradition doesn't allow for barbecuing "just a roast".
 
Puppyboy said:
It looks great. Congrats.

How was the texture of the meat? Was it really mushy?
Click to expand...

No it was not mushy at all. The texture was perfect for me. The pan I foiled it in hat a ton of pork juice in it, so I put it in another pan to pull and added some of the juice back afterwards. Did i do something that would typically produce mushy meat?

AustinKnight said:
How many lb was your butt I'm going to do one for the game tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Sorry...thought i put it in the original post. It was 5.5 lbs I believe and easily fed 4 with leftovers.

1FUNVET said:
Pic's look good. How was the taste ?
Click to expand...
. It tasted great to me and my guests. It was like going to a great BBQ restaurant for the quality of meat and subtracting any sauce...just pure smoked pork flavor.
 
looks very good - as far as what you could do to make it better...one piece of advice: Use a Brethren Rub - something from Plowboys or Big Brother Smoke's Simply Marvelous. Much better than Emeril's.

congrats, on a great cook, though!
 
Nice looking butt, one thing about butts, They are very forgiving, you can really try just about anything with them . Experiment.....
 
Dave Russell said:
Yessir.

A shoulder consists of the butt (boston butt, pork butt, shoulder roast, shoulder blade roast, blade roast) and the picnic (picnic shoulder), where the shank is. The shoulders I've seen still had the rind on, part of it at least, like a picnic. This is what's smoked in a lot of restaurants and in western North Carolina, along with other places where tradition doesn't allow for barbecuing "just a roast".
Click to expand...

So is this just the butt then? :confused:
 
joeysmac said:
Did i do something that would typically produce mushy meat?
Click to expand...

Taking the butt to 205 could make it a little soft but every butt is different so it sounds like you nailed it. Good job.

And yes you cooked a butt. If it's square-ish and weighs around 5-8 pounds you've got a butt. If it's triangular-ish yes thats a word with a shank bone and weighs around 7-10 pounds ballpark then you got a picnic.
 
I've never cooked at butt at 250* that only took 6 hours. I'm usually going 10+ hours. But I don't foil. Maybe I should?
 
Dave Russell said:
Yessir.

A shoulder consists of the butt (boston butt, pork butt, shoulder roast, shoulder blade roast, blade roast) and the picnic (picnic shoulder), where the shank is. The shoulders I've seen still had the rind on, part of it at least, like a picnic. This is what's smoked in a lot of restaurants and in western North Carolina, along with other places where tradition doesn't allow for barbecuing "just a roast".
Click to expand...

Yep, where a good sized butt will be 9 lbs, a tiny whole shoulder will start
at 10 to 11 lbs and go up to as much as 20 lbs. We usually cook them in
the 16 to 18 lb range.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Headgear
First brisket on new Shirley not my best
Replies
18
Views
1K
Headgear
Headgear
KC Smoke
Just steak and potatoes
Replies
8
Views
330
SmokinEdge
S
J
Can I put pulled pork in a warming drawer overnight?
Replies
15
Views
1K
JCBII
J
NCGrimbo
Question for the pizza oven guys and gals.
Replies
12
Views
687
NCGrimbo
NCGrimbo
B
First brisket on my Brazos offset was not a success.
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
Bald-Headed John
B
Back
Top