Noobie Questions on Pulled Pork

[patohunter]

I bought a 7.5 lb. bone in pork shoulder because I wanted to try to make a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw...yummy possibly my favorite food.

I have a Brinkman Electric smoker which I have used for fish and Duck breasts. I started the meat which I had cut in half and rubbed at 12PM and put in 4-5 tins of Soaked hickory chips to get smoking.

I pulled the meat out and it was one of the moistest shopulder roasts ever, but It wouldnt pull and didnt have that red ring going very deep in to the meat. The oustside tasted good, and was stringy like I wanted, but overall not the result I was looking for

Please Help!

Will my Brinkman Electric smoker work for this? Do I need water in the pan?
How do I get the smoke to penetrate more deeply?
Do I just need to cook longer to pull?
Thanks
Patohunter

 

[blacklab]

patohunter,

For a pull pork you need to have a enternal temp of 190. Let it rest for about 20 mins pull and enjoy

.

 

[smokin' joe]

Welcome aboard Pato. Sounds like for the most part you did everything correct. The butt wouldnt pull because you didnt cook it long enough. The butt must reach an internal temp of at least 200 degrees before you can even think about pulling it. Your smoker is fine for doing butts, and just about anything else you would like to smoke. You will learn a lot here, just take some time and do some reading, there is a wealth of knowledge on this site.

You didnt mention times or temps in your post and that information would be helpful to know. Smoker temps and meat temps. Anyway, hope that helps...enjoy your time here and hop over to roll call and introduce yourself and tell us about your set up before the roll call police get ya...

Again, welcome, you have come to the right place for all things smoked.

 

[placebo]

Electric smokers will not give a smoke ring unless you use some lump, charcoal, or wood chunks. As far as not pulling goes. What internal temp did you bring it to? Also why did you cut it in half? Just rub it, probe it, then smoke it! For pulling you want internal temp to be 190 to 200, I prefer mine around 200.

 

[patohunter]

I took it off at 180 deg. oops!!! will try again this weekend.

I cut 'er in half because there was only my wife, two kids, and me to eat it.

So I wont get that smoke ring from just adding pan after pan of chips to the heating element? It made lots of smoke and smelled good.

Will the smoke flavor penetrate the meat more deeply as the meat gets more cooked?

Thanks

 

[placebo]

Oh ok, I thought you cut it in half then cooked both halves lol. The smoke penetration happens most during the first part of the cook while the meat is still raw. Most people stop adding smoke after 140* or so. I have gone away from using chips in my electric and now I use chunks, if they're to big I just whack em in half with a hatchet first. I also used a total of 3 charcoal briquettes for my last butt and got a nice smoke ring. You don't need alot of smoke to get good flavoring. Thin and blue is the rule of thumb on this. White and billowy is how you make creosote

. No need to soak chips but some still do, I do not.

 

[patohunter]

Do I need to add water to the water pan? I did not because I was reading that water would make the meat fat not crisp up.

 

[crockadale]

no...No...NO Not Lots of smoke... THIN BLUE SMOKE!!!!!!!!!!!

You could have smoked the whole thing and froze the left overs. Pulled pork freezes well.

 

[desertlites]

Hey hunter if you havn't checked through roll call please-as the others said bring to 190-200,wrap in foil-with towels around that and into a cooler for a couple hrs.your pork is gonna be pulling itself,as far as a smoke ring you will get it adding smoke after the first hour and continue for 3 hrs or so.good luck on the next 1/2

 

[placebo]

Yes you want to add water to the water pan. Contrary to popular belief the water pan is there to help maintain temp, not to add moisture. You will still get a nice bark with a water pan full of water, or whatever you want to fill it with, some use sand as well.

 

[patohunter]

Crockadale:
Was I adding to much wood at once to the pan on the electric element ? Is that why I had Thin blue smoke followed by 15-20 minutes of thick White smoke which was then followed by thin blue smoke, then no smoke?
If so, how do I make my smoke thin and blue?

 

[desertlites]

hunter just a few chips at a time-set off to the side of the element-you don't want them to burn real fast-I use a short rimmed can like a tuna can-small hand full at a time-low & slow buddy!

 

[smokin' joe]

Dont forget the finishing sauce with your pulled pork, good stuff. See link below!!!


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...inishing+sauce

 

[ron50]

Smoke ring formation does stop at 140 degrees internal near the meat surface but smoke penetration can still occur. The smoke ring is just a chemical reaction between the smoke and the myoglobin int the meat and does not affect the taste of the meat.

 

[patohunter]

Its nice having people help me out on these issues. Im sure I would've eventually figured out some of these things, but you guys are saving me time and money to get to good results fast. Im going to buy a new Prok Shoulder today or tomorrow for a Saturday Pulled Pork.

Patohunter

 

[desertlites]

not a prob hunter thats what this site is all about-good luck on the next 1

 

[flyin'illini]

PH - What they said above is great. I have ECB electric and now use sand the pan and chunks (not soaked) in a small pan over the element. (thanks to advice here)

Here is another thread in case you did not see it. (I did not see it referenced above)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ead.php?t=8111