Screwed Up My Pulled Pork

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mls

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 11, 2007
43
11
My last batch of Pulled Pork had the flavor of day old cardboard and I think I know why.  When I got ready to smoke I found I was almost out of rub and the ingredients to make any more.  The store is 30 miles away so I went ahead and smoked 6 butts with almost no rub on them.  They looked great but had as much flavor as cardboard.  Is it the rub that gives the meat it's flavor?  I went ahead and pulled them, vacum packed and froze them.  The only way I could eat the meat was applyingg a mix of seasoning and Worschester Sause after I thawed them and fixed sandwiches.  They were only fair at best.

Tomorrow I'm going to do 20 butts, all about 6lbs.  I'm going to apply yellow mustard and a ton of rub.  Then I will wrap in plastic and refridge for 12 hrs before hitting the smoker.  Do you think that will help give them flavor after they are pulled?  Thanks.

Mike S.
 
Mike, Rubs can add that...extra punch to a butt or beef...But if you started with great meat and nothing went wrong then you should have gotten, Great Flavor. That's not to say you buy crappy meat...But there are a hell of a lot of PRO's making $$$$, just using Salt, Pepper and maybe Cayenne then applying plenty of Smoke at the perfect temp.  Did anything unusual happen? Did you use a different supplier for the meat?  I'm just guessing at this point. Good luck with that BIG Smoke Job!...JJ
 
What kind of smoker do you have?

I've done butts with very little rub & they came out fine.

Wish you had some photo's of the butts and your smoker.

How long did you smoke them for?

What temp did you smoke them at?

What IT did you take them too?

A little more info would be helpful.
 
Sounds like the piece of meat was not high quality. Was it previously frozen for an extended period of time? Or was it fresh. Some articles I've read about Carolina BBQ has some of the pros only using salt and pepper for the rub and relying mostly on the smoke for the flavor. They are quite successful. What kind of wood are you smoking with? Are you getting TBS or lots of white smoke while you're smoking?
 
Yep them butts should be fine with no rub.

Retain the drippings, skim the fat and add back to the meat.

As far as what you described, did anyone else come to the same conclusion. Do yo have allergies or a cold? I always get others opinions before my own.

When you reheat if you still feel its like cardboard add a finishing sauce or your favorite BBQ Sauce.
 
My butts come out fab with salt pepper onion and garlic...

And I use this!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork-by-soflaquer  

BTW

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  Have a great day!!

  Craig
 
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I don't get hung up on complicated rubs and most times I prefer no sauce.  With good meat, salt, pepper and garlic or a simple rub will work very well.  You will find your combination with time and experimentation.

Good luck and good smoking
 
What kind of smoker do you have?

I've done butts with very little rub & they came out fine.

Wish you had some photo's of the butts and your smoker.

How long did you smoke them for?

What temp did you smoke them at?

What IT did you take them too?

A little more info would be helpful.
Here's a little more info.  I use 3 GOSM Gassers.  They are the large 24" ones and I can do about 10 butts at a time that weigh 6 to 8lbs in each smoker.  I used hickory chips and preheated to 225*  I ran the smoker between 225 and 250* for about 10 hrs.  After I put them in I spritzed every hour with an apple juice/rum mixed half and half.  I took the IT up to 170* then foil wrapped after a good dose of apple juice and rum.  Took them on up to about 200* IT then wrapped in towels and put in ice chst for about 6 hours before I pulled them.  Did not have any white smoke but not very much TBS either.  The smoker didn't seem to put off much smoke at all.  Maybe I should have used chunks instead of chips.   The meat was from the same place I normally buy my meat and looked good before I put them on.  I bought the meat fresh while it was on sale but then froze it for about 30 days before I thawed and smoked.

Like I said before, everything seemed to be OK.  They looked good, pulled easy and sealed well.  I just thought the meat was very bland when I opened the vacum sealed packages to serve them.  We operate a concession trailer and sell a lot of pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches.  I didn't have any complaints but that was after I addded the spices, worchester sauce and liquid smoke.  When I smoke, I will normally do about 20 or 30 butts at a time, pull them and vacum pack in 2lb packages which I freeze until we reheat and serve.  That way I only have to smoke about once a month.  Maybe this was just a fluke and the batch I'm doing tonight will be fine.  The reason I thought it might be the rub is because that is the only thing I did different.  This time I added some Tony's Cajun Seasoning to the rub so I will see how it comes out.  I may even try a finishing sauce this time before I package the meat to see how it will taste.  Thanks everyone for the replies.

Mike S..... 
 
 
Sounds like it was probably the chips and lack of smoke produced. Not familiar with the GOSM myself but there are plenty of folks here that are. Should be someone along shortly with a more informed opinion. Good luck on this batch. The Cajun should kick it up a notch but you might want to try mixing some of your rub with apple juice and injecting it into the butts. That will definitely add flavor to the meat.
 
A concession trailer you say? Sounds to me you know what you're doing. Just

curious though...I have never used rum & apple juice together...would that be

a dark rum, spiced or ???
 
Some sound advice here already.  If you have not tried SoFlaQuers finishing sauce, then I recommend you do it is fantastic.  Try it with both Cider and white vinegar, they give two totally different flavor profiles, I prefer white, but that is purely my opinion.  If you need a little splash of flavor for some PP, it will do the job nicely.  PLEASE TRY IT!!!  It is that good.

However, don't put it on till it is ready to serve otherwise you may end up. with PP mush.
 
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Sounds like the lack of smoke played a factor.My daughters boyfriend made a butt and had as you said it tasted like card board.Talking with him he mentioned his smoker put out very little smoke.It looked as though his wood chips never took off after being fired up .   
 
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