Basic Pulled Pork Smoke

[teleburst]

I created a separate tread for this but I used meowey's basic template and I charred the butt first.

If you haven't tried charring, you should give it a shot. Just like charring brisket gives some people a great result, it works great for Boston butt as well. It's a little more step intensive because you're using a charcoal grill to sear it, but the results are to die for.

Using the ECB makes it easier, but I'm sure that you could do it totally on the grill if you had the time to watch it and fiddle with the coals. Using the electric Brinkmann (or other bullet smoker for that matter) makes it easier. I never thought of this before, but just having it nearby gives you something to put the grill on when you're adjusting coals, especially if you don't have a folding grill. You can just pick up the whole thing with the butt still on it. Makes a nice holding platform.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=19912

My thanks to meowey and others who helped me work out the timing of when to start it and gave me some great ideas.

 

[shibumi]

I was really pleased with the pork butts that I did for July 4th. I finished them off in the oven, wrapped in towels and they pulled like a dream. You are the Master.....

I can only hope to be worthy!

 

[meowey]

You are most welcome!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[iowaguy]

Just tried the technique today, and it turned out amazing...applied the same principles to some ribs that I had riding shotgun, and those turned out great as well! Thank alot for the tips!

-Rick (Iowaguy)

 

[mrsb]

I used this today and it was awesome!!! The only issue I had was that the meat never came to a plateau. But that didn't really seem to be a problem (so maybe not an issue at all). Pulled at 167 and wrapped and brought to 203. Wrapped in towel and into cooler for a little over an hour. Literally fell apart when I took it out of the foil. Thank you so much!!!

 

[meowey]

U R Welcome!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[queen p]

BTW, Meowy, I'm using your rub for my butt. uh... let me rephrase that.

My shoulder has your yummy rub all over it...
Well, you know what I mean! It's about 143 right now. (4 hours in) and just foiled it. spraying with a combo of mango juice with a little Mango Cruzan rhum.

Taste great! (not less filling!)


Karie,
gonna be smokin' all night!

 

[billc73]

I need to ask this question about cooking temperature and times. I have a 9.5 lb butt that should take about 13.5 hours to cook. I want to be able to eat at 5:00 PM but don't want to stay up all night cooking. Can I start cooking about 10:00 PM the previous night and extend the cooking time by turning the temp down to about 190 degrees? Will this work?

 

[meowey]

I would start at 10 PM, cook it at 225°, and be prepared for a plateau, and then hold it for a couple hours, foil and towel wrapped in an insulated cooler. I've held butts for 3-4 hours in the cooler, and they were still almost too hot to pull. Another choice would be when it finished, pull it and then keep it warm in a covered turkey roaster set in a 175° oven.

Hope this helps!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[billc73]

Meowey

Thanks for the info. This may solve the problem for me. I will try it.

Bill

 

[b-deep]

i have done this smoke 3 times already, all awesome

now for my football draft i am pulling our some frozen to use

questions:
thaw first and then reheat? or just put in the water frozen?
and
how hot is the water you use?

 

[meowey]

I've done it both ways. Thawing first means less time in the hot water. Water should be just above a simmer.

Hope this helps!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[smoke_chef]

First, I have to give my props to Meowey. GREAT INFO here!!

I have a question about the q-view I have seen where the butts have been scored in a checkerboard pattern. I guess this goes back to the fat cap up or down question. If the fat cap is down, I don't guess you would score it at all? I have seen posts about this but thought I would get comments on this thread?

 

[smoke_chef]

This got buried before it got any comments so I thought I would try to bump it once.

 

[bso8870]

My first butt I used the finishing sauce only. Is it ok to use finishing sauce and then jeff's bbq sauce recipe? I am new to this, just wondering what everyone else does?

 

[meowey]

I think scoring will work with cap up or down. More fat will render out.




You can do it either way, or any other way you can think of. That's the great thing about BBQ, you will develop your own style based on your personal preferences. Most of your "mistakes" taste good, so just "keep on, keepin' on"!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[zuter]

This is pretty close to what I do except I cook mine fatcap up and don't necessarily time it...I'll cook for anywhere from 20-24 hours and then let them rest in a cooler for about 3-4 hours.


Below is a pic right before I wrap them and put them in the coolers.

 

[meowey]

Nice Butts!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[tasunkawitko]

meowy -

thanks for your hard work on making this post (and i am sure that all the "research" was equally grueling!)

question - i've heard of people poking a few fork holes in the bottom of the foil so as to let the juices drain out. on one hand it seem to me that this would defeat the prupose, but on the other i can see where it might help from getting the pork "soggy" (much the same as you uncover 321 ribs to firm them up.

what do you do or not do and why?

thanks!

ron

 

[meowey]

I cook mine fat cap down, and place them fat cap down in the foil, so this helps keep the bark from getting soggy. I do not let the juices out of the foil packets until I collect them when I'm ready to pull the pork. (Do not throw out these juices. Defat it and add it back to the pulled pork. You can use the fat to make wonderful sauces and gravies later.) I have not found that the meat gets soggy. On the contrary, it is moist and flavorful. There is also a huge difference in the amount of meat you're dealing with in a 7 pound butt as opposed to a 2 lb rack of ribs. I also like to firm up my ribs when they come out of the foil. Other folks I know love them when they fall off the bone when you pick them up. A lot of this is personal preference, find what you like through experimenting and then enjoy your Que!

Hope this helps!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey