I am historically NOT a fan of BBQ pork. Raised in Texas and NM, ranchers taught me that pork was for breakfast. I am trying to learn to like it and am trying to learn to do it well.
I apparently screwed up. And need to know what I did wrong. I see all of these pull pork videos online and the talk about how the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and how easily it shreds just by pushing into it, etc. Mine don't, to say the least. So, this will be long, but I want to describe everything so you can help me find my errors. I really do want to make good pulled pork.
So, my local meat purveyor had twin packs of butts on sale, I grabbed two and headed home. I froze them till I could use them. It took about a month till I had the time. I defrosted them in the sink, using cool water and changing it out every 45 minutes till thawed. Once thawed, I had seen numerous videos suggesting a brine. I had never brined before, I usually just dry rub my beef cuts and country ribs. I decided to try two different brines.
Brine 1: Basic apple cider based brine with kosher salt and other seasonings I found online.
Brine 2: One of my own creation, I really like the flavor of carnitas so I went for that flavor profile using lime Juice, a touch of vinegar and Hatch Green Chiles with Kosher salt as my primary ingredients. I Brined both overnight.
The Smoke: I have a Barrel type offset smoker (Old Country brand, I believe). I used generic charcoal as my base fire because it is easy to start. Then I used Mesquite to begin transitioning my fire to a wood fire for the smoke/cook. I use mesquite primarily for heat...it seems to burn hotter, but I don't really like the flavor. Once my fire was established I transitioned to pecan because that is one of my fave smoke flavors.
Air Temp was about 58 when I began, warming to 68 or so by mid-late afternoon. Negligible humidity but 40 mph winds, at least 25-30 in my back yard near my fence.
I put the meat on at 150 degrees, assuming it would rise. That ended up being a wrestling match all day. It seems I could never get the temp above 150 no matter how many or what type of wood I added to the fire-box, even charcoal. This is unusual for this smoker.
After about 5 or so hours I finally got the temp to right at 200. this is where i generally smoke most of my meats with generally good success.
It stayed this way for about 9 hours (until I went to bed). I let the meat continue in the grill unattended till morning as my box tends to hold heat pretty well.
In the morning, I checked things. Color and taste on bark were great (had to sample, right). But as I pushed into to it, there was very little, if any give. It definitely did not try to fall apart when I picked it up to place on the platter.
I didn't understand why after cooking for so long even if the first 5 were cooler than I would have preferred. I did not have time to restart a fire and deal with that. So I figured if it was undercooked, i would try to finish in the oven.
I tented it, placed in over and cooked at 200 degrees for another 4 hours. When I removed it and it had cooled, it still was not the image of tenderness I had seen.
Butt 1: is now in a pot of reserved brine and green chiles, stewing a bit before it finds its way to a tortilla...( i gave up on trying to pull it and just chopped it)
Butt 2: is now back in the oven at 205 degrees to see if I can get more fat to render and get the meat more tender.
the two pics are of a cross-section of Butt 1: as I was chopping it for the pot and Butt 2 as it looked after settling back to room temp, before placing into oven for 2nd time. just wanted you to see how the exterior looked.
Any guidance would be appreciated. Help this pork-smoking newb. I know it can be better than this.
I apparently screwed up. And need to know what I did wrong. I see all of these pull pork videos online and the talk about how the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and how easily it shreds just by pushing into it, etc. Mine don't, to say the least. So, this will be long, but I want to describe everything so you can help me find my errors. I really do want to make good pulled pork.
So, my local meat purveyor had twin packs of butts on sale, I grabbed two and headed home. I froze them till I could use them. It took about a month till I had the time. I defrosted them in the sink, using cool water and changing it out every 45 minutes till thawed. Once thawed, I had seen numerous videos suggesting a brine. I had never brined before, I usually just dry rub my beef cuts and country ribs. I decided to try two different brines.
Brine 1: Basic apple cider based brine with kosher salt and other seasonings I found online.
Brine 2: One of my own creation, I really like the flavor of carnitas so I went for that flavor profile using lime Juice, a touch of vinegar and Hatch Green Chiles with Kosher salt as my primary ingredients. I Brined both overnight.
The Smoke: I have a Barrel type offset smoker (Old Country brand, I believe). I used generic charcoal as my base fire because it is easy to start. Then I used Mesquite to begin transitioning my fire to a wood fire for the smoke/cook. I use mesquite primarily for heat...it seems to burn hotter, but I don't really like the flavor. Once my fire was established I transitioned to pecan because that is one of my fave smoke flavors.
Air Temp was about 58 when I began, warming to 68 or so by mid-late afternoon. Negligible humidity but 40 mph winds, at least 25-30 in my back yard near my fence.
I put the meat on at 150 degrees, assuming it would rise. That ended up being a wrestling match all day. It seems I could never get the temp above 150 no matter how many or what type of wood I added to the fire-box, even charcoal. This is unusual for this smoker.
After about 5 or so hours I finally got the temp to right at 200. this is where i generally smoke most of my meats with generally good success.
It stayed this way for about 9 hours (until I went to bed). I let the meat continue in the grill unattended till morning as my box tends to hold heat pretty well.
In the morning, I checked things. Color and taste on bark were great (had to sample, right). But as I pushed into to it, there was very little, if any give. It definitely did not try to fall apart when I picked it up to place on the platter.
I didn't understand why after cooking for so long even if the first 5 were cooler than I would have preferred. I did not have time to restart a fire and deal with that. So I figured if it was undercooked, i would try to finish in the oven.
I tented it, placed in over and cooked at 200 degrees for another 4 hours. When I removed it and it had cooled, it still was not the image of tenderness I had seen.
Butt 1: is now in a pot of reserved brine and green chiles, stewing a bit before it finds its way to a tortilla...( i gave up on trying to pull it and just chopped it)
Butt 2: is now back in the oven at 205 degrees to see if I can get more fat to render and get the meat more tender.
the two pics are of a cross-section of Butt 1: as I was chopping it for the pot and Butt 2 as it looked after settling back to room temp, before placing into oven for 2nd time. just wanted you to see how the exterior looked.
Any guidance would be appreciated. Help this pork-smoking newb. I know it can be better than this.