Help with smoked pulled pork

[Hoffer]

Hi all.

Well, I have the 7 pound boston butt in the smoker now for 5 hours. Its at 152 internal temp at the moment.

I have read in some internet sites that at this point some take the butt and wrap it in aluminum foil, put back in the smoker and finish.

Have you guys tried this? I am thinking I want to have more "bark" and I am afraid that if you wreap it in foil to finish it - the end result will be less "bark". But on the other hand, the aluminum foil wrap method captures much of the juice and you can add that back in once the pork has been pulled.

Thought?

[delcecchi]

Hi all.

Well, I have the 7 pound boston butt in the smoker now for 5 hours. Its at 152 internal temp at the moment.

I have read in some internet sites that at this point some take the butt and wrap it in aluminum foil, put back in the smoker and finish.

Have you guys tried this? I am thinking I want to have more "bark" and I am afraid that if you wreap it in foil to finish it - the end result will be less "bark". But on the other hand, the aluminum foil wrap method captures much of the juice and you can add that back in once the pork has been pulled.

Thought?

I think it is a trade off. But you probably don't want it to get cooked for 12 hours in a relatively dry environment. Bark one thing, pork jerky on the outside is another.

[Hoffer]

One other quick question. i am watching the temp creep up on the digitial thermo.

It sounds like 190 to 195 is the magic temp.

Once it hits that temp...do you take it our right away? Or should it stay at that temp for awhile? If so, how long?

Thanks!

[NEANGLER]

Be careful on smoking too long As pork will only accept smoke so long before the pores close up and then you start to get a bitter flavor due to build up on outside of butt. If you want more of a bark use more sugar in your rub, I use white and brown sugar in my rub to get a better bark as well as spraying it will Apple juice while smoking. 3-4 hours on the smoker then wrap in foil and transfer to the oven. 250 for another 4-5 hours. You could just put on you smoker as well and just finish w charcoal but I feel you get a more consistent temp and less cost/ clean up by finishing in the oven. I tend to go more by how it pulls apart then temp but usually check it at 190-200. Some muscles in the butt will finish before others so you will want to check temps in several areas.

[Hoffer]

Well its been 9 hours and we are at 167. It took around 1 hour to just go from 160 to 167.

I hope I didnt do the wrong thing...I turned it up now from 215 to 230 to see if I can get it to that magic temp. If not close in an hour, I am going to remove it and finish it in the oven.

[delcecchi]

I think you have encountered the famous "stall".

But nothing wrong with removing from smoker, wrapping in foil, and putting in the oven.

[highlife4me]

I hope you weren't planning on having pulled pork for supper this evening, might be more of a midnight snack. Usually when I smoke a pork shoulder I will start it the night before I plan on eating. It usually will spend 12 - 16 hours in the smoker then I double wrap in HD foil and wrap in old towels and toss in a cooler for a few more hours to rest. I usually go for 200 - 203 so if you are still not at 170 you have a long ways to go to get good results. From 170 - 200 is when the magic really happens. This is when all the fat and connective tissue breaks down and tenderizes the meat. You really don't want to rush it. You may not have even reached the "stall" yet. This is when the moisture being released from the meat has a cooling effect and the temperature will stall, sometimes the temp will even drop a few degrees. Wrapping it in foil will speed this up but you will soften the bark quite a bit. Just depends on how hungry you are getting I guess.

[McGurk]

Stalls are tricky. Once through it you're temp will climb at a reasonable pace, and you're out of it if you have climbed over 165 and rising. That being said I'd still bank on 2-3 more hours of cooking plus I like a minimum of an hour to rest in a cooler covered in towels. Plus prep time and serving looks like a late dinner. You'll know better for next time! We've all been there!

[Hoffer]

Ok. So finally got it up to 194 for about a half hour. We wanted to try it so bad so took it off. It was great!! Super tender, juicy. We just pulled a lottle off the top to try it and right now its resting for an hour in a pot with a cover. But it certainly pulled apart really nice and was super juicy and that was just on the very top near the bark. I think next time around I will give it a little more time. The last few hours, I had to turn the temp up to 250 to get it past the "stall" and up past 190 degrees. I am sure if I would have had a few more hours at a lower temp it would have done the same and most likely would have been even more juicy and tender. With that said, it has great bark and perfect flavor and is extremely "pull apart". Very happy with the results. Thanks for all the help here as always...greatly appreciated!!

[icehole10]

Good to hear, that is one of my favorite things to smoke. I won a huge pork tenderloin on Saturday night at a meat raffle and plan to throw half of it in the smoker, and freeze the other half. I haven't smoked a loin before, but im sure it will be delicious!!

[Getanet]

Icehole, a few years back there was a thread about making Canadian Bacon with a loin. Might be something to try if you're looking for something to do with part of the loin you won. The photos of the finished product sure look good:

http://hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2911224/Canadian_Bacon

[icehole10]

Icehole, a few years back there was a thread about making Canadian Bacon with a loin. Might be something to try if you're looking for something to do with part of the loin you won. The photos of the finished product sure look good:

http://hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2911224/Canadian_Bacon

Thanks for the link. Looks like quite a process, but got my mouth watering. Im going to give that a whirl. I'll let you know how it turns out!!

[marine_man]

I've made it a couple of times and it's turned out excellent. Last time I doubled the amount of maple sugar and liked the slightly sweeter taste.

marine_man

[McGurk]

Note about the stall: Here is a chart showing the internal temp over time, and what happens during beginning, the stall, and the end. It only takes 3 hours to get to 150 degrees internal temp, but 6 hours to get the next 10 degrees! All of the heat energy applied during "the stall" is used in a chemical reaction called Hydrolosis, which turns the collagen (tough fat) into gelatin and starts at 154 degrees F.

Hydrolosis is an endothermic reaction so it is absorbing all of the heat to do the work. Your meat will not get warmer until the change is complete, and that all of the collagen has all been turned into gelatin. This is important, because the tough collagen is what makes meat tough to shred well, but gelatin allows it to fall apart. After the process is complete, the internal temp of the meat will start to rise again, until your desired temp which usually only takes 2 to 3 more hours. I like to go to an honest 200 degrees, but some stop at 195.

[Big Dave2]

Good info McGurk!

[pikestabber]

McGurk, love the chart, but what cooking temp is that for? 225 degrees? 250?

[McGurk]

The guy who wrote that article I paraphrased from likes 225. I prefer up to 250 myself.

Stall Article from Huffington Post

[pikestabber]

Okay, thanks.

[SkunkedAgain]

...plus I like a minimum of an hour to rest in a cooler covered in towels.

I'd like to emphasize McGurk's point here about letting it rest. We've all seen cooking shows where they tell you to let your steaks/chicken/pork rest after coming off of the grill. The same applies with turkeys before carving. You definitely get a more tender pulled pork when you let it rest for an hour or two. I usually strive to have my pork finish 3-4 hours prior to when I expect to eat. That allows a few hours in the cooler and/or extra cooking time if needed. You could leave the pork in a cooler all day and it will only get better. So plan for letting it rest prior to pulling it apart.

[deerminator]

I'm with Jim, DonBo and those using the smoker then oven method. It works best IMHO. I typically smoke the butt from about 7pm-Midnight, put it in the oven at 225 all night and into later morning. I use a thermometer but typically let it go until it seems the right texture with a tug of a fork. Then wrap in foil securely, along with several towels and place in a small cooler for a number of hours in advance of serving. If the oven is a sacrilege, then so are electric smokers and I watched a Good Eats once where Alton Brown said he thought electric smokers were his choice because they contributed the least moisture to the meat, I think was his reason.

[leechlake]

I nailed a 4 pounder yesterday. It was so nice I had to make some pulled pork. Here's how I did it.

Smoker at 230, put it in around 11am.

Went to my son's State Tourney hockey game at 330pm

After game went to BWW with some parents and forgot pork was on smoker

Came home at 7pm, it was done perfect.

I'm calling it the "Set it and literally forget it" technique.

[eyeguy 54]

gonna try that monday

[Boar]

I ike to baste my pork butt with a mustard, honey brown sugar trype coating then wrap it in cellophane for 24 hrs or so then smoke for 8 hrs then finish in large roaster pan. offdah!!

[eyeguy 54]

189 after 10 hours. foil treatment soon.

[eyeguy 54]

ended up dryer than i wanted but tastes good. rookie at this.