Pulled Pork Help

[The J-Man!]

Hey guys (and gals?),

I am looking for an easy yet delicious pulled pork recipe. I am hoping to enjoy some with my friends during the Vikings/Packers game on Sunday. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

[OnAFly]

Smoker or slow cooker?

[flyfisher03]

I've made this a few times and turns out great every time. Takes some prep work and could be made a day ahead and reheated.

North Carolina Pulled Pork

America's Test Kitchen Recipe in slow cooker revolution

6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/4c sweet paprika

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

1-5lb boneless pork butt roast (trimmed of fat and quartered

3 smoked ham hocks, rinsed

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1c cider vinegar

3/4 cup ketchup

1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, 2 ts salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper in bowl. Stick pork all over with fork. rub the sugar mixture over pork, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours

2. place ham hocks in slow cooker. Unwrap pork and place on top of hocks. Pour broth over pork, cover, and cook until pork is tender, 9-11 hrs on low or 5-7hrs on high.

3. Transfer pork and hocks to large bowl, cool slightly and shred, discarding skin, bones, and excess fat, cover and keep warm. Settle the braising liquid for 5 min remove fat from surface using a large spoon.

4. Strain liquid into a saucepan and simmer until thickened and measures 1 cup (20-30 min) Whisk in vinegar, ketchup, liquid smoke, and remaining sugar. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Toss shredded pork with 1 and 1/2 cup sauce, add more as needed to keep meat moist. Serve with remaining sauce.

[Farley]

For a smoker: I use a rib rub on mine which is mostly paprikia brown sugar and bunch of spices. Rub some yellow mustard on the butt first, it will help the rub stick to the meat through the cooking process, apply rub, Run smoker at 220-230 spray every hour with a mixture of apple juice and rum, get internal temp up to 160-165, cover with foil and some of the apple juice\rum, put back in smoker or oven at 250 and take internal temp up to 200. Then I'll wrap the whole thing in a blanket for an hour or untill its time to pull, if you put it in a cooler it will stay plenty warm for hours. Pull with a fork and serve on a cheap white bun with your fav BBQ sauce. The biggest thing to watch for is you want the internal temp to get up to 140 within 4 hours. And there will very well be a plateau where the temp seems to hold steady for a long period, be patient and dont adjust anything, just let the meat do its thing.

[muskiemanAD]

For a smoker: I use a rib rub on mine which is mostly paprikia brown sugar and bunch of spices. Rub some yellow mustard on the butt first, it will help the rub stick to the meat through the cooking process, apply rub, Run smoker at 220-230 spray every hour with a mixture of apple juice and rum, get internal temp up to 160-165, cover with foil and some of the apple juice\rum, put back in smoker or oven at 250 and take internal temp up to 200. Then I'll wrap the whole thing in a blanket for an hour or untill its time to pull, if you put it in a cooler it will stay plenty warm for hours. Pull with a fork and serve on a cheap white bun with your fav BBQ sauce. The biggest thing to watch for is you want the internal temp to get up to 140 within 4 hours. And there will very well be a plateau where the temp seems to hold steady for a long period, be patient and dont adjust anything, just let the meat do its thing.

What he said!

[The J-Man!]

Sadly I don't have a smoker, but that sounds yummy!

[McGurk]

Great info so far from these guys, and it will turn out good using their advice. I will give advice for using a smoker. It's a noon game so you might want to do your work on Friday and Saturday, and reheat on Sunday.

Friday Night: Get a saucepan with about 6 cups of water boiling, and add 1/2 cup of kosher salt (or 1/3 cup pickling salt) and a 1/2 cup of sugar. You can add red pepper flakes if you want some heat. When dissolved allow to cool. You can add some rib rub to this too if you'd like. I like to trim off the very thick fat, but leave some on. Inject as much of the brine as it will take, and put the pork butt in a large brine bag (by the ziploc bags) and add the rest of the brine. Tie it off and put it in the fridge or a CLEANED cooler in a cool garage.

Sat Morn: remove from brine and pat dry. Slather mustard and cover liberally in a high sugar rib rub. Sugar gives you the "bark" that is oh-so-tasty. Allow to sit covered for an hour or so to warm up. I get the charcoal smoker started and up to temp, and allow it the acrid green smoke to burn off and get to the clean blue-white smoke. Put the butt on and let it sit at 225 deg for about 4 hours without looking at it. If you have a remote thermometer probe ($20 at target) you can see it climb to about 155 int temp, where it will sit for a long time (the "stall") as the tough fat is chemically converted into soft gelatin. That chemical reation takes a lot of heat so that is why the smoker is still hot but the pork isn't rising.

Allow it to get to 195-200 int temp, and pull it to rest for an hour minimum. I like 2 hours myself in an alum tray covered in foil, then into a cooler, and filled with crumpled newspaper or old towels. This allows the juices to get sucked back into the middle of the pork butt before you pull it. Store with all of the juice.

Sunday: reheat however you'd like. CHeap white buns, sauce on the side, and coleslaw. Enjoy!

[Farley]

Sadly I don't have a smoker, but that sounds yummy!

You could probably do it in an oven the same way, you just wont have that smoke flavor and I'd imagine the bark wouldnt be as good, but I bet youd have decent results.

Like McGurk said you can do it on a weber, or even a gas grill with some wood chips. The key is holding that temp (which would be easiest in the oven), and yes a remote temp probe is a must for doing pork butts.

If you really want to impress your friends, put this on after you shred the meat, but carefull, add a little at a time and taste, sometimes the vinager can be overpowering but really makes the taste pop out:

1 Cup Cider Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning

1 Teaspoon Course Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

Warm the Vinegar up enough so that it disolves the Sugar well. Then add the remaining ingredients.

[McGurk]

Like Farley said, an oven can do the job, too. You don't get any smoke flavor when it's wrapped in foil anyway, so an oven is an easy way to finish a porkbutt after you get it to 155 deg int temp if you are using a smoker. Good Luck and pray for less dropped balls!

[SkunkedAgain]

I just smoked a pork butt last weekend for the Vikings/Bears game and it turned out great. However, knowing that you don't have a smoker my suggestion is to go the crockpot route. It will be moist and tender with the least amount of work. Sure you can notice differences if you enter both in a competition, but I'd bet $100 that nobody will no the difference or even care.

There's a million recipes online. The one that I've done essentially has you throw in a few spices, garlic, and juice then let it cook for 10 hours on low. Then drain out all of the juice and reserve for later. Turn the crock pot up to high and cook the outsides to simulate a bark, then add back all of the drained juices. Fantastic stuff

[pikestabber]

I do a crock-pot version, too, and it's always gone over great.

I let the pork warm up a bit on the counter than rub it down in olive oil (vegetable oil is fine, too), then rub the whole thing with a dry BBQ rub. I sear it in a pan on med-high heat until it gets a nice crust on all sides, then into the crock pot for 6-8 hours with a cup or so of beef stock. Add the BBQ sauce for the last couple hours and shred it and serve with the juice made from the sauce and stock.

[atvlaska]

no smoker??? go to jain do not pass go!!!!.......or this can pass as good eats with out a smoker - 2-3 whole Large Sweet Onions

1 whole Pork Shoulder (Butt) about 7 Pounds

Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper

2 cans (7 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce i use 1 as it has KICK!

2 cans Dr. Pepper (I used 20 ounces from a large bottle)

1/2 tsp Cumin

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. or toss in a slow cooker about 10-12hrs on low

Peel the onions and cut them into wedges. Place them in the bottom of a large dutch oven, sprinkle cumin across the top of the onion wedges.

Salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.add more onions !

Pour the cans of chipotle peppers over the pork (including the sauce.) Now pour in 20 oz of reg Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar, stir in a little. (After 4/5 hours of cooking I taste the sauce for the balance of heat against sweet, which maylead to using an extra tablespoon of brown sugar or more). pile hinht on country tater rolls and make a pig of yourself!

[DonBo]

You guys need to STOP! Now you've got me hooked on a new obsession, cooking. Specifically use of the smoker. Can't believe I've lived to be this old without having one.

Here's ANOTHER thing I'm going to have to try. Good thing hunting is pretty much over and ice fishing is still a little ways out yet. Gives me a few weekends here where I can try all these new things learned right here on HSO. Thanks! I think....

[Leaky]

I've made this a few times and turns out great every time. Takes some prep work and could be made a day ahead and reheated.

North Carolina Pulled Pork

America's Test Kitchen Recipe in slow cooker revolution

6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/4c sweet paprika

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

1-5lb boneless pork butt roast (trimmed of fat and quartered

3 smoked ham hocks, rinsed

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1c cider vinegar

3/4 cup ketchup

1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, 2 ts salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper in bowl. Stick pork all over with fork. rub the sugar mixture over pork, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours

2. place ham hocks in slow cooker. Unwrap pork and place on top of hocks. Pour broth over pork, cover, and cook until pork is tender, 9-11 hrs on low or 5-7hrs on high.

3. Transfer pork and hocks to large bowl, cool slightly and shred, discarding skin, bones, and excess fat, cover and keep warm. Settle the braising liquid for 5 min remove fat from surface using a large spoon.

4. Strain liquid into a saucepan and simmer until thickened and measures 1 cup (20-30 min) Whisk in vinegar, ketchup, liquid smoke, and remaining sugar. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Toss shredded pork with 1 and 1/2 cup sauce, add more as needed to keep meat moist. Serve with remaining sauce.

This looks really interesting. The smoked hocks and liquid smoke should add whats missing by not actually smoking it. I've got to feed a bunch of people in a couple of weeks and might give this a whirl.

[kerryd15]

Donbo, you aren't the only one. I'm new to the smoker- about a month.

So far I have done, 2 pork shoulders, ribs, tenderloin, turkey, jerky, bacon, and buckboard. I thought this would be a CHEAP hoby!!

[Whoaru99]

I thought this would be a CHEAP hoby!!

Ha!

[Jim Almquist]

It may not be a cheap hobby but it sure is a tasty one

[hawkeye43]

It may not be a cheap hobby but it sure is a tasty one

And could add many lbs with out self-control.

I have enjoyed using many of you guys recipes much to surprize of my wife. She always asks if I got the recipe from here from the forum. Thank you for making me a better cook.

[SkunkedAgain]

And could add many lbs with out self-control.

I'm a big fan of using the freezer after smoking meats. Pulled pork and other meats will hold just fine for months so you don't have to eat it all right away.

[The J-Man!]

These are AWESOME suggestions guys! I will probably incorporate a little of all ya'lls advice. I will report back the results, my method(s) used, and hopefully a Purple victory!

[Leaky]

All this talk about pulled pork got me to the store yesterday and picked up a 5 lber and a couple of smoked hocks. Was going to try the crock pot thing, but it's going to be too nice today. Fired up the smoker for an all day cook. The hocks will go into some split pea soup.

I agree with skunked about freezing. If your going to fire up the smoker, might as well cook lots. I've done 3-2-1 ribs, but save the 1 for after they come out of the freezer. Got to use a vaccum sealer though.

[Leaky]

After 4 1/2 hours, temp is at 160. Time to bring the deliciousness into the house for the rest of the cook. The combo aroma of smoked butt and smoked ham hocks & bacon swimming in split pea soup will make for an enjoyable afternoon.

[otterman91105]

Looks Good.

[hooked79]

i have been doing pulled pork and other meats for a few yrs now

my dad has his own meat shop he prosses meat on the side

nothing fancy just an old shed turned into a meat prossesing

place

so i get to use his smoker and all his stuff i am very lucky to have acsses to this but you can do great things with a grill

we do some competitions within our famly just for fun

and we will make rules some times we decide you can only use a grill

or open pit fire or oven only

anyhow keep in mind your meat will only take on so much smoke

alot of ppl make the mistake of smokeing there meat for 10-12 hrs

that is a wast of wood

you can buy a smoke box i tghink even wal mart has a nice cast iron one cheap

you can get good smokeing wood from fleet farm or your local meat market might have some

i am a fan of apple wood combined with red oak but you can play around with all kinds of wood you only need to smoke your butt for 3 hrs

keep the temp 200-220 after that you can finsh it in the oven i use a roaster pan with a grate on the bottom so it dosent sit in its own juce

i like to get a nice dry char on the outside and every hr spray it with a mixture of apple juce but dont be affrade to was cola ar a mixture of what ever you like make it your own look online for dry rubs there is tons of them i use a very simple one just brown sugar garlic powder papareka and good ol tony's ccreol

[SkunkedAgain]

I will report back the results, my method(s) used, and hopefully a Purple victory!

How did it turn out J-Man? Don't be shy about the results. We know how the purple victory part went, so the pork couldn't have been much worse!