First time Pulled Pork maker - Forum has been invaluable - 1 question on amount of time

[theninja]

So I'm new to the forum.  I have a $80 electric smoker and this forum has been an invaluable wealth of knowledge for me.  I used Meowey's sticky as my guide. And I'm going to use SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce.  

I need to tweak a few things for me, like more rub and more spray.  I didn't get a huge dark crust that I wanted. but definitely got some.

I have a cheap poke in themometer.  I smoked for about 5 hours to get to AT LEAST 165 Internal Temp (I don't know exactly when it hit 165 b/c I didn't want to keep opening my smoker and jamming my thermomoter in it.  Then b/c my smoker is electric and it's 95 degrees outside I moved my pork to the oven around 225-250 degrees b/c I was fearful my smoker was just too hot.  I just checked the meat with my cheapo thermometer and it jumped up to 200 instantly.  Usually the thermometer reads low b/c it take a while to "warm up".

My concern is that it didn't take long enough and I should keep in the over on like 200 degree over or something.  It was a little less than 7 pounds but it only took 8.5 hours total!  

Should I leave it in the over at 200 degrees, or just wrap it in foil and towels and put in a dry cooler for a good hour?  I want it to be safe but also super moist and pulled porky :)

Thanks again everyone at this forum.  I'm loving getting into the whole smoked meat hobby.

 

[turick]

Well I'm a newbie smoker myself and doing my first pulled pork today, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but it seems activity in this forum has died down a bit for the night.

Everything I've read is that you should pull it out when the internal temperature hits 200. It seems every piece of meat is different and some get done quick and some take forever.

I've never heard anybody say that you need to let it stay at 200 for any certain amount of time, just when it hits that temp, it's done (besides the rest period).

 

[talan64]

A couple things:

1. Are you 100% sure on the accuracy of your temp probe? (looks like no)

2. Did you remove and re-probe a couple times to make sure you were not in a fat pocket or against a bone?

If you followed those 2, then you should be fine.  Not every shoulder, butt, roast etc is going to stall out, and take a super long time. 

Remeber if you leave it in the oven on 200, you will end up drying out the meat.

On a side note, it is definitely worth spending a little money to get a good accurate meat probe.

 

[geerock]

Sounds like you may not be sure of your smoker temp either. When meat hits 200 IT wrap and rest for an hour. One small lesson.... you say you have a cheap smoker abd a cheap therm. You are going to be guessing everytime you smoke something. You can makr life easy if you invest in a maverick remote therm to monitor meat and smoker temp accurately. Cheap smokers will still get the job done but when you're guessing on cook and meat temp you are not going to hit it right too often. Best of luck. And welcome to the forum.

 

[theninja]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.  I actually pulled it and wrapped it and it turned out pretty dang good!!  When I tried to unwrap the meat from the foil and move to a cutting board to shred it, the pork just fell apart on me...ha!

I did remove and reprobe a few times and the temp jumped to at least 195-200 almost instantly. Which tells me I probably overcooked it if anything.  This thermo tends to underread and take a while to "warm up" to accurate temps.  Like you gotta leave it in the meat for 15 seconds before the temp stablizes.  

Ya, I got a cheap smoker for Christmas just to see if it was a hobby I'd like. The temp of my smoker really is determined by the temperature of the outside when I use it.  But I think I'll invest in a good thermometer first though.  I'm still a super newbie so my cheapo smoker is working good for now.

Also, after tasting good pulled pork like this.  I'll will wring anyone's neck who tries to put store bought BBQ sauce on this stuff without tasting it first.  You know the type of people that go through a picnic line and grab piles of good smoked meats and then slather KC Masterpiece or something all over it without even tasting it first.  

The finishing sauce definitely kicks the flavor up a notch too.  I'm fairly happy with how this one turned out (I think if anyone I overcooked and may have dried it out a bit, but not bad at all) and can continue to learn and make it better.  Thanks again everyone.  Another fairly successful smoked pulled pork experience courtesy of SMF!

 

[geerock]

Sounds like you did pretty well, Ninja. Nice job. Every cook is a learning experience.