Tenderloin for pulled pork?

jp61 · May 21, 2014

In case you're wondering, I'm really glad you joined SMF.

I say nay.

brooksy · May 21, 2014

I like the butter and cast iron pan idea

smoking b · May 21, 2014

I smoke loins & tenderloins to 140 - 142/143 then wrap, rest & slice. They are great that way. Once in a while I will sear them in some bacon butter after smoking & they are a nice change that way. I generally stick to cuts like butts & picnics to make pulled pork with - works pretty good for me...

smoking b · May 21, 2014

JP61 said:
In case you're wondering, I'm really glad you joined SMF.

I say nay.

I see what you did there...

jp61 · May 21, 2014

Smoking B said:
I see what you did there...

We're all on the same boat here. Hope we all learned from this thread.

ghunt · May 22, 2014

I bet you're right and it is a "loin," I probably didn't look at the label closely enough!

I was there last night they had a few shoulders out...swear last time I bought one of them I got it for relatively cheap, the ones they have cost as much as ribs ($3-something a pound for an 8 lb shoulder). I know the price of pork went up but I got ribs a couple weeks ago and thought the prices on them were pretty good still.

brooksy · May 22, 2014

Glad to hear you got the cut off meat you were originally wanting. Can't wait to see some pics of the process!

ghunt · May 22, 2014

Weeelll...I was going to make some for a get-together at a friend's house, he said he wanted to make some pit beef, but I don't want to buy an 8 lb shoulder if it's not the main thing being served. So, not sure if I'm actually going to make it right at the moment or not, if we have nothing going on for Memorial Day I might try to make it then, we'll see.

brooksy · May 22, 2014

I would make it and take it. Doesn't hurt to have variety at any gathering.

ghunt · May 22, 2014

What's the difference between a "picnic" shoulder and a regular shoulder?

I was looking at Wal Mart just a few minutes ago...so much variety. Boneless, picnic, half picnic, regular shoulder...

timberjet · May 22, 2014

You want a good fatty shoulder. I think maybe what they are calling a regular shoulder might be a boston butt. Picnics can actually include the butt portion. I once bought a 14 pound picnic. I would look for one with a nice fat content and make sure you have plenty of time to get it done and done right. I bet your butt will blow your buddies beef out of the water. haha.... Also I prefer bone in. Usually a buck a pound or more cheaper and bone in just tastes better in my opinion. I would do your pulled pork and if you have to take leftovers home then so be it. It freezes up great.

ghunt · May 22, 2014

The picnics and half picnics were a bit smaller, I don't think I need an 8 lb shoulder, but the 5-6 lb picnics looked good and had a nice slab of fat on them.

I feel like I'm full of questions in this thread, but anyway...

Let's say I make the pulled pork the day before the aforementioned gathering (I might have to due to time constraints). What's the best way to reheat pulled pork so that you don't dry it out?

brooksy · May 22, 2014

I reheat in my smoker at 250 in foil pan with some apple juice nice and easy. There are some recipes on here for finishing sauces. Chef Jimmy has a good looking one. You can also reheat in a crock pot with the finishing sauce.

timberjet · May 22, 2014

It really reheats well. I would say a small crockpot if you have one and definetly finishing sauce or some apple juice or cider. I really like soflaquers finishing sauce but have plans to try chef jimmy's sauce next time I get a butt to smoke. Just make sure to not rush it on the cook in any way. Low and slow wins the race.

chef jimmyj · May 23, 2014

Butts are the top of the pigs shoulder, separated from the lower front leg. They are called Butts, short or Boston Butt because a couple hundred years ago, pork upper shoulders processed in Boston were packed in wooden kegs called " Butts " for transportation. What was left, the lower front leg called " Shoulder " is a name residual from when the entire piece, leg and true shoulder, was often kept, sold and shipped together. The term " Picnic or Picnic Ham " comes from the lower front leg resembling the rear leg, Ham, but smaller, making it more suited for transporting and eating by just a few people on a " Picnic. " Most of these names began to be standardized starting in 1942 buy meat purveyors selling to restaurant and hotels. This guaranteed buyers and distributors would all be talking the same language. Since the processors that sell to restaurants and hotels also began selling to the growing number of local and national Grocery Store chains, the meat cut names were seen at the Stores as well. To further add to the confusion, Grocery stores will make up names for marketing and to designate cuts or portions taken from the larger portions.

So basically the confusion on Pork Cuts has gone on for a couple generations. Recently, last year to early this year, all these guys, processors, distributors and retail outlets, through consolidation of the various meat related associations, has decided to change these names to end this confusion and incorporate a whole bunch of new, " Value Added " cut names, an excuse to take a small muscle or portion of a muscle out of a $1.49 per pound Boston Butt or $3.99 a pound Beef Chuck, and charge $4.99 to $9.99+ a pound calling it STEAK. While these name changes will eliminate the confusion of calling a Pigs true Shoulder it's Butt, you will be ADDING confusion to anyone going to the store and staring in the meat case that was born between 1942 and 2014...Which just happens to be EVERYBODY! I hope this helps....JJ

ghunt · May 23, 2014

Thanks fellas!

I shoulda joined a place like this a while ago- there's a fair bit I want to learn and no place better to get it than from the people that have done it!

dougmays · May 23, 2014

Another thought if all you have is the loin and cannot find a shoulder anywhere...you could smoke/cook the loin till its done, juice and tender (~130-140 degrees) then chop it up and make chopped pork....novices might not be able to tell the difference between chopped pork and pulled pork

just a thought

timberjet · May 24, 2014

Chef JimmyJ said:
Butts are the top of the pigs shoulder, separated from the lower front leg. They are called Butts, short or Boston Butt because a couple hundred years ago, pork upper shoulders processed in Boston were packed in wooden kegs called " Butts " for transportation. What was left, the lower front leg called " Shoulder " is a name residual from when the entire piece, leg and true shoulder, was often kept, sold and shipped together. The term " Picnic or Picnic Ham " comes from the lower front leg resembling the rear leg, Ham, but smaller, making it more suited for transporting and eating by just a few people on a " Picnic. " Most of these names began to be standardized starting in 1942 buy meat purveyors selling to restaurant and hotels. This guaranteed buyers and distributors would all be talking the same language. Since the processors that sell to restaurants and hotels also began selling to the growing number of local and national Grocery Store chains, the meat cut names were seen at the Stores as well. To further add to the confusion, Grocery stores will make up names for marketing and to designate cuts or portions taken from the larger portions.

So basically the confusion on Pork Cuts has gone on for a couple generations. Recently, last year to early this year, all these guys, processors, distributors and retail outlets, through consolidation of the various meat related associations, has decided to change these names to end this confusion and incorporate a whole bunch of new, " Value Added " cut names, an excuse to take a small muscle or portion of a muscle out of a $1.49 per pound Boston Butt or $3.99 a pound Beef Chuck, and charge $4.99 to $9.99+ a pound calling it STEAK. While these name changes will eliminate the confusion of calling a Pigs true Shoulder it's Butt, you will be ADDING confusion to anyone going to the store and staring in the meat case that was born between 1942 and 2014...Which just happens to be EVERYBODY! I hope this helps....JJ

Thank you very much for this chef. I always wondered what the story was there.

timberjet · May 24, 2014

ghunt said:
What's the difference between a "picnic" shoulder and a regular shoulder?

I was looking at Wal Mart just a few minutes ago...so much variety. Boneless, picnic, half picnic, regular shoulder...

ok so did you do it? lets see!

ghunt · May 25, 2014

I did, will post a pic tomorrow (don't have the phone on me and getting ready to go to bed).

But- MUCH better luck with it this time than last time.

I bought a 6.5 lb "picnic", covered it in dry rub (my favorite is Kroger brand "pork" grilling seasoning- don't even bother trying to make my own I like it so much!), wrapped it in plastic and refrigerated it overnight.

Today I hauled the smoker out, got the fire going with some lump charcoal and a couple pieces of cherry. Smoker was nice and consistent holding 220-230* almost the whole afternoon. Smoked it for 4 hours, flipping every hour and spraying with a combination of brown sugar, apple juice and apple cider vinegar, and adding some dry rub.

After 4 hours of smoking, put it in a foil roaster pan (covered) and poured in a little carolina style mop sauce. Added some wood to the fire and bumped it up to 250-ish. Left it on like that for another 2 hours, then we had a friend's shindig to go to so I pulled it off (still covered in roaster pan), wrapped it in 2 towels and put it in a cooler bag.

We ended being at said friends house for SIX HOURS (ugh), got home and pulled the shoulder out...it was still hot and oh my GOD so tender. I was flying by the seat of my pants on this one because I couldn't find my meat thermometer!

Extremely happy with how it came out, I put it in a bowl and shredded it up with two forks and it tastes great. Can't wait to have it with a little Carolina style sauce tomorrow :)

As a side note, I found out that with a nice size pile of lump charcoal and putting on pieces of wood, I could get any temperature I wanted on my Duo. I was having problems even getting it to 250 degrees before but I guess I just wasn't using enough fuel!

Tenderloin for pulled pork?

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