Basic Pulled Pork Smoke

[nyc smoke]

Thanks for these great instructions, my latest butt came out moist and everyone loved it!View media item 525732

 

[doc6895]

Meowy,

I used your method this weekend on my second attempt at pulled Pork from a shoulder. Turned out awesome. 

Great instructions really worked well.

Thanks,

 

[bocco]

OK. I just tried my second pork shoulder in my Masterbuilt electric. It was not a complete success. This was small cut at 2.65lbs. It took 8 hours to get to 185 degrees at 225. I was shooting for pulled pork but we ended up with chopped pork. The flavor was good but the meat wouldn't pull at all. It seemed like it stalled for about 2 hours.

Should it take 8 hours for a piece this small? I'm reading 1.5 hours per pound so I should have had a 4 hour smoke.

This came out of the fridge and straight into the smoker. Should it have sat out a while?

I didn't foil it. Is it really necessary?

I've read the posts about higher smoker temp. I'm thinking of cranking the smoker to the max which is 275 next time.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Gary

 

[uncletork]

 
OK. I just tried my second pork shoulder in my Masterbuilt electric. It was not a complete success. This was small cut at 2.65lbs. It took 8 hours to get to 185 degrees at 225. I was shooting for pulled pork but we ended up with chopped pork. The flavor was good but the meat wouldn't pull at all. It seemed like it stalled for about 2 hours.

Should it take 8 hours for a piece this small? I'm reading 1.5 hours per pound so I should have had a 4 hour smoke.

This came out of the fridge and straight into the smoker. Should it have sat out a while?

I didn't foil it. Is it really necessary?

I've read the posts about higher smoker temp. I'm thinking of cranking the smoker to the max which is 275 next time.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Gary

Are you going off the Masterbuilt thermometer and meat probe or are you using a third party thermometer to measure the CC temp and IT?

 

[marauder]

Has anyone tried pink butcher paper over foil  on a pork shoulder for the stall

 

[johnmeyer]

You might take it to 200 IT next time. I think that will make it a LOT easier to pull.

 

[bocco]

In this case I was using both. The

 
Are you going off the Masterbuilt thermometer and meat probe or are you using a third party thermometer to measure the CC temp and IT?

I used both this time just to test. The Masterbuilt thermometer read about ten degrees lower on average. Might have been due to placement. Don't remember the name of the third party thermometer that I have.

 

[bocco]

 
You might take it to 200 IT next time. I think that will make it a LOT easier to pull.

I'm sure your right. My concern is the long cook time for a 2.65lb roast.

 

[uncletork]

 
In this case I was using both. The

I used both this time just to test. The Masterbuilt thermometer read about ten degrees lower on average. Might have been due to placement. Don't remember the name of the third party thermometer that I have.

Something doesn't seem right. 5lbs takes me roughly 7 hours at 250 to reach IT of 200. If you can do a test run to test the shelf you are cooking on with a thermometer that reads 212F in boiling water.  

 

[bocco]

 
Something doesn't seem right. 5lbs takes me roughly 7 hours at 250 to reach IT of 200. If you can do a test run to test the shelf you are cooking on with a thermometer that reads 212F in boiling water.  

Good idea. Do I just lay the probe on the shelf?

 

[uncletork]

 
Good idea. Do I just lay the probe on the shelf?

Take a potato and cut it in half or slightly smaller then shove the probe through the potato. Make sure that the tip of the probe in well out the other side as there is where the temperature is read and you do not want to read the temp of the potato. Stick the potato with the probe on the shelf that you tend to do most of your cooking on and see what it reads. If  you have access to multiple thermometers that you test in boiling water you could measure different areas of your smokers. Sometimes the same rack will have a hot and cool side so when doing ribs or have a full rack of meat you know you will need to rotate it. Hopefully that all made sense. If not feel free to let me know. 

 

[swylen]

I didn't much care for the lower tier fall apart type smokers found in most places. I did a ton of research on "set it and forget it" electric smokers and got a Cookshack SM009-2 from a website Charcoalstore.com that turned out to be local store. Great prices, free shipping and sells wood chunks. A nice port butt is my goal for my first smoker try. I did get a high quality remote thermometer. Boston Pork Butt this weekend!

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[jd76ers]

Had my first smoke yesterday, followed the instructions on page 1 and couldn't be happier.  I also used Jeff's pork rub recipe I purchased this past week. Thanks for the great instructions.  Started the cook at 4:30am and ate a little after 6pm. It was a 9.5 lb Boston Butt. I am now hooked, salmon is next, this week.

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[lnly]

Thank you for all the great info!!! 

 This weekend I will be smoking my first boston butt , I am actually pretty excited !!! ( I may be becoming that person who would rather be at home and smoke meats and different things on my new WSM. 

I really like the idea of spritzing with apple juice and Rum. The majority of the recipes I have seen are apple juice and vinegar, any other recommendations other then mustard as a base?

I did my first smoke last weekend and everything went great ( Brisket, Chicken and ribs ) but I am a bit nervous for the boston butt , I am going to have a house full of people here to cheer me on and consume this tasty piece of meat,  any other tips or tricks are greatly appreciated..

Your tutorial gave me the boost I was looking for !

 

[lnly]

 

  

 

[lnly]

 
Had my first smoke yesterday, followed the instructions on page 1 and couldn't be happier.  I also used Jeff's pork rub recipe I purchased this past week. Thanks for the great instructions.  Started the cook at 4:30am and ate a little after 6pm. It was a 9.5 lb Boston Butt. I am now hooked, salmon is next, this week.

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[lemans]

Beautiful job!!!!

 

[theyankeesmoker]

I mastered brisket, salmon, trout, mackerel, ribs, poblano peppers, and a whole pig. Ill be doing pork butt for father's day. Stay tuned for pics.

 

[newsmokinggal]

These step by step instructions are great!! I can't wait to try this! Thanks!!

 

[swylen]

Well my first butt didn't go all that smoothly. I bought the 14lb -2 pack from Sam's Club. They were not close to same size. One was like 8lb and the other 6lb.  No big deal i have 2 probes.

I did the cooking at my parents cushy garage a block away. I decided to stick them in at midnight being a night owl. Well the alarm for 160 went off on the small one in 3.5 hours. My Dad freaked out and i came over. I told him they were fine and yanked the wood box out my smoker and emptied stuck it back in. Done smoking now onto 200+. I reset the probes and left again. My Dad said he will yank them out when they're done.

Well we had a bad storm and 70 mile per hour straight line winds and my Dad chickened out and yanked them both out at 7am closed up the garage. Then they sat there for 2 hours in the house. I came back over at 9pm. We stuck them both in the oven and cooked further. Pulled them both out once they hit 200. It pulled just fine. The big one was still really fatty but i was able to get most of it out during shredding. I wonder if it got flipped over at some point and the fat cap didn't totally dissolve and that's what i hit first while shredding.

The pork seems just fine. My nephew said it was the best he's ever had. So i guess it was a success! And no more midnight smokes! lol