First time cooking pulled pork - does this sound right?

[ExclusiveBBQ]

Hi all,

This weekend, I'll be cooking a huge bone-in pork shoulder that I got from a butcher friend in the south of the UK. I've wanted to try pulled pork for a while and I've done some research on the topic and have come up with my 'instructions' of what to do on the day - and I wanted some input to make sure I haven't missed anything off!

Trim
The shoulder has the skin on so I'll cut this off, along with the fat cap. I believe there's an artery I can locate and cut off, as well as all of the silverskin so that all the meat is exposed.

Injection and Rub
The night before, I plan to inject it with a mix of pineapple/apple juice, a few tbsps of water and a dosage of the 'savoury' rub that I'll be using. First time injecting but it seems that injecting every inch is a good rule of thumb. For rub, I'll use a light layer of my 'savoury' rub and then hit it with some sweet stuff (maybe my new 'Honey Chilli' from Angus and Oink or 'Honey Pecan' from Kosmo Q). This will get chilled overnight

Cook
Let the pork come up to room temperature whilst I fire up the Traeger to 225°F, using pecan and cherry pellets. I'll then put the pork on with a water pan.

After 3 hours, I'll check for colour and spray with apple cider vinegar if looking dry.

I'll then check every hour to spray if necessary and then pull it off once it's got the colour I'm aiming for (very dark brown). At this point, I'll wrap in foil and ensure that I add around half a cup of liquid (mix of butter and juice/honey/maple syrup). Once tightly wrapped, it'll go into the oven at 275°F (to speed up the cooking process a bit). I'll also set two probes going so that I know when to check.

Once the internal temperature is over 195°F, I'll check it by poking it with a probe and wiggling the bone - if it feels like butter or the bone is coming loose then I'll take it out, keep it wrapped and rest for 1-2 hours.

What do you think? Sound about right?

 

[meatallica]

Pineapple juice will break it down and make mushy meat

 

[fivetricks]

Beyond the trim and the advice against pineapple juice (good advice) it sounds like a lot of over thinking :-)

Rub - throw whatever you like on there. As long as it has sugar in the rub and not say, ground up battery innards, it will turn the color you're looking for.

Cook - save yourself some time and run @ least 250-275. The only thing that will care is your watch, certainly not the shoulder.

Spritz, don't Spritz, wrap, don't wrap, add liquid to foil after wrapping, or don't, the shoulder does not care.

I say this not to steer you from what youre planning, only to say not to stress about it. You're really going to have to work hard to mess this up haha

There's lots of things you can cook and stress about, this isn't one of them :-)

 

[Jonok]

If the pineapple juice is canned, it won’t make the meat mushy because the proteolytic enzyme present in fresh pineapple juice (Bromelin) is not heat stable.

 

[ExclusiveBBQ]

Pineapple juice will break it down and make mushy meat

Noted - I'll stick to the apple juice or just water and rub!

Beyond the trim and the advice against pineapple juice (good advice) it sounds like a lot of over thinking :-)

Rub - throw whatever you like on there. As long as it has sugar in the rub and not say, ground up battery innards, it will turn the color you're looking for.

Cook - save yourself some time and run @ least 250-275. The only thing that will care is your watch, certainly not the shoulder.

Spritz, don't Spritz, wrap, don't wrap, add liquid to foil after wrapping, or don't, the shoulder does not care.

I say this not to steer you from what youre planning, only to say not to stress about it. You're really going to have to work hard to mess this up haha

There's lots of things you can cook and stress about, this isn't one of them :-)

To be honest, the temperature was to ensure that it got as much smoke as it can. And it also means that I can let it run overnight... :)

I want to do American BBQ justice though and make a wicked tray of pulled pork!

If the pineapple juice is canned, it won’t make the meat mushy because the proteolytic enzyme present in fresh pineapple juice (Bromelin) is not heat stable.

Interesting, although I think I'm going to avoid it just to make sure!

 

[fivetricks]

With as much as youve considered, I promise your pulled pork will be quite enjoyable

 

[Carvendive]

Hey there ExclusiveBBQ!
I'm also doing my very first ever Pulled pork shoulder - actually, this Evening. I'm doing mine the LAZY way (compared to yours). NOT saying it's better, I'm just not into injecting and spritzing :-)

I'm using one of Jeff Phillips old newsletter recipes and hopefully it'll work out ok as I want to get a (9 hole) round of golf in while it rests. PS, I know it says turkey tips but just read on!!!

https://www.smoking-meat.com/nov-2005-more-turkey-tips-and-recipes

 

[ExclusiveBBQ]

Hey there ExclusiveBBQ!
I'm also doing my very first ever Pulled pork shoulder - actually, this Evening. I'm doing mine the LAZY way (compared to yours). NOT saying it's better, I'm just not into injecting and spritzing :-)

I'm using one of Jeff Phillips old newsletter recipes and hopefully it'll work out ok as I want to get a (9 hole) round of golf in while it rests. PS, I know it says turkey tips but just read on!!!

https://www.smoking-meat.com/nov-2005-more-turkey-tips-and-recipes

Just had a read - it seems like I might not need to check it until at least past 200°F then!

 

[Carvendive]

I'm so new at this that I'm the last guy you should take smoking or cooking advice from. That said, I plan to set an alarm on the oven for 207°F and pull to check it then. My concern is that if it's lower than that, it's not done anyway so why bother. Plus, re rapping the foil and getting it right might be a problem at 200°+ with all that steam. I'll know better after this first one is done. Good luck on yours!!!

 

[radio]

Good advice about cooking it hotter. You said "huge bone-in pork shoulder" but gave no actual weight. At lower cooking temps (225° or so) plan on about an hour and a half per pound. At 275°, that can be reduced to an hour or a bit more per pound. Foiling at 160° or so can speed up the cook a bit. I never inject or spritz a pork but as there is plenty of fat in them to render and keep them moist.
Remember, the more you open the smoker to spritz or check progeress, the longer the cook will take as the smoker has to recover lost heat. I open mine at the 3-4 hour mark to insert a probe in the meat and don't open again until it reads 197-200 to check tenderness. The majority are fine at 202-205, but some need less and some need more. When the probe meets no resistance, or the bone can be pulled free, it is done regardless of temp.
Good luck, and keep us posted. don't forget the Q view (pics)

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

Like others said. Keep it simple and it will be fine. Look for Jeff’s rub that’s all I put on mine. I put mine on the night before and pull them off the next day whenever they hit 203*. Never open my MES to look, spray or wrap. Just let it ride. It’s a really easy smoke to do.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

You might not want to trim the entire fat cap off IMO. Most shoulders/butts we get over here have an inch or so fat cap on the bottom. Some score it and some just leave it alone. I always cook fat side down as the cap protects the meat from direct heat coming up. Just my $.02. Everything else sounds good. I would take it to around 200-205 and the bone should just fall out. Good luck!

 

[ExclusiveBBQ]

Good advice about cooking it hotter. You said "huge bone-in pork shoulder" but gave no actual weight. At lower cooking temps (225° or so) plan on about an hour and a half per pound. At 275°, that can be reduced to an hour or a bit more per pound. Foiling at 160° or so can speed up the cook a bit. I never inject or spritz a pork but as there is plenty of fat in them to render and keep them moist.
Remember, the more you open the smoker to spritz or check progeress, the longer the cook will take as the smoker has to recover lost heat. I open mine at the 3-4 hour mark to insert a probe in the meat and don't open again until it reads 197-200 to check tenderness. The majority are fine at 202-205, but some need less and some need more. When the probe meets no resistance, or the bone can be pulled free, it is done regardless of temp.
Good luck, and keep us posted. don't forget the Q view (pics)

Apologies! By "huge" I meant 11lbs - not sure if that's considered huge for you guys but in the UK that's a pretty big hunk of meat!

I seem to be hearing advice about cooking slightly hotter so may end up at 250°F if I'm running it during the day, or stick to 225°F if I run it overnight. I'll bear that in mind regarding the checking as I do like to see what's going on sometimes... Probably a bit too much!

Like others said. Keep it simple and it will be fine. Look for Jeff’s rub that’s all I put on mine. I put mine on the night before and pull them off the next day whenever they hit 203*. Never open my MES to look, spray or wrap. Just let it ride. It’s a really easy smoke to do.

I think I'm just keen on using my new rubs to be honest . What temp. do you run it at overnight?

You might not want to trim the entire fat cap off IMO. Most shoulders/butts we get over here have an inch or so fat cap on the bottom. Some score it and some just leave it alone. I always cook fat side down as the cap protects the meat from direct heat coming up. Just my $.02. Everything else sounds good. I would take it to around 200-205 and the bone should just fall out. Good luck!

The shoulder itself has all the skin on so it shouldn't be difficult to leave some sort of cap. My intention behind taking most of it (all of it) off was simply to allow more of the rub to be hitting the meat. I was also worried about there being quite a lot of fat in the meat itself but I may change my mind once I get it out the pack and see properly how much fat is running through it.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[tallbm]

Apologies! By "huge" I meant 11lbs - not sure if that's considered huge for you guys but in the UK that's a pretty big hunk of meat!

I seem to be hearing advice about cooking slightly hotter so may end up at 250°F if I'm running it during the day, or stick to 225°F if I run it overnight. I'll bear that in mind regarding the checking as I do like to see what's going on sometimes... Probably a bit too much!



I think I'm just keen on using my new rubs to be honest . What temp. do you run it at overnight?



The shoulder itself has all the skin on so it shouldn't be difficult to leave some sort of cap. My intention behind taking most of it (all of it) off was simply to allow more of the rub to be hitting the meat. I was also worried about there being quite a lot of fat in the meat itself but I may change my mind once I get it out the pack and see properly how much fat is running through it.

Thanks for the advice.

I think the guys are giving a great advice.

I run my pork butts/shoulders overnight at 275F and they finish at just a hair over 1 hour a pound. I also don't wrap mine so I get better bark and flavor.

I don't use sugar in my rub so I don't run into issues of burning the sugar but that is a thing people mention sometime with using rubs that have sugar.

I also second the recommendation of leaving fat on. I don't ever remove any fat but if I did I would make sure I left 1inch/2.5cm of fat on. Most will render away anyhow. For more flavor just makes sure your seasoning/rub tastes good right out of the container. If so then after you pull/shredd the pork I highly recommend you shake in more seasoning/rub, mix together, and taste.
Continue until you get the flavor you desire.
If the rub is only good tasting after being cooked then you can mix up some Salt, Pepper, Onion, Garlic, and Paprika and shake that in for amazing flavor once the pork but is shredded.

I live in Texas where Brisket is king and I had never had memerable pulled pork. Even when I worked in Georgia and North Carolina I was constantly disappointed until I FINALLY found a place in North Carolina that did amazing pulled pork and that let me know what it could really be.

To get close to that great pulled pork I found I had to do the following:

1. Smoke unwrapped the entire time for better texture and flavor and some good bark (I smoke at 275F because that pork cut doesn't care about the temp)
2. Seasoned heavily with Salt, Pepper x2, Onion, Garlic, and Paprika
3. Once pulled I shake in more of the seasoning to get the amazing seasoning and meat flavor combo that makes the flavor special (without this there just isn't enough seasoning flavor to get deep into the huge chunk of meat)
4. Finally a new development, I recently butterflied the pork butt from the bottom (meat side not fat side) up to the bone. Now my pork butt looked like a real butt as I spread the pieces apart on the rack while smoking hahaha. I now get more seasoning in there, more bark, AND better smoke flavor penetration. Also it cooks a little faster but that wasn't my goal

Doing #1-3 gave me great pulled pork. Experimenting with adding #4 is putting me into the category of best pulled pork I've ever eaten :)

Here are some pics of what I mean from 2 weekends ago:

DSC_9340[1]

• tallbm
• Jul 3, 2019

DSC_9339[1]

• tallbm
• Jul 3, 2019

DSC_9335[1]

• tallbm
• Jul 3, 2019

DSC_9341[1]

• tallbm
• Jul 3, 2019

DSC_9343[1]

• tallbm
• Jul 3, 2019