First time pulled pork

[richinct]

Hi, I am new here and new to smoking meat. I have been doing fish for a few years and have that down pretty good. I did a turkey that came out pretty good also.

I just got done pulling apart my first pork butt and I am very pleased with it. It was a 7-1/2 lb upper shoulder. Luckily I found this forum and got a lot of tips from the pulled pork thread. I foiled it at around 170 deg. Unfortunately the 2 meat thermometers I have only go up to 190 so I had to wing it a little. Got it to 190 then cooked it for another hour or so. Then I did the towel and cooler trick for 1-1/2 hour. Pulled apart easily. Tastes really good!

I am not sure about the rub I used, something in it I was not crazy about. I got the recipe online somewhere. Maybe it is the cumin? I never used that spice before. Also I think I will cut down on the salt it called for. I read the tip about creosote but by the time I saw that post I already had the smoker going. I think I need to scrub out the inside before I use it again.  But it is still delicious, I will have to look for another recipe for the next one. I may try ribs next time.

I used crab apple for the wood.


All in all it was a success! Better than I expected.

Thanks for all the tips, I will be picking your brains again when I get ready to do the ribs.

Edit: I have 1 question, I have the bullet type smoker with an upper and lower rack, which rack position should I have used? Or does it matter, I used the top.

 

[duffman]

Welcome. With my old bullet smoker I always used the top if everything would fit for convenience. I found no difference between the top and bottom when cooking on it though.

 

[my87csx481]

What about the creosote?  What did you do wrong?

Thanks.

 

[eman]

Cumin will make your food taste like mexican food if you use to much.

Just like if you use to much chilli powder.

 I find that pork butts take to more of a sweet  and spicy mix of seasonings.

 Checik out e mans pig rub in the wiki forum.

 use it as a base rub and add or subtract what you like.

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.

 

[richinct]

In the pork sticky thread there is a post about creosote build up in your smoker causing a bitter taste, I think I need to clean mine. It has a black build up on the inside.

When I finished the smoke and pulled the meat it was getting late. We were going out to dinner so we only picked on some the first night. The next day I added the juice to the meat after defatting it. I heated some up in an alum tray on low heat it was even better than the first day!

Yesterday I mixed some with a little Sweet Baby Ray BBQ sauce and heated it. I had it on a half loaf of Italian bread, it was the bomb!