Pulled pork first attempt

[SmokinBuffalo42]

I am new to the smoking community and am working with an electric Masterbuilt 30”.

Doing a test run this weekend for pulled pork in preparation for football season and am looking for opinions on technique.

Do you coat your butts in mustard?
Do you use apple cider vinegar in your brine?
Foil or no foil at ~160?

Also have seen varying opinions on cook temp. I’m thinking 225.

Would appreciate any feedback!

 

[sandyut]

Butts are easy and forgiving
I use mustard as "rub glue" - so rub a thin layer on, then apply your favorite rub. then set it an forget it. never wrapped a butt.

The temp will determine your cook time. 225 could be a long one depending on the size. 270-300 will cut that down a lot. Finish about 200-205 IT.

Jeffs site has a few variations that are a good guide. You can also find many on here searching.
Good luck! post up when you getter goin.

 

[PorkBones]

I trim, pat dry, give a thin coat of mustard, rub, and wrap the night before. I then add more rub before putting in the smoker.

I've noticed no difference between cooking at 225-280, or even 300, aside from cook time. That said, if I have the time, I will smoke at 225-240 simply because I enjoy the process, and from what I understand, it gives the connective tissue and collagen longer to break down. Whether that's truly important or not, I can't say for sure. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.

I usually wrap when it hits the stall, 150-160. I will lay a bed of brown sugar, a few pats of butter, and a good portion of extra rub on the foil before placing the butt in and wrapping. It creates a delicious "sauce" that can be mixed with the pork after shredding, giving it an amazing flavor. This is particularly good when doing spare ribs, if you opt to wrap at any point. I don't use regular BBQ sauce.

 

[Wasi]

I never brine a pork butt as I feel it breaks down the fat to much. I do use stone ground mustard for the rub. I also do not wrap as I feel it makes the bark a little soft. Just be prepared for the stall and let it ride through.

 

[WaterRat]

Mustard, yes (some people don't). Then go heavy with the rub, it is a big piece of meat you can't really over season it. Not sure what you mean by brine, you don't need to brine a pork butt, if you mean injection no, I wouldn't use vinegar as it can make the meat mushy. You can use it in a mop during the cook and in finishing sauce if you go that way.

Foil, no foil, the never ending great debate It will help power through the stall and cut down on time. Temp I usually I go 225-250, then if I wrap at 160-170°F may bump to 300° depending on my time schedule. If you wrap, I suggest using a pan as it makes probing for tenderness much easier than a full foil wrap. Be sure to probe many spots for tenderness starting around 190°F. Mine usually probe tender around 200-205°F IT. Good luck.

 

[JCAP]

No wrap no mustard here. Just rub the butt before it goes on the smoker and away it goes. I usually do the low and slow 225 method because that’s fun for me.

Sometimes I’ll throw some more rub over the pork after it’s pulled. Always serve with two sauce options- standard bbq sauce and a vinegar sauce.

No matter what, PP will be great.

 

[SmokinBuffalo42]

Thanks for the feedback!

Thinking I’ll go with the mustard and inject some apple juice when I do the rub the day before.

So the wrap...maybe I’ll get two small butts and do one of each to decide which I like better since this seems to be all about personal preference.

Gonna bump the temp to 250 for sure!

 

[martin1950]

Every one does it different, there ain't no wrong way, generally. I rub my butt the night before with mustard and dust it w/ Tony's, cover it and iced box it. Pull it out of the frig a couple of hours early so it can rest while you're messing w/ your pit. Mine is a pellet pooper. Go through your pre-heat cycle. I'll start at 225 for about 3 hours or until I get a descent bark started. Rap w/ foil in a shallow broiler pan and insert probe, adjust your wireless to "program" and set the alarm for 205*. Crank the heat up anywhere between 250-350. When she goes off remove and wrap w/ towels for about two hours. Drain off AND SAVE fluid and start pullin by hand, my better half hates pork fat so I remove as much as possible, sometimes. Try a couple of methods and find one that you like.

 

[phathead69]

Only add I have is if possible collect the drippings. Fridge to separate the fat out. Add some of the rub used back to the remaining juice and mix back into the pulled pork. Optional of course but I do it to add rub flavor throughout the meat not just the surface portion. Got the idea from this site.

 

[SmokinBuffalo42]

that’s a great idea, I was thinking of the best way to incorporate the drippings. I’ll try this for sure

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Thanks for the feedback!

Thinking I’ll go with the mustard and inject some apple juice when I do the rub the day before.

So the wrap...maybe I’ll get two small butts and do one of each to decide which I like better since this seems to be all about personal preference.

Gonna bump the temp to 250 for sure!

Your exactly right most of this is trial and error and you gain your personal preference from trying different things.

I personally inject apple juice and dust with rub the day of. Sometimes I use mustard sometimes I don't. I smoke at 225-250 and wrap at 165. Have tried countless different ways and this has given me the best results.

Check out the AMNPS for your MES. Saves you from having to dump chips in that ridiculous dumper every 30 minutes.

 

[gmc2003]

No mustard, just a lite sprinkling of SPOG goes on the butt right before smoking. Smoke in the 250* range. When the stall hits then I put the butt in a disposable aluminum pan on a small wire rack, and cover in aluminum foil. I'll add some apple juice to the pan(the rack keeps the butt out of the liquid). Once thru the stall the butt comes out of pan and back on the grate. Once pulled I'll add any additional seasoning or finishing sauce if needed. There are hundreds of ways to smoke a butt or anything else for that matter. The fun is in the experimenting and finding out which one you and your family or friends like.

Chris

 

[drdon]

Check out the AMNPS for your MES. Saves you from having to dump chips in that ridiculous dumper every 30 minutes.

True dat!

 

[JC in GB]

Like I say with all thing BBQ, only you can judge what a success looks or tastes like. Folks prep meat differently based upon personal taste and expected result.

Trim method:

This will make a difference in your final product. Some folks don't do any trim. Some trim most of the fat cap then kind of butterfly the pork shoulder to expose the money muscle at the top of the shoulder. I like to do a minimal trim unless I am doing a competition. So all I usually do is make sure the fat cap is acceptable and remove any blood vessels that may be around the bone.

Mustard, no mustard:

I have done both and have found that I consistently like the flavor of BBQ that I have coated with mustard before the rub. A lot of folks will swear you can't taste a difference and that may be true but I know that I like mustard better than no mustard.

Foil or no foil:

Same as above, depends on what result you are expecting. I don't like to foil pork shoulders or brisket if I don't have to. I want a good bark. Ribs always turn out better when I wrap them.

Injection:

If you are going to use an injection, I would suggest more than just apple juice. I have found that apple juice mutes the natural pork flavor. You can fine grind some of your rub and mix it with the juice. Also, you can add Worcestershire sauce, etc to deepen the flavor. I have done injected and non-injected pork shoulder and both turned out great results.

Most important thing about doing pulled pork is the doneness of the meat IMHO. If you get the meat temp perfect, the pork will taste great and have a nice mouth feel regardless of how you season it.

JC