Pulled Pork..how fine to pull?

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tank

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Dec 19, 2009
138
14
Pittsburgh
Just sitting here at work thinking about pulled pork.  My question is to what consistency does everyone pull it to?  I usually pull my pretty fine if that makes sense.  Do people keep larger chunks or smaller ones?  Is there an advantage to one over the other?  I was thinking the larger chunks would keep it from getting "mushy" if juices are added back in?  I am not sure of this just thinking.  Any thoughts?  Experiences?  Just coming up with new things to try and a different consistency of pulled pork might be on the list based on what others have to share.  Thanks.
 
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Well when I pull mine I do it by hand so I get some pulled alot and some pulled alittle. I just want to get most of the fat out. So I just go thur the meat and pull out the mushy and fatty chunks.
 
+1 on the mix.  I love biting into a sandwich and getting a big ole chunk of bark.  When I go to a place and get a sandwich where the meat looks like it's been through a food processor, it makes me suspicious.
 
I tend towards larger chuncks vs. fine shred. Part of that is because I will use some it later in other dishes, and if it is alread fine shred, then it just cooks down to paste in a 2nd dish.
 
Personally, I like it shredded pretty good. I use "Bear Claws" to pull it apart then finish up with a sharp butcher knife or cleaver. I like to mix the pork with a sauce and it gets a better coverage if shredded than left chunky. 
 
I mostly do it by hand and keep it kind of medium chunky - If I am only doing it for sammies and dont expect any leftovers I will shred it more to make it easy for folks to eat
 
I think I will have to try some larger chunks next time and see how it goes.  The cooking down in the second dish is something I have noticed but wasn't sure if the larger chunks would solve that.  Thanks guys.
 
I pull mine by hand & get the fat & mushy stuff out, but I like to keep it chunky. I have a set of bear claws, but don't use them much because they tend to shred it too much.
 
+1 on the mix.  I love biting into a sandwich and getting a big ole chunk of bark.  When I go to a place and get a sandwich where the meat looks like it's been through a food processor, it makes me suspicious.


True that...Its like, what are you guys serving me. I cant get PP out anymore. After you make it yourself, the restaurant PP is way under par.
 
I also use bear claws. They make it nice and easy to pull the pork. I dont go to crazy with them, i use them mostly to get every thing started and separated. They are great for getting the meat out of the smoker as well.
 
+1 on the mix.  I love biting into a sandwich and getting a big ole chunk of bark.  When I go to a place and get a sandwich where the meat looks like it's been through a food processor, it makes me suspicious.


True that...Its like, what are you guys serving me. I cant get PP out anymore. After you make it yourself, the restaurant PP is way under par.


Aint that the truth. I went to a "Southern Eatery" (I live in Washington State, we don't have very many up here) a couple weeks ago and had their "Smoked Sampler". I'm half convinced that it was done in a crockpot, not at all like what a real pork sammie should look like.
 
I use two forks and pull out the junk and have fairly large strands.

 Craig

 Here's a picture of todays pulled pork.

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I too like mine with some larger chunks.  I only smoke to 195° also.  I've noticed that any more than that and the meat get a bit mushy. 

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