Hello All,
I am fairly new to smoking and am pretty addicted. This website seems to be a great place! Thanks for all of the previous posts that I've already read. I was hoping you could all help me through my most current problem/question. I was trying to make pulled pork today. I was trying to smoke what was labeled as "pork cushion meat" which I have seen on a few other posts on this site. It seems that it's a part of the shoulder and it sounds like it's just fine to use for pulled pork. I smoked it for about 5 1/2 hours between 225 and 255. I have made one other pulled pork before from pork butt (I think also called Boston Butt). That one came out better. I took this one off of the grill at 190 degrees exactly and let it sit for an hour. When I went to pull it, it wouldn't quite pull. It wasn't as "stringy" and moist as the last time. What I'm wondering....is this because I either over or under cooked it, or is it because of the different cut? What would cause it to need to be chopped pork instead of pulled pork? As you can see from the photo, some of it pulled, but not quite all of it. It tastes great, but I'm pretty sure it will end up dry after a little time. I know that's usually a sign of over cooked meat, but I took it off exactly at 190 so I'm not quite sure. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to learn something from each smoking so I can improve. Thanks for all of the input already. I look forward to reading this site more in the future. Thanks!
I am fairly new to smoking and am pretty addicted. This website seems to be a great place! Thanks for all of the previous posts that I've already read. I was hoping you could all help me through my most current problem/question. I was trying to make pulled pork today. I was trying to smoke what was labeled as "pork cushion meat" which I have seen on a few other posts on this site. It seems that it's a part of the shoulder and it sounds like it's just fine to use for pulled pork. I smoked it for about 5 1/2 hours between 225 and 255. I have made one other pulled pork before from pork butt (I think also called Boston Butt). That one came out better. I took this one off of the grill at 190 degrees exactly and let it sit for an hour. When I went to pull it, it wouldn't quite pull. It wasn't as "stringy" and moist as the last time. What I'm wondering....is this because I either over or under cooked it, or is it because of the different cut? What would cause it to need to be chopped pork instead of pulled pork? As you can see from the photo, some of it pulled, but not quite all of it. It tastes great, but I'm pretty sure it will end up dry after a little time. I know that's usually a sign of over cooked meat, but I took it off exactly at 190 so I'm not quite sure. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to learn something from each smoking so I can improve. Thanks for all of the input already. I look forward to reading this site more in the future. Thanks!