Pulled Pork

[smj18]

Hey guys, doing a couple of shoulders this week for my parents to take to a get together (love being asked to supply the food for others!) I have always had great success with my pulled pork except the last time I made one. So before I get into this weekends cook I just had a few simple questions about my last cook. I use a kamado style cooker made by Grilla it's the kong. Respectively comparable to BGE. I tend to smoke around the 250 mark and use lump charcoal with apple or hickory chunks. So for my last cook here's what I did. I threw it on and left it be until about 3 hours in. I produced good bark and began to spritz around then and each hour after until the 165 it mark. I then removed and wrapped in foil and sprayed it down a good bit and returned it to the smoker until I had an it of 200. I removed it from the smoker and into a cooler to rest. Foilstill on in the cooler. It rested for a few hours until later that evening for dinner. I removed the foil and began to pull. The foil had a ton of liquid and the pork felt different from any other time. Almost like a pork roast in a crock pot. It seemed overdone to me.

So my question to you is where did I go wrong on that particular cook?

Should I skip wrapping? My other cooks were wrapped and produced good bark and flavorful results

Did I leave the foil on too long? Did I rest it too long?

Any other ideas are gladly welcomed as since this was my last cook I've been driving myself crazy as to how or why it turned out that way?! Thanks in advance guys!

Sorry I didn't get any pics of that cook it slipped my mind that day. I have pics of other pork butt cooks if needed.

 

[verdade]

i haven't used foil on my last 3 Boston butts during the cook. I do wrap in foil and a towel for at least an hour after I reach the 203-205 range. (In a cooler)

I tend to cook low and slow also. 225 range. Not for any particular reason, just have had good luck this way. I smoked a 12.5lb one this past weekend and it took all of 24 hours.

The bark has been better for me without the foil.

Here is one from last month.

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• verdade
• Jun 13, 2017

Good luck, I hope it works out for you!

-

 

[smj18]

Thanks! Your pork turned out nice! I thought about it more and after talking it over with the other half she seems to think that in my previous cooks before this last fiasco I had that I only wrapped once I reached my final IT then into the cooler just like you did. So I'm going to try that for this weekends cook. I think it should yield good results. I'll be sure to take pics and keep a close eye on it instead of doing like 8 other projects at once haha. That will stay fresh in my mind for next week as I prepare more for vacation to the OBX. Crazy I take my own pulled pork to a state known for it but I like to compare [emoji]128513[/emoji]

 

[smj18]

Verdade, what do you use for rubs? Commercial or create your own?

 

[joe black]

SMJ, when you wrapped at 165*, was it in a stall or did you just decide to wrap? I have had a couple of butts recently that sailed right on through to 200* without ever stalling. I smoke between 250-275* and I noticed that you were at 250. Just maybe your wrap wasn't necessary. Keep some detailed notes on your next couple of butts and see if you can determine any connection between the temp, stall and wrap.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes. :grilling_smilie:

 

[verdade]

Verdade, what do you use for rubs? Commercial or create your own?

I've used homemade and commercial. I have been using Jeff's rub for the last few and it has worked out great. I recommend it for sure.

Take it easy.

-

 

[smj18]

SMJ, when you wrapped at 165*, was it in a stall or did you just decide to wrap? I have had a couple of butts recently that sailed right on through to 200* without ever stalling. I smoke between 250-275* and I noticed that you were at 250. Just maybe your wrap wasn't necessary. Keep some detailed notes on your next couple of butts and see if you can determine any connection between the temp, stall and wrap.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes. :grilling_smilie:

I decided to wrap at 165 didn't notice a stall as it was moving pretty good throughout the cook. I probably should've left it go without wrapping since it was sailing.

Here's some from my previous cooks where I only wrapped to rest before pulling

my sidekick who was ready for a snack after a hard day of guarding the smoker

 

[smj18]

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• smj18
• Jul 25, 2017

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• smj18
• Jul 25, 2017

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• smj18
• Jul 25, 2017

I usually do between 2-4 at a time