Pulled Pork

[Dutch]

Yesterday I smoked a couple of Pork Butts and things did not go well from the get-go!

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a Temperature Control Valve for my GOSM and hooked it up to my propane line and tested it out on some ABT's and a fattie-the TCV worked like a champ and held my temps right at 250*.

Sunday morning at 8:00 am I fired up the GOSM, set the TCV at 250* and proceeded in applying the second rub to the butts. Monitoring my remote display for the thermometer, I noticed that the temp did not rise above 187*-I checked the smoker and noticed my flame was half the height it normally is. I removed the TCV from the line, fired up the GOSM again and had a normal flame and the GOSM is at 255*. Finally at 10:00 am I get the butts on and things are finally looking up- about 1:30 or so Sam (the Bride) notices that the smoker temp has dropped to 190 degrees-I'm on top of a ladder changing out the light fixture in the Dining room thinking "What the heck?' Sam checked the smoker and tells me "NO FLAME" :shock: - she lifts up the propane bottle one handed and said "It's as light as a feather". Now there was no need to panic, I just pulled the propane bottle off of the grill and got things going again and realize that Sunday dinner (planned for 7:00 pm) will be delayed a couple of hours. The wife informs me that we will not eat at 9:00 pm and she decides that we will fill the empty propane bottle and we (meaning me) will grill some steaks. She calls the local hardware store that fills propane bottles to see if they are opened and no answer-still no need to panic.

I remember markeli having run out of propane on Thursday so I give him a call on the phone to find out where he filled his bottles, he tells me that place that filled his bottles wasn't opened on Sundays (OK-here's the place we are supposed to panic). Mark offers me the use of one of his extra tanks and saves the day. I headed over to Mark's place and my wife's parting words were "Get the tank and hurry back home!" [yeah, like that will happen]. I spent about an hour with Mark watching NASCAR, talking guns and smoking meats. Is there a greater way to spend a Sunday afternoon??? I don't think so!! :mrgreen: Dinner was served at 7:00 pm, the butts were done at 9:00 pm and pulled with the help of the KitchenAid, sauced with some of SoFlaQuer Finishing Sauce and placed in the extra fridge for dinner next Sunday, providing that I can keep out of 'til then! :D :P (WARNING-WARNING-PICTURES TO BE POSTED LATER TODAY-WARNING-WARNING)

Thanks again Mark-you sure saved my day, I owe you big time! I'd offer you some pulled pork but I know you have your own. :P

 

[markeli]

I am glad that everthing turned out ok. I hope I didn't get you in to much trouble with the spouse delaying your arrival with the propane.

 

[Dutch]

Nope, didn't get in trouble at all (surprize surprize). It only took me 10 minutes to get home and I didn't have to start the steaks until 6:15-

 

[markeli]

Did you get the PM about the Utah State BBQ Championships from last night?

 

[Dutch]

Just read it, thanks-

 

[bob-bqn]

Way to go markeli! That's what this is all about, friendship and helping each other out. 8)

Which reminds me ... I have two tanks in the back on my Jeep that I need to get filled today.

Earl, I consider myself duely warned.

Post at will.

 

[markeli]

Bob, it seems that I only run out on holidays sundays or in the middle of the night when there is no place to refill.

Mark

 

[bbqblitz]

Brother earl, how them pics coming along?

 

[Dutch]

Well Blitz, ImageShack was down for system maintenance when I tried to post the pix on Monday and yesterday I had a bunch of "honey do these now" chores and didn't get them done and back home until 9:00 pm-I still had to eat and then get to bed as it was close to bed time (4:30 am is way to early in the morning for my achy bones). BUt I will try to post them this afternoon.

 

[Dutch]

Here are the pixs from my Sunday Smoke. These butts where smoked fat side down and I'm ashamed to admit this, but I forgot to mop them. :shock: :oops:

 

[bbqblitz]

They don't look bad at all, bro!

Thanks for the pics!

 

[bob-bqn]

Earl did you notice any difference in flavor or texture after not mopping? Doesn't seem to be much of any difference to me.

 

[Dutch]

To tell you the truth, Bob I couldn't tell the difference. The samples that I tasted while pulling the pork with the KitchenAid tasted plenty juicy to me and the bark was nice and crunchy. It was funny cuz I'd pull some pork then dump it into the hotel pan and my wife would start to pick out all the dark pieces. I asked her what see was doing and she said that see was pulling out all the 'burnt' pieces. :roll: When I told her that it wasn't 'burnt' meat but pieces of the bark, she tasted it and said it was pretty good. :?

 

[bob-bqn]

Yeah, I really hate those burnt pieces too,

some reason I keep pulling them out ...


... and eating them. :lol: So does my wife & so do my kids. :(


I've also notice little to no difference in mopping a brisket either. Sometimes I don't even bother (on purpose

).

 

[pg]

Hey, Earl. I'm sorry to hear about your bad Sunday. Do you think the TCV may have pressure problems with a low tank? I haven't had a problem with mine so far, but I also haven't done a long smoke. I'm still in the experimental stage with my TCV, and have only used it with a full tank. Are you going to try it again?

On mopping, I find that using yellow mustard before the rub retains plenty of moisture in the meat. I usually spritz my ribs with apple cider before wrapping them in foil for the final 2 hours.

 

[Dutch]

PG-I was thinking along the lines of low tank pressure=poor TCV performance. I'm going to fire up the smoker again this weekend with the TCV in place and see if a fresh tank will take of the problem.

This Butt smoke was totally different that others I have done. As mentioned earlier, I didn't mop/spray and I didn't wrap the Butts in foil. I just left them alone (escept for refilling the water pan) until the internal temp reached 197*.

 

[langmotorsports]

Earl.........any suggesttions for a mop for me to use? Im doing the same ting this weekend.

 

[Dutch]

Jeff, When I use a mop it's a quart of apple juice in a spray bottle with about 3 tablespoons of the rub I use on the butt. I will heat up a cup of the apple juice to dissolve the rub. I will pour this mixture through a mesh strainer to get the solids out (don't want to clog the spray bottle) and then add it to the rest of the apple juice. You can use any type of fruit juice you like, but apple goes great with pork.

 

[langmotorsports]

Thanks Earl........i will use your suggestion and let you know how it all turns out. Have a great Weekend!

 

[jaynik]

Earl, the pics look great! I'm interested in the Kitchen Aid technique of pulling pork?? Do you put in the bread dough thingy and let that take it apart?