Quick! What's the minimum before pulling?!?!

[trig]

Today I had my first plateau ever doing pork butt.  It's only at 167°, and I just upped the oven temp to 300°.  I'm supposed to be serving pulled pork by like seven!

 

[trig]

P.S. - I usually go to 192° before resting but can I go any sooner?

 

[DanMcG]

By 7...ain't going to happen.

The best temp for pulled pork is 200-205, 190-195 is good for slicing 

I'd give the dinner folks a couple cocktails and take it up to a decent temp.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Get the chicken tenders/thigs and some bacon out and get some appetizers going now! Put on the Lonesome Dove Saga or Dances With Wolves to hold them over.. and have the cocktail hour and a half...

Uppin the temp isn't gonna help much. Better keep it around 280 or less or it's just gonna bake.. Remember, it's the process that has to take place, not the speed to temp.

 

[jirodriguez]

Wahoo! Cocktail 2-hour at Trigs' house!

Yeah... unfortunately it's like they said. You can do a kind of chunky pull at around 190-195, but don't forget some rest time as well. If you don't rest it, it will be very dry in the middle, tastey, but dry.

 

[cwalk]

Put more liquor in the cocktails than juice and they'll forget about the food for a while

 

[scarbelly]

Put more liquor in the cocktails than juice and they'll forget about the food for a while

This has always been my policy even if the smoke is on time

 

 

[bacardi]

Like everything else in the world, there isn't an one size fits all and everyone has their own opinion anyways.  If you are cooking low and slow many would be happy just under 200f.  Some pro's have won comps by cooking hot and fast, temps around 325f, this raises the finishing temps, maybe up to 215f.  But I've never cooked or tasted a "hot and fast" butt, furthermore the pro's usually only use one particular part of the butt, the well marbled "money muscle" and often do not care about the rest of the butt.  Foiling, water pan and overall humidity also affect temps.

In my MES, I set it 235f until the butt reaches 165f, then wrap in foil until it reaches 200f and I take a look, sometimes I'll go up to 210f.  I've been very happy with my results.

Did you plan on mixing in a sauce or liquid after it was pulled?  If so, even if you somehow dry it out which I doubt you'd do even if you cook it to 215, adding liquid back into it will hide any dryness...

 

[eman]

Not to pick on trig ,This is a prime example as to why we stress on giving yourself EXTRA time to get your smokes done.

 It's ALOT easier to keep meat warm than it is to try to hurry it in it's journey to good low and slow smoked meat.

 

[smokinstevo27]

amen. I had never cooked two butts at the same time befrore in my ecb so I gave myself 16 hours. Guess what? I needed every hour of it. This hobby is teaching me patience. Barbecue is done when its done!