Success, but confused with a question

[cornman]

Happy belated Fourth!

We had some family over for Independence Day and I did a picnic ham for pulled pork. Put it on 8pm on July 3 on my WSM using the minion method with a mix of apple and hickory.

Checked on smoker throughout the night and into Wednesday adding charcoal when necessary, keeping water in my pan. When it stalled around 150, I wrapped it. Temps held around 236 using my Thermo Pro. Everything going low and slow as planned and usual.

My question is why did I seem to hit a 2nd stall at 177? It was there for several hours. Pit temps were holding...my guess is it had something to do with the weather(really hot and humid in central PA the last few days), but I’m not sure.

It stayed at 177 so long that guests started arriving and I finally (with reluctance) took it off to see what I had. I double checked with another thermometer and it read 177 too so i fairly certain it wasn’t a thermometer issue. To my pleasant surprise, the meat was super fall-off-the-bone tender and pulled great. My father-in-law made his well-loved steamed shrimp, but the pork was getting rave reviews. (I ate plenty of both). Any ideas on the temperature?

Sorry only one picture...it was a hectic but good day. Props to my father-in-law for the always amazing shrimp. My wife made broccoli and pasta salads, and together the two of us made the homemade mojitos with our own mint. Sorry for the length, but wanted to share and also ask for input. Thanks for looking!

 

[Geebs]

When I used to cook my butts low and slow around 225-235 I would always hit the stall between 150-160 and then another around 180-190. I stopped smoking them at that low of temp because the stalls seemed to last for ever. I do my butts around 275 now and no stall occurs.

 

[bassthumb32]

The last one I did (240ish) had 2 stalls as well took way to long. I don't do pork butts much but the next time I do one it'll be at 275-280 like a lot of people on here are doing and claiming great success.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Nice! You know... like they say, its done when its done. Sometimes they just seem to take forever!

Just curious- was that picnic cured as an actual HAM or not? I have never taken a cured "ham" to pulling temps before, but that might have just inspired me.

 

[cornman]

Thanks for the input...I’m not good at copying and pasting the responses so I’ll try old school at some replies.

1. The last two hours I did let the smoker go up over 270, but it really didn’t push the IT. Too little too late? It also seems low to have the meat pull as easy as it did. Just this particular piece of meat doing its own thing?

2. I didn’t know pork could stall more than once...you learn something every day. I will go higher in the future.

3. The picnic ham (shoulder) to my knowledge was not cured. Just my own home concoction rub and adding the drippings back in before serving.

4. I tried to give myself extra cushion for time, but apparently not enough. I’ve done a fair amount of pork shoulders (butt and picnics) but I still have much to learn.

Again, thank you everyone for the input! I always want to hear what you have to say.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

Thanks for the input...I’m not good at copying and pasting the responses so I’ll try old school at some replies.

1. The last two hours I did let the smoker go up over 270, but it really didn’t push the IT. Too little too late? It also seems low to have the meat pull as easy as it did. Just this particular piece of meat doing its own thing?

2. I didn’t know pork could stall more than once...you learn something every day. I will go higher in the future.

3. The picnic ham (shoulder) to my knowledge was not cured. Just my own home concoction rub and adding the drippings back in before serving.

4. I tried to give myself extra cushion for time, but apparently not enough. I’ve done a fair amount of pork shoulders (butt and picnics) but I still have much to learn.

Again, thank you everyone for the input! I always want to hear what you have to say.

You can't argue with success and the fact that it pulled easily and tasted great means you did good. The PP sure looks fantastic. All in all it just sounds like a successful cook to me. Great job.

George

 

[daricksta]

OK, it isn't the same cut of meat but this same exact thing happened to me over the weekend with a corned beef brisket that I was cooking into pastrami. Everything went fine in the smoker. The recipe said to stick it in an oven at 250° over a pan of hot water and steam it to an IT of 203°, which should take 4-5 hours. The IT never got above 189° and for the most part stayed between 169° an d 178°. I pulled it after about 16 hours. Now I could tell by the way the temp probe went in and out when I checked the brisket in the oven that meat was cooked to about where it should be. When I sliced off the end, the meat was textbook for pastrami. Like you, I have no idea where I went right.

 

[cornman]

I like how you put it...I don’t know where I went right

 

[nanuk]

I find it interesting how different locations call meat cuts something totally different.

Adds a lot to the confusion

 

[daricksta]

I like how you put it...I don’t know where I went right

Thanks. I stole and adapted it from a line in the original movie version of "The Producers".

Your pulled pork looks great. And the names for pork cuts do get confusing. Out here on the West Coast most supermarkets label pork butt as pork shoulder. Picnic ham is cut from the lower front shoulder and part of the shank, so it needs low and slow cooking just like what I call the pork shoulder/butt. Country style ribs are merely sliced pork shoulder. For Chinese stir fry recipes that call for smaller slices of pork shoulder, I buy the country style ribs because a large part of the slicing has already been done for me.

I'm guessing that you threw the packaging away which would have told you if the picnic ham had been cured or not. Was the ham bone-in or boneless? Oh, forgot to mention that I've had one or two briskets stall twice.

 

[cornman]

Unless they’ve been cured every time I buy them and labeled as so in extremely small print that I don’t notice, I would say uncurled. Just like you said, this was the lower portion of the shoulder with bone in. The meat retracted from the bone and pulled quite easily when I took it off.

 

[cornman]

** uncured

 

[daricksta]

I bought a whole boneless (I think) pork shoulder once that's still in our freezer. I don't make pulled pork that often but my is the Carnitas Queen and we usually buy a boneless pork shoulder (unless the recipe specifies bone-in) or the country style ribs I mentioned. None of that is cured, of course. I'm actually planning to start curing meats on my own, like beef brisket for pastrami and salmon fillets for cold smoked salmon. I'm even thinking of buying some pork belly to hickory smoke my own bacon. Having a smoker opens a world of possibilities of fun and great eating.

 

[Smkryng]

Thanks for the input...I’m not good at copying and pasting the responses so I’ll try old school at some replies.

1. The last two hours I did let the smoker go up over 270, but it really didn’t push the IT. Too little too late? It also seems low to have the meat pull as easy as it did. Just this particular piece of meat doing its own thing?

2. I didn’t know pork could stall more than once...you learn something every day. I will go higher in the future.

3. The picnic ham (shoulder) to my knowledge was not cured. Just my own home concoction rub and adding the drippings back in before serving.

4. I tried to give myself extra cushion for time, but apparently not enough. I’ve done a fair amount of pork shoulders (butt and picnics) but I still have much to learn.

Again, thank you everyone for the input! I always want to hear what you have to say.

A great trick I've learned from here is to cook the pork in advance, vacuum seal and freeze. Throw the vac bags of pork in a crockpot or even on a pot of water on the stovetop and it reheats well and stays moist just like fresh from the smoker. Makes family events so much easier because i can cook whenever i get a chance and then all i have to do is show up and boil some water lol.