Western Carolina (Lexington) style pulled pork

[cunnart]

Below is a walk through on how to prepare and do a western style pulled pork butt. Big thanks to CheffJJ as the recipes are his and he has helped me tweak them for what I was looking for. And another big thanks to Bearcarver and Jeff for their write ups as they are where I got the cooking info.  Please read and if you have any tips for changes please let me know. I have it waiting to go on the smoker as I type so I will also do a follow up later. 
 

Carolina Q Dust  

1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)

2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)

1T Kosher Salt

1T Chili Powder 

1T Granulated Garlic

1T Granulated Onion

1T Mustard Powder

1T Grnd. Black Pepper

1T Grnd. White Pepper

1tsp Cayenne Pepper, or more as desired.

1tsp Grd. Cumin

1tsp Dry Thyme, rubbed

Makes about 1 Cup. This has some Heat from the the jar but mellows when Smoked. If too Hot, reduce the Black, White and Cayenne Pepper.

Apply your desired amount of Dust to the meat, wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator overnight, or longer. The day of the smoke, pull the meat out, add more Dust and go into your pre-heated Smoker...

 

 

Foiling Juice

For each Rack of Ribs Combine:

1T Pork Rub, yours

1/2 Stick Butter

1/2C Cane Syrup... Dark Corn Syrup...or Honey

1/4C Apple Cider...or Juice

1T Molasses

Optional:

2T Vinegar, 2T Mustard and 1/4C Ketchup to make it more KC Style Glaze.

Simmer until a syrupy consistency.

 

 

Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce

2 C Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2C Ketchup

2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste

1/4C Brown Sugar

1T Smoked Paprika

1T Red Pepper Flakes can use less for less heat

2 tsp Granulated Garlic

2 tsp Granulated Onion

2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper

1 tsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Chipotle powder. Add more if you like Heat.

1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. Let rest, at room temp, a minimum of 30 minutes for the flavors to meld together. Or bring just to a simmer and remove from heat...JJ

Smoke in smoker for 5 hours with smoke at 225 degrees. At 5 hours pull from smoker and double wrap in heavy duty foil.  Place back in smoker and continue cooking until an internal temperature of 205 is reached. At this point pull the wrapped butt and wrap the whole thing in 2 towels and place in a cooler for at least an hour. Alternately you can leave the butt in the smoker but turn the smoker down to 100 degrees; this is only advisable if you can easily maintain this low of a temperature. 

photo (1).JPG

• cunnart
• Jun 15, 2014

This is what it looks like after a night of sitting in the fridge with the rub on it.

 

[palladini]

Looking very good indeed

This is one I will have try, someday!

 

[cunnart]

Just threw the double foil wrap on the prok and put it back in. I am in 5 hours so far and meat is at 154* right now. hoping to be done around 5-7 or so tonight. Thought about taking a picture but I wanted to get it back into the smoker as fast as possible, sorry.

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
Below is a walk through on how to prepare and do a western style pulled pork butt. Big thanks to CheffJJ as the recipes are his and he has helped me tweak them for what I was looking for. And another big thanks to Bearcarver and Jeff for their write ups as they are where I got the cooking info.  Please read and if you have any tips for changes please let me know. I have it waiting to go on the smoker as I type so I will also do a follow up later. 
 

Carolina Q Dust  

1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)

2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)

1T Kosher Salt

1T Chili Powder 

1T Granulated Garlic

1T Granulated Onion

1T Mustard Powder

1T Grnd. Black Pepper

1T Grnd. White Pepper

1tsp Cayenne Pepper, or more as desired.

1tsp Grd. Cumin

1tsp Dry Thyme, rubbed

Makes about 1 Cup. This has some Heat from the the jar but mellows when Smoked. If too Hot, reduce the Black, White and Cayenne Pepper.

Apply your desired amount of Dust to the meat, wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator overnight, or longer. The day of the smoke, pull the meat out, add more Dust and go into your pre-heated Smoker...

 

 

Foiling Juice

For each Rack of Ribs Combine:

1T Pork Rub, yours

1/2 Stick Butter

1/2C Cane Syrup... Dark Corn Syrup...or Honey

1/4C Apple Cider...or Juice

1T Molasses

Optional:

2T Vinegar, 2T Mustard and 1/4C Ketchup to make it more KC Style Glaze.

Simmer until a syrupy consistency.

 

 

Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce

2 C Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2C Ketchup

2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste

1/4C Brown Sugar

1T Smoked Paprika

1T Red Pepper Flakes, can use less for less heat.

2 tsp Granulated Garlic

2 tsp Granulated Onion

2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper

1 tsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Chipotle powder. Add more if you like Heat.

1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. Let rest, at room temp, a minimum of 30 minutes for the flavors to meld together. Or bring just to a simmer and remove from heat...JJ

Smoke in smoker for 5 hours with smoke at 225 degrees. At 5 hours pull from smoker and double wrap in heavy duty foil.  Place back in smoker and continue cooking until an internal temperature of 205 is reached. At this point pull the wrapped butt and wrap the whole thing in 2 towels and place in a cooler for at least an hour. Alternately you can leave the butt in the smoker but turn the smoker down to 100 degrees; this is only advisable if you can easily maintain this low of a temperature. 

photo (1).JPG

• cunnart
• Jun 15, 2014

This is what it looks like after a night of sitting in the fridge with the rub on it.

Just wanted to add that the addition of a Half Cup Ketchup and Red Pepper Flakes to my original Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce is pretty much the only difference between a Eastern Carolina Sauce and a Lexington Style Sauce/Dip...The Rub is a new Recipe of mine that I have been playing with awhile...Looking good so far...JJ

 

[cunnart]

It ended up taking longer than 1.5 hours per lb. it was a 7lb butt it took about 12 hours, but I will never buy pulled pork at a restaurant again. Wife didn't even let me shred it before she started stealing pieces, and for that reason there is not a picture showing how it looked before I shredded. lol. I need to tweak the finishing sauce just a hair, I'm thinking half of the black pepper or maybe no all spice, couldn't tell which one my pallet thought there was too much of.  Also did a packed 1/4 c of brown sugar I think I will change that to a loose 1/4c so the sauce is a little more runny. My wife said I was  never allowed to share the meat with anyone, guess it was a hit. 

 

photo (3).JPG

• cunnart
• Jun 16, 2014

 

[chef jimmyj]

I am glad it turned out well. Between the Rub and Sauce there is a lot of Blk Pepper and Allspice is just a flavor I like but is not everybody's thing. Reduce them. Sugar just sweetens but has little effect on thickness. Add more Vinegar or Water to thin...JJ

 

[cunnart]

Will do. Wasn't sure if the brown sugar may have caramelized a little and thickened it up.

 

[cunnart]

I plan on repeating this on the 3rd for a picnic on the 4th of July. I am thinking of not foiling it this time to get a really nice bark. Any tips or suggestions on a non foil method? I plan to start it the night before and get my amnps going so I don't have to worry about smoke production while I sleep, figured a row and a half would give me enough smoke time.

 

[caribou89]

No foil is really no different. Just let her ride.

 

[cunnart]

Should I bother with anything in the water pan with no foil. Note I am about a mile in elevation.

 

[caribou89]

You can, or you can spritz every couple hours with apple juice.

 

[cunnart]

I like the idea of spritzing so it doesnt steam the whole time.

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
I like the idea of spritzing so it doesnt steam the whole time.

Spritzing is ok but you need to be up to do it. Since you want some Beautiy Sleep to be fresh for the festivities, check out the info below. Is very effective for all " no Foil " smokes...JJ

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/wet-to-dry-no-foil-smoke-chamber-method-for-smoking-meats

 

[cunnart]

it's an interesting idea and makes sense but seems like it could take some finesse to figure out correctly.

 

[cunnart]

I see you also have a MES40 any suggestions on implementation? 

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Should I bother with anything in the water pan with no foil. Note I am about a mile in elevation.

No need.  Butts are so riddled with fat that they won't dry out on you. That fat cap cross-hatch cut like in my Step by Step will do enough basting for you. No opening your door and spritzing needed.

Bear

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
it's an interesting idea and makes sense but seems like it could take some finesse to figure out correctly.

 
I see you also have a MES40 any suggestions on implementation? 

It is really easy. I don't go as deep into the process as Eric. I just add 2 C Water for Ribs and 3-4 C Water for big cuts. In a couple hours it evaporates and you go from moist chamber to dry...JJ

 

[dr k]

I made Chef JJ's foiling juice with the honey option and his substitution of butter with the smoked juices from the pork.  I really like the light liquid moist texture on chunky pulled pork over a saucy thick texture, which can over power all the flavors we spent so much time to create.  Great recipe on that foiling juice Chef JJ!

-Dr K

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
I made Chef JJ's foiling juice with the honey option and his substitution of butter with the smoked juices from the pork.  I really like the light liquid moist texture on chunky pulled pork over a saucy thick texture, which can over power all the flavors we spent so much time to create.  Great recipe on that foiling juice Chef JJ!

-Dr K

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Seems everything's better with Butter...JJ

 

[cunnart]

When doing a no foil wrap what are you guys seeing for average cook times? 2 hrs per LB?  Also when the meat comes off the smoker do you wrap it in foil for the rest or does that ruin the bark too? Doing another Butt in this style for the 4th.