wet rub for pulled pork

[BigDave11]

I'd like to smoke a shoulder for pulled pork jerk style. I make a lot of jerk chicken but thats direct heat shorter time. I make a pretty traditional jerk marinade/sauce in the food processor with onion, garlic, ginger, soy, citrus, scotch bonnet, jerk spices, etc.. It's not very runny. Could i substitue a normal binder/rub with my jerk sauce? It probably wouldnt stick too well on the bottom. And perhaps wrapping to keep jerkiness in? I dont normally wrap shoulders.

Or would I be better off marinading the shoulder in jerk for a day or two, pay dry and try to figure out some dry jerk rub? Or injecting?

Thanks, I have only ever done typical mustard binder/dry rub on shoulders. A search of the forum resulted in tons of jerk tenderloin stuff but no jerk pulled pork.

 

[gmc2003]

Just guessing here. How about mixing in the Jerk sauce/mix after you've pulled the pork.

 

[BigDave11]

Just guessing here. How about mixing in the Jerk sauce/mix after you've pulled the pork.

I was thinking about that but then i'd be missing the cooking/carmelization from the sugars in the jerk sauce on the pork which is really the purpose.

 

[gmc2003]

I was thinking about that but then i'd be missing the cooking/carmelization from the sugars in the jerk sauce on the pork which is really the purpose.

Try it with a small batch. Place it in a shallow disposable pan and put it back on the smoker or in the oven for a short spell and see if that gets you close to the results you're looking for. Similar to what we do with ribs after we sauce them.

Chris

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

You could try using a jerk rub and then spritzing it with your marinade. Pork shoulder being sucks a big piece of meat probably wouldn’t take on too much if marinaded (guessing) but with a rub/spritz and like GMC said mix some in also when you shrewd it. That’s how I get most of the flavor of pulled pork is a finishing sauce.

 

[jcam222]

For wet jerk on butt I’d cut 1/4” - 1/2” deep Diamond patterns cuts on both sides and work the rub deep in them all.

 

[Texas Cookin']

Scoring it like jcam222 mentioned above would be my suggestion as well.

 

[JC in GB]

You could also try flattening out the shoulder for more surface area. Then do an overnight marinade before heading out to the smoker. I have seen competition cooks flatten out their shoulder to better expose the money muscle. I don't see why a similar approach would not work for you. You will lose some of the larger spice chunks so maybe put the rub in a spice grinder before mixing your marinade? My $0.02

Also, I am a big fan of jerk seasoned meats. I usually use Walker's Wood and I get good results. Would you share your jerk recipe?

Thanks,

JC

 

[zwiller]

+1 JC in GB Surface area. Traditional jerk pork is not done whole and done by taking the shoulder/butt and breaking it down. Cut into strips or chunks and coating with paste. Like 2-3" strips or chunks. When cooked to proper IT (around 205F) it breaks down and starts falling apart so you won't necessarily tell it was done that way. Marinate a few days min. IMO no binder needed. Be sure and reserve some of that paste to make some dipping/finishing sauce with it. Cut it with ketchup etc. I think you still wanna hit it pretty hot and fast like chicken. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/another-jerk-fail.307625/post-2243203

 

[JC in GB]

+1 JC in GB Surface area. Traditional jerk pork is not done whole and done by taking the shoulder/butt and breaking it down. Cut into strips or chunks and coating with paste. Like 2-3" strips or chunks. When cooked to proper IT (around 205F) it breaks down and starts falling apart so you won't necessarily tell it was done that way. Marinate a few days min. IMO no binder needed. Be sure and reserve some of that paste to make some dipping/finishing sauce with it. Cut it with ketchup etc. I think you still wanna hit it pretty hot and fast like chicken. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/another-jerk-fail.307625/post-2243203

I so love jerk seasoned meat. Now I am going to have to make some. I am going to do chicken I think. I have some packs of thighs in the freezer which will work perfectly. I am almost out of pimento pellets so I will have to restock after this cook.

JC

 

[BigDave11]

You could also try flattening out the shoulder for more surface area. Then do an overnight marinade before heading out to the smoker. I have seen competition cooks flatten out their shoulder to better expose the money muscle. I don't see why a similar approach would not work for you. You will lose some of the larger spice chunks so maybe put the rub in a spice grinder before mixing your marinade? My $0.02

Also, I am a big fan of jerk seasoned meats. I usually use Walker's Wood and I get good results. Would you share your jerk recipe?

Thanks,

JC

Thanks for the info. Ive tried walkers once, didn't really do it for me. My jerk recipe is pretty simple. For 2-2.5lbs meat (chicken quarters, b/s thighs, porkchops, flanksteak, etc) I use:
1/2 medium-large yellow onion
4-6 green onions
3+tbsp thyme
2tbsp ginger
8 garlic cloves
2-3tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp each of dry ground cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, nutmeg
something sweet (3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, agave, mango, etc, or combinations of)
something acidic (i like lime juice plus rice vinegar)
scotch bonnet (i like 4 with all seeds for this amount)

food proccesor til desired consistency.

+1 JC in GB Surface area. Traditional jerk pork is not done whole and done by taking the shoulder/butt and breaking it down. Cut into strips or chunks and coating with paste. Like 2-3" strips or chunks. When cooked to proper IT (around 205F) it breaks down and starts falling apart so you won't necessarily tell it was done that way. Marinate a few days min. IMO no binder needed. Be sure and reserve some of that paste to make some dipping/finishing sauce with it. Cut it with ketchup etc. I think you still wanna hit it pretty hot and fast like chicken. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/another-jerk-fail.307625/post-2243203

Thanks. Think I'm gonna cut a shoulder to strips the size of a small brick, marinate, then smoke as normal til pulling temp and finish with some jerk sauce. I'm not concerned with it not appearing to have been jerked but I am concerned with getting real jerk flavor that isnt just from sauce after cooking.

I guess I could get real weird with it, maybe wrap it in banana leaves or something. Doubtful though. Hopefully I can document the cook and share it here.