What should my expectation be? Smoked boneless Pork

[doug in san die]

Hello All

New to the forum.

I have a quick question about smoked pork.

I recently smoked some "Boneless Pork ends"  I basically cut a pork shoulder in to 1.5 inch chunks and smoked them  (recipe from here)

My question is this.  What should the texture be when I am finished?

Should they be fork tender falling apart?

Or should they be relatively tender, but definitely not falling apart? (thats how they finished)

I want to make sure my expectations are set. I was hoping to have bites of meat that melt in your mouth.

Would smoking them longer make them more tender or more tough?

Thanks

Doug in San Diego

 

[crankybuzzard]

 
Hello All

New to the forum.

I have a quick question about smoked pork.

I recently smoked some "Boneless Pork ends"  I basically cut a pork shoulder in to 1.5 inch chunks and smoked them  (recipe from here)  Can you post the recipe?

My question is this.  What should the texture be when I am finished?  Depends.  How long did you smoke, how did you prep, what temperatures did you smoke at, and how were they packaged, or not, for smoke?

Should they be fork tender falling apart? See questions above.

Or should they be relatively tender, but definitely not falling apart? (thats how they finished)

I want to make sure my expectations are set. I was hoping to have bites of meat that melt in your mouth.

Would smoking them longer make them more tender or more tough?  Depends...

Thanks

Doug in San Diego

Welcome to the forum!

See my answers (questions) above.  We can help for sure!

 

[tropics]

More info would help us help you.

Smoker type

Thermo Probes used 

Finished IT of the meat.

Richie

 

[doug in san die]

Ok, here is more info

The recipe was from a weekly email

Pork Country Style Rib Burnt Ends Share:          Helpful Information Preparation time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 hours Smoker temperature: 240°F Meat finish temperature: 185°F Recommended wood: Cherry What You’ll Need 3-5 lbs of pork country style ribs* Spray oil Jeff’s Original rub  (purchase recipes here) Foil pan(s) Jeff’s barbecue sauce recipe  (purchase recipes here) *Most country style ribs are cut from pork butt but I have seen it cut from pork loin and other leaner cuts of meat. Ask the butcher to make sure it is cut from pork butt before purchasing. I have a Home Depot Upright electric smoker The smoker temp was aprox 225 to 240 I put the meat chunks on the grill for 4 hours. Then I put them in a foil pan with sauce for another 2 hours I did not marinade or inject the chunks, I did rub them the night before. I also did not use a meat probe to check the temperature at the end of cooking (sorry) Thanks for the help Doug

 

[jeepdiver]

185 internal temp is going to end with meat that still has bite. While feel is more important than temp generally 185-195 will give you slices or chopped pork so it has structure to it. 205 range is melt in your mouth pulled

 

[travisty]

Hi Doug,

Welcome to the forum.

I have found with the "country style Ribs" or chopped up butt you will usually only be able to achieve a tender but still with a bite texture unless you boil them. As JeepDiver mentioned higher internal temps at the end of cooking are generally what will make something more fall apart tender. ranges like 185-205. If you didn't measure this way it is hard to say, and if that is what you are looking for in the future that is what I would recommend doing. But IMO I don't think they would really be able to get to fall apart tender unless you boiled the things, so possibly if you had done more time in the foil perhaps with some juice like apple in there too they may have come out that way.

If you want fall apart tender I would recommend just doing a full butt.

 

[tropics]

 
Ok, here is more info

The recipe was from a weekly email

Pork Country Style Rib Burnt Ends Share:          Helpful Information Preparation time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 hours Smoker temperature: 240°F Meat finish temperature: 185°F Recommended wood: Cherry What You’ll Need 3-5 lbs of pork country style ribs* Spray oil Jeff’s Original rub  (purchase recipes here) Foil pan(s) Jeff’s barbecue sauce recipe  (purchase recipes here) *Most country style ribs are cut from pork butt but I have seen it cut from pork loin and other leaner cuts of meat. Ask the butcher to make sure it is cut from pork butt before purchasing. I have a Home Depot Upright electric smoker The smoker temp was aprox 225 to 240 I put the meat chunks on the grill for 4 hours. Then I put them in a foil pan with sauce for another 2 hours I did not marinade or inject the chunks, I did rub them the night before. I also did not use a meat probe to check the temperature at the end of cooking (sorry) Thanks for the help Doug

Sounds like you are just going by the built in temp gauge setting.To be sure you should check the CC temp with a good probe.To get the FOB without a probe,use a tooth pick to see if it goes into the meat,without any resistance.

Hope this helps

Richie 

 

[doug in san die]

Great responses!  Thanks so much

I have a good thermometer for the smoker, and a probe for the meat on the way.

Final question. Can you achieve FOB  (fall off the bone) with ribs? 

 

[crankybuzzard]

 
Great responses!  Thanks so much

I have a good thermometer for the smoker, and a probe for the meat on the way.

Final question. Can you achieve FOB  (fall off the bone) with ribs? 

Sure, wrap them in foil and let em steam away...

Do the 3-2-1 method on spares, and you're about there.  When you wrap the ribs, add a little mop sauce (ACV/Apple juice mix for me) and let them go for about 2 hours, check and see if they are where you want tender wise, and if so, openthem up to bark a bit and go...

Personally, I like a little pull with ribs, so I only go about an hour to 1.5 in the foil.

 

[travisty]

I Agree with Cranky!

I also prefer a bit of pull on mine, I like them to pull off the bone once I bite into them, but hate when they fall off when I pick them up. You would also get marked down for having them truly "fall off the bone" in a competition. But as Cranky said, if that's what your going for you can certainly get there! You don't really need to probe ribs if you follow the 3-2-1 method, but if you're specifically concerned with them falling off the bones, get the IT up between 185-205 (make sure your probe isn't in contact with bone) while they are in the foil and that usually does the trick.

in case you aren't familiar the 3-2-1 method is: 3 hours on the smoker, 2 hours wrapped in foil with some sauce and/or juice, and the last hour on the grill or smoker.

 

[tropics]

Doug Another way to test ribs using the 3-2-1 method to get the doness that you want.Check them with the bend test.

100_3256.JPG

• tropics
• Dec 10, 2015

FOB

100_3259.JPG

• tropics
• Dec 10, 2015

Richie

 

[doug in san die]

Awesome!

Thanks for all the help.  

I'm fired up to do some more smoking!!!  (no pun intended)

Merry Christmas to all

 

[HalfSmoked]

 
Hi Doug,

Welcome to the forum.

I have found with the "country style Ribs" or chopped up butt you will usually only be able to achieve a tender but still with a bite texture unless you boil them. As JeepDiver mentioned higher internal temps at the end of cooking are generally what will make something more fall apart tender. ranges like 185-205. If you didn't measure this way it is hard to say, and if that is what you are looking for in the future that is what I would recommend doing. But IMO I don't think they would really be able to get to fall apart tender unless you boiled the things, so possibly if you had done more time in the foil perhaps with some juice like apple in there too they may have come out that way.

If you want fall apart tender I would recommend just doing a full butt.

you boil what? Smoke to the right temps and you shouldn't have too. Low and slow!!!

 

[travisty]

 

you boil what? Smoke to the right temps and you shouldn't have too. Low and slow!!!

That was sort of my point. I would never boil them, im just saying that you can do that to get them really tender, but of course it wouldn't be BBQ that way. (that's the way cheap reastaurants and my mom do them lol)

Just saying IMO that I don't think that the country style ribs cut up into small cubes like that would really get to fall apart tender no matter what you do to them on the smoker or grill, (so unless you boiled them, or put them in lots of sauce in say a slow-cooker) not enough fat and tissue left in each piece once all the fat renders out of the small pieces to make for a tender end result, but I may be wrong, again, that is just my thought on it.