Pork Shoulder pulled prk

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

John,

I cooked a 5 lb shoulder in my water smoker. I looked into the temps and the USDA recommends pork to be cooked at 145 (down from 160). It was in there for about 3.5 hours when I took it out and the temp was 150. The meat was excellent but it didn't "pull" very well, just the out side. Next time I will let it cook even more to see if that does the trick. I am just paranoid of having it too dry. I had a pulled pork sandwich a couple of weeks ago at a competition - it was so dry that it took many beers to get it down.

Hi Les,
From everything I read, 190 degrees F internal meat temp is the ticket for the meat to break down. If you follow this recipe with the brine first and then cooking it till it is 190 you will be very happy. They said to either tent it or add liquid if the tray gets dry through the cooking process. I didn't have to do either.

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Sounds fantastic.
But what blew me away is the decay time of your oven. Did I get that right? Your oven only dropped 38 degrees in 15 hours.

I can't touch that.

Phil

At higher temps the oven drops about 8 degrees per hour, once down under 300 degrees F then it is a slow drop. Also, outside temps were near 90 during the day and low was 74 that night.

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Nice job John. Next time, if you want some smoke, let the oven die to about 250 and then throw in a few hot coals with a handful of wood chips. The chips will smolder and smoke the pork. I did it the last time I made a porchetta, and it worked pretty well.

Stan

Thanks Stan, Excellent suggestion! I will try that next time, might be this weekend or next

[Les]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

I typically wrap my shoulders in foil once they reach 190F and at that point, since they aren't going to absorb any more smoke, let them finish at 228F in the house oven.

Wrapping it in foil makes perfect sense (and it will give me some level of piece of mind). Thanks for the input!

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Hey Les,

I hear ya on the multiple-beer choke-down trick. Two weeks ago I found myself choking down a bone-dry brisket sandwich at "Famous Dave's" in Kansas City. This was my first taste of KC BBQ and have concluded I still prefer Santa Maria-style BBQ.

Regarding pulled pork, a shoulder's internal temp needs to be held at 190F before it can start breaking down collagen (connective tissue). For a 10lb shoulder completing this 'plateau rest' takes about 2.5 hrs. (between 8-9 hrs total). Many competition cooks feel that 228F is the magic temp, but I've found anywhere from 210-240F works fine. (I think the 145F you're referring to is the 'new' safe finishing temp for pork in general). I typically wrap my shoulders in foil once they reach 190F and at that point, since they aren't going to absorb any more smoke, let them finish at 228F in the house oven.

[Les]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Hi Les, The starting temp was 260 degrees F and finished around 220 degrees F without fire or smoke, just residual heat. I think the important number was getting to over the 190 degree F mark for meat temp. I am a total amateur with this and have to thank all the info I gathered from around the net to guide me.
It was good tho!!!!
Thanks John

John,

I cooked a 5 lb shoulder in my water smoker. I looked into the temps and the USDA recommends pork to be cooked at 145 (down from 160). It was in there for about 3.5 hours when I took it out and the temp was 150. The meat was excellent but it didn't "pull" very well, just the out side. Next time I will let it cook even more to see if that does the trick. I am just paranoid of having it too dry. I had a pulled pork sandwich a couple of weeks ago at a competition - it was so dry that it took many beers to get it down.

[PlanoPhil]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Sounds fantastic.
But what blew me away is the decay time of your oven. Did I get that right? Your oven only dropped 38 degrees in 15 hours.

I can't touch that.

Phil

[Stan]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Nice job John. Next time, if you want some smoke, let the oven die to about 250 and then throw in a few hot coals with a handful of wood chips. The chips will smolder and smoke the pork. I did it the last time I made a porchetta, and it worked pretty well.

Stan

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Well it's confirmed. I didn't know what I thought I might know This changes my whole approach of smoking the pork. I'm impressed that you could cook at that high heat for that long of a time.

It looks fantastic, Thanks!

Hi Les, The starting temp was 260 degrees F and finished around 220 degrees F without fire or smoke, just residual heat. I think the important number was getting to over the 190 degree F mark for meat temp. I am a total amateur with this and have to thank all the info I gathered from around the net to guide me.
It was good tho!!!!
Thanks John

[Bacterium]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Now that's impressive

[Les]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Well it's confirmed. I didn't know what I thought I might know This changes my whole approach of smoking the pork. I'm impressed that you could cook at that high heat for that long of a time.

It looks fantastic, Thanks!

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled pork

Well it has been 15 hours since the roast went into the oven. The oven temp is down to 220 degrees F I had left the door ajar for about one hour and knocked down the temp to 235 degrees F around 9am It is now 3 pm and time to remove the roast from the oven. It comes out with dripping in the pan and a beautiful crust on the outside. Roast temp. was 194 degrees F It was a short trip from the roaster to the cutting, eh, I mean shredding board. Starting to pull the skin off the pork just started falling apart! We shredded the pork added a bit of the rub and mixed in some barbeque sauce, put foil over the pan and back into the oven to keep warm so the hamburger rolls can cool.
Well this was a fantastic pulled pork! The neighbors had thirds! The buns were an excellent compliment to the pork!
WOW WOW WOW You have to try this recipe!!!

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Now it looks like we will have a pulled pork dinner tonight! Now what to put that pork on??? I thought Kasier rolls but the wife says she dosen't like them that hard for pulled pork. So I tried a recipe from King Arthur flour for Hamburger rolls. I had made them once before and they came out great. I know, I know, Hamburger rolls She had invited the neighbors over for dinner so I needed a double batch. They were the PERFECT Compliment to the pulled pork! Rave reviews by all!
Here is the link to the recipe - Beautiful Burger Buns: King Arthur Flour

These rolls came out great! Sorry no pics of the finished rolls They went too fast!

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Woke up this morning and was hopeful and skeptical all at the same time. I checked the temp on the oven and it was still 240 degrees F after 7 hours of cooking the roast. At this time I took the remote thermometer and took the roast out of the oven, to both insert the probe and look at how it was cooking. Opening the oven door, I was instantly transported to a small town in North Carolina. Wow the aroma had me salivating without even seeing the roast. It has been in the oven cooking uncovered for seven hours and the oven smelled like a smoker that has been going for decades. I side the roaster out and put in the thermometer, it read 160 degrees. I thought at 7am this might get done too fast so I left the oven door ajar a bit to cool the oven down some and slow the process. The juices were literally oozing out of the slits in the skin and I was tempted to start cutting it then and there!
Here is a pic of the early morning temp testing.

[Aegis]

Re: Pork Shoulder pulled prk

Here is the recipe I used for the rub:
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp dry mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix well and store in an air tight container.
I slit or scored the skin and applied the dry rub all over the shoulder. On the skin I tried to get it into the scoring and pack it as best as I could.
Then into the roasting pan and then into the oven at 12:00pm. I went to bed hoping the racoons wouldn't think that the oven was public property! Oven temp at that time was 258 degrees F