First attempt at pulled pork and only my second time using my Kamado Joe Classic I.
Took a boneless pork shoulder, mustard base, rubbed, then sous vide at 165F for 24 hours. Into the fridge to chill for about another 24 hours. Took it out of the bag and rubbed it again. Then smoked over hickory in the Kamado Joe at 250F for 3 hours, with double indirect setup. Reached an internal temp of 160F.
For my first go at it, I’m pleased. It was super flavorful and great smoke. But it’s definitely drier than I was expecting it to be. Maybe I should only go for 2 hours in the smoker next time.
If anyone has any feedback or suggestion on why it turned out dry, would love to hear it. Thanks!
by Raethril
9 Comments
No need to get cute with a pork shoulder. Prolly dried out bc you cooked it for 24 hours. Just throw it on the kamado for the whole cook until it gets to temp.
The sous vide is a complete waste of time for this
Making it complicated. Smoke it to 203 and do t think twice
Looks good! What you could do to fix the dryness is inject a salt water brine into the meat. I get great results by mixing 1/4 cup salt to 1 cup water (I use a blender so it dissolves well. You could also heat the water stove top and stir it in to dissolve. Just wait for it to cool before injecting) for one 8-10lb pork butt. Not knocking the sous vide but I don’t think it’s super necessary for this, just smoke it from raw to 200ish degrees til it probes tender. Usually 10 hrs at 250 degrees.
I love my sous vide but sous vide for pulled pork is about Zoolander levels of mentally retarded.
Indirect at 275 until 195 internal and done
I love sous vide, and I bet it was moist and terrific.
One thing about using the BBQ however is you want that smoke flavor, and once you sous vide, it’s not going to accept smoke. The meat after about 125 just won’t accept smoke.
Sous vide 185 for 10-12 hours is better IMHO. Also IMHO, it’s either sous vide and HOT smoke for the outside to get a fake bark, or smoke the whole time low… to try to smoke after a 24 hour sous vide is overkill. Sous vide people always think lower temp is better but it’s not.
Edit: also curious if you rested it after the sous vide?
Did this on the weekend, came out perfect. I reduce the juices and add back in after pull, so much hetter
I’m wondering if this even takes on smoke? once meat reaches a certain temp it basically hits its smoke ceiling.
If you really wanted to do this you would do it in reverse and smoke the outside first to get the smoke flavor into the meat. Then finish it off in the water.