Sun Jul 21 Session pulled pork
https://share.fireboard.io/310982
Not as tender as I would like. I used the probe poke test. I used a double indirect setup. At 170f I put it in a foil boat and increased temp to 330f as per smoking dad bbq vids on YouTube
We are hungry at 8:30 I pulled it off to rest.
Any tips? I’m wondering if my pork shoulder was too small. Also there was a bone and because it was so small I had to lay the fat cap sideways
by SpecializedMok
6 Comments
The probe test is the only real way to tell if the pork is done. Take an instant read thermometer and poke the meat in several places. It should go in with almost no resistance. Like poking room temperature butter. If it doesn’t do that, it won’t be as tender as you want.
For timing, I have switched to starting either very early or just doing overnight. It’s too hard to guarantee hitting dinner time otherwise. When my cook is done, I just wrap it and put it in a cooler with towels. You can keep it at 150F+ for many hours that way. Shred before serving and you’ll always make dinner time.
You can’t really go off of time or temperature. Each one will be different. I’ve taken shoulders off at 200F, others weren’t ready until 206F. Usually it’s ready somewhere in between, but probing is the only way.
Pro tip, allow at minimum 12 hours for a smoke so you don’t get hungry and pull it off before it’s done. If it finishes earlier, you have a couple of extra hours to rest it, which will only help.
I wrap them. I didn’t like the foil boat method. I get it moist and juicy and it cooks quicker.
Just because it is small doesn’t guarantee it will cook faster. I recently cooked a 6lb bone in shoulder at 275-300 (wrapping at 170) and it took about 9 hrs to get to probe tender around 205 internal
Once I pull around 170F and double wrap, I add apple cider vinegar and put in oven with a probe until 200-204.
Something went wrong and I really don’t know what it could have been. It shouldn’t have taken 8.5 hours to do a 5lb pork butt at 300f.
I made a 7.75 pound one yesterday cooking between 280-325 F and it was off the grill resting at the 7 hour mark. And as much as people will swear that you can’t go off of time at all, that is a consistent result for me. Almost always roughly 1 hour per pound and it comes out probe tender.