Author Topic: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner  (Read 19104 times)

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Offline Hub

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BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« Reply #-1 on: January 10, 2013, 08:00:33 AM »
BASIC Pulled Pork for the Beginner
By
Gordon Hubbell, Ph.B.



If there is a “universal” barbeque food, this treatment of pork roast has to be it.  The pulled pork sandwich can be found just about everywhere in the good ol’ USA and the regional variations are extremely creative and mostly delicious.  In the southeast you’ll have it with a spicy vinegar sauce topped with some ground up slaw and there’ll be hushpuppies on the side.  In the midwest and west it’ll have a sweet red sauce and the slaw will be on the side (usually beans, too).  A lot of diners and dives that don’t specialize in barbeque will still offer a pulled pork sandwich, anyway!  Pulled pork is the barbeque staple.

Making pulled pork (you don’t always have to put it in a sandwich and you don’t have to pull it – you can slice it or chop it) is relatively easy, too.  The meat is usually one of the less expensive cuts per pound at the store and the key to success is keeping it moist and having patience enough to let it get to the right state of molecular construction before you eat it.

Like my other “BASIC” recipes this one will get you a mess of good pulled pork and show you the ropes.  More importantly, you can build on it as you do your next cook and “tweak” the recipe and approach to totally suit your taste and equipment.  That’s the fun of barbeque, anyway:  “Recipes” are really “approaches” and you only need to know the BASICS before you get into full creative mode.

Ingredients You’ll Need

7-10 lb. Boston Butt Pork Roast or Shoulder Roast
Apple Juice
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Turbinado Sugar
Paprika

Tools You’ll Need

Cooker capable of continued “low and slow” temps (225-265 degrees)
Heavy Aluminum Foil
Insertable Thermometer (Maverick or Thermapen)
Insulated Gloves (recommended)
Meat Injector (recommended)

Some Things Its Nice To Know About

A pork “butt” (the cut most often used for pulled pork) isn’t from the posterior of the critter, it’s from up front around the leg quarter.  Some will come with a bone in them, others without depending on how the butcher decided to carve it.  I like the bone-in because the meat that surrounds the bone is spectacularly moist and flavorful.  There is also a long, round chunk in a butt that resembles the loin in texture and is called the “money muscle” in barbeque contesting because of its uniformity (contesters usually slice it into medallions and make it pretty).

In some parts of the country a related cut called the “shoulder” might also be called a fresh ham.  It isn’t a ham, though.  You can “ham it up” but that’s another recipe.

The reason these cuts of the porker are best for pulled pork is their makeup and texture.  They have a relatively high fat content (read that “flavor”) and some connective tissue as well.  The fat and connective tissue break down over a long cook and contributes moisture and flavor.  Also, the meat itself will “break down” and begin to fall apart as the temperature increases.  More expensive cuts like loins don’t perform well for pulled pork because they are too lean (they get dry over long cooks) and the meat won’t “smush” (scientific term) easily and may even get tough over a long, slow cook.

When a butt or shoulder is properly cooked (for this approach, anyway) much of the very outside layer of the meat (about the outer one-eighth inch) will dry slightly and harden into what is called the “bark”.  When the inside is nice and moist, a sliver of pulled pork with some bark on it as well as the moist, sweet interior meat is one of life’s peak eating experiences! 

Preparation and Cooking

Rub (optional but very highly recommended)*

Don’t waste a lot of time trying to trim fat since most of it will cook out or into the meat, anyway.  Just rinse the roast and give it a good medium coat of rub made as follows:

¼ Cup Turbinado Sugar (you can use regular or “light brown” if you can’t find this at your store)
¼ Cup Kosher Salt
¼ Cup Paprika
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Fresh Ground (coarse) Black Pepper
(stir all ingredients together thoroughly before applying to meat)

*If you have a favorite rub for pork, use it instead of this mix.  I’m a fan of Smokin’ Guns Hot.

Injection (optional but very highly recommended)*

Combine 1 Cup Apple Juice with 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder and 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt and stir thoroughly until mixture is free of lumps.

Using a food injector syringe (a few bucks will get you a plastic “turkey” injector at Wal Mart or you can invest in a chef-quality one for about two sawbucks). Inject 3-4 oz. in a series of 1 oz. “shots” deep into the core of the roast.  Then use the rest for small shallow injections spaced fairly closely about 1-2 inches deep all over the surface.  The purpose of the injection is to promote even more moisture in the meat (think of it as a “goodness” insurance policy).  The apple juice compliments pork well and the little bit of added garlic and salt won’t even be noticed – they’ll blend in and promote the savory flavor of the meat.

*I love Butcher’s Pork Injection (a commercial product) but I mix it half strength (twice as much water).  There are other commercial injections you can try, too.

Cooking . . .

Have your cooker fired up and ready and holding around 235-250 degrees.  Place the roast on the grid, close the lid and find something else to do for around four hours.  Because this is a heavy, dense cut of meat you can use a pretty heavy smoke environment if you wish without worrying about over-smoking.

Starting in about the fifth hour, measure the internal temperature in the middle of the meat.  If it is below 140-150 degrees, just keep on cooking and checking from time to time.

When the core IT (internal temperature) reaches 140-150 degrees, remove the hunk from the cooker and double wrap it in heavy aluminum foil.  Put it back in the cooker and continue to cook it until the IT reaches 190-195 degrees.  The time necessary for this can be unpredictable but the foil will help hold in moisture and avoid the “stall” of IT that often occurs caused by moisture evaporating from the meat.

When the IT reaches 195 degrees remove the meat from the cooker but leave it in the foil.  Let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes (an hour is preferable) to redistribute juices.

Serving

What you’ve got now is a “so tender it falls apart” pork roast that is NOT overcooked (mushy) and that has wonderful moisture and flavor.  There’s not a lot left to do except the final discarding of any remaining fat chunks and the bone (if it had one to start with, of course).  You can “pull” it using two forks scraped across the meat in opposite directions, or you can slice it, or you can chop it with a cleaver or two.  I like pulling it because you can build piles of meat that have tangy bark pieces mixed in or you can separate the “barky” bits by themselves if you like.

Almost all barbeque sauces go well with pork like this but I recommend serving them on the side.  The meat won’t need a lot of sauce and adding sauce directly to it can make a somewhat soupy mixture if you aren’t careful.  Having some sauce warmed up and available “on the side” lets everyone do their own thing or go “without”.  I often just top mine with a few tablespoons of the pan drippings (the liquid left in the bottom of the foil) and another shake of rub – try it!

Final Notes and Thoughts

1.   If your cooker can’t do well-controlled “low and slow” you can do most of this cook in the oven!  To instill some smokiness, use wood chips or chunks or whatever you’ve got to create a smoky fire on your grill and let the meat “bathe” in it for an hour or so.  Then, move it to the oven.
2.   There are lots of really good pork roast recipes that don’t use foil (sometimes called the “Texas Crutch”).  The foiling helps with moisture and usually totally eliminates temperature stall.  If you elect not to foil, moisture level will be much less predictable.
3.   Due to variations in the meat itself (size, density, temperature) and the capabilities of many different types and brands of cookers, there is no reliable time-to-temperature (how long will it take to cook a 9 lb. butt?) table that you can use to predict when your pork should start and when it will finish.  You will develop a “feel” for this based on experience.  Sorry!  That’s one of the barbeque facts of life nobody ever dwells on.  Until you develop this “feel” work well ahead (12 hours won’t hurt).  An “un-pulled” roast will stay hot covered in foil and kitchen towels inside an empty cooler for 4-5 hours.  Also, pulled pork re-heats very well by placing small batches in a foil pack and heating in the oven at 325 until steamy.  Unlike chicken it will even warm well in a microwave if that’s all you’ve got.

Caveat:  This is not a competition recipe (although it contains some elements of one) and is not posted as an ideal or perfected method.  Other good and acceptable methods exist to produce excellent pork.  Rather, this is a proven basic approach that can be adapted to many different types of cookers and tastes for the finished product.      
« Last Edit: March 03, 2020, 05:27:58 AM by Hub »
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Offline TentHunteR

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Re: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« on: January 10, 2013, 01:10:15 PM »
For reference, here's a pic of a whole shoulder. I had the butcher cut it in half to separate the Butt end from the Picnic (shank) end that Hub described.
 
The Picnic is on the left, the Butt is on the right.

Note: these still have the skin on.

For large cooks I get a better price buying whole shoulders by the 50 lb case. Like Hub mentioned, although the Butt is most often used, either can be used for pulled pork, and I guarantee, when they're done and pulled you cannot tell any difference.  You will however,  because of the bone structure, get a little better yield from a butt.

The Picnic ends are what I recently used to make the Old-School Picnic Hams

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Offline CaptJack

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Re: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2013, 01:40:35 PM »
Hub, to know
we are just starting to see pulled pork in a few chain BBQ restaurants in Houston.
But it's not a staple of Texas BBQ

Classic Texas BBQ is
brisket - low & slow in traditional pit smokers (usually brick, illegal in most cities now, won't pass fire code)
St.Louis cut spare ribs
German-Texas sausage. usually at least 75% beef
BBQ'd chicken, sometimes, in some of the places. but not usually in any of the true BBQ joints that just sell Q but don't have tables to eat at.
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Offline Hub

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Re: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2013, 02:23:22 PM »
Hub, to know
we are just starting to see pulled pork in a few chain BBQ restaurants in Houston.
But it's not a staple of Texas BBQ

Classic Texas BBQ is
brisket - low & slow in traditional pit smokers (usually brick, illegal in most cities now, won't pass fire code)
St.Louis cut spare ribs
German-Texas sausage. usually at least 75% beef
BBQ'd chicken, sometimes, in some of the places. but not usually in any of the true BBQ joints that just sell Q but don't have tables to eat at.

Don't forget beef ribs!  I grew up in the Southwest and still love good beef ribs when I can get them.  County Line in Austin used to make a fine one.

Hub
Committed Pellethead & BBQ Writer
KCBS MCBJ & CTC
Ph.B.
Memphis Advantage
NOS American-made Traeger 075
Weber Performer
NG Weber Spirit (warming oven)
PBC
NO SMOKE DETECTOR IN MY OUTDOOR KITCHEN

Offline CaptJack

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Re: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2013, 04:25:18 PM »
Hub I don't think there is a BBQ joint in all of Houston that serves beef ribs?

BUT!! - Smitty's in Lockhart does low&slow prime rib
until it sells out, before noon
« Last Edit: January 10, 2013, 04:27:20 PM by CaptJack »
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Offline LOOPERDOLLY

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Re: BASIC PULLED PORK for the Beginner
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2014, 12:13:12 PM »
Your photo has peaked my curiosity.  I'm interested to learn the salient points of "skin on" pork shoulder. I've only seen them smoked low and slow with out the skin.  Does the skin become the bark? Is it still yummy? Any changes in prep or cooking recommended when the shoulder is skin on?

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