Brined Pork Butt for Pulled Pork

[Rtaylor522]

Brined a 9# BB for 18 hours....only strange thing was very outside layer turned slightly grey....must be the vinegar.  Most delicious BB I've ever made.  Crazy thing is the 9# butt was done in 9.5 hours cooking @ 250 on a #2D.  It is awesome though and I could live with these sped up cook times.

 

[BretJ]

Started with a 9.3# butt that was brined for 10 hours. Put it in the #2 analog at 2200 for an overnight smoke at 225 degrees. Was expecting to remove it at somewhere around 1600 for a 2 hour rest before serving at 1830. Was shooting for 195-200 degrees. Not sure why it took so long, but at 1745 I had to remove it at 185 degrees. After a 45 minute rest we pulled it. It was very, very moist. In all honesty, I hate it when the meat is so soft it's like pate'. This was close and if I had left it to cook to 195 degrees, it would have been meat "paste". I personally was very disappointed in the texture. I prefer the meat to have more "chew".

Saying that....everyone else loved it and had seconds and thirds. They (it was a church mens group) all told their wives afterwards it was the best pulled pork they had had in the Destin area.

Lesson learned: We are our own worse critic.

So here is the question, is it possible my thermometer is out of wack or was this particular chunk of pork just being difficult?

 

[old sarge]

is it possible my thermometer is out of wack - YES
or was this particular chunk of pork just being difficult - YES
I hope this answers your questions. I have a #3 PID controller. I still check with an instant read (thermoworks) when I get antsy. All is good. Also, you meat thermometer may have been in a fat pocket; fat melts and sort of disappears leaving your therm sitting in a empty space and the tip not in contact with meat, thus the low reading.. Nevertheless, if people eat and like, enjoy.

 

[BretJ]

is it possible my thermometer is out of wack - YES
or was this particular chunk of pork just being difficult - YES
I hope this answers your questions. I have a #3 PID controller. I still check with an instant read (thermoworks) when I get antsy. All is good. Also, you meat thermometer may have been in a fat pocket; fat melts and sort of disappears leaving your therm sitting in a empty space and the tip not in contact with meat, thus the low reading.. Nevertheless, if people eat and like, enjoy.

Good to know. Guess I will invest in an instant read thermometer to double check. Thanks for the insight!

 

[old sarge]

You are welcome.