My first attempt at Pulled Pork was an unqualified success. The resulting meat was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. It was the best thing I have made in my smoker so far. Each thing I have smoked to date (ribs three times and a whole chicken), requires future modification. This recipe, however, is perfect. I can’t think of what I would do to improve it.
I started with a bone-in pork shoulder weighing in at 9 lb, 1.75 oz. I bought it at my local butcher. I’m still debating if this place is going to be my go-to meat supplier, or if I need to look into a Costco membership.
I made up a batch of DM’s pork brine Friday night. I heated the ingredients thru, but didn’t boil it. I didn’t add the InstaCure, since I couldn’t find any. I adjusted the salt content to just over 1 cup. I put the brine into my brining bucket and placed it in the fridge to cool.
On Saturday, I rinsed the meat and placed it into the brine at just before noon. I used a marble pestle to weigh down the meat, so it didn’t float in the brine.
I took the meat out of the brine just before midnight, for 12 hours in the brine. I rinsed it and patted dry with paper towels. During the brining process, the meat gained a little over an ounce in weight. I coated the shoulder in yellow mustard and Famous Dave’s Rib Rub. It was difficult to get the rub onto the sides of the piece of meat, so I have to work on that process. Next time, I’ll cover the sides first, then do the main top and bottom. I found a good place to insert the thermometer probe away from the bone. I put the meat into the smoker at almost exactly midnight, closed the door, and set the temperature for 225 degrees. I used 6 1/8 ounces of Hickory from Smokinlicious. It was in the low 20s at that time, but I was confident the smoke would proceed well despite this.
I recorded the following times and temperatures:
6:00 151 degrees
10:00 160 degrees
12:00 168 degrees
13:40 176 degrees
15:15 185 degrees
16:30 190.5 degrees
I pulled the meat out at 16.5 hours. It smelled heavenly. I tested the meat with a hand-held thermometer, and read varying temps at different places on the shoulder. Some of them were higher than 200 degrees. I double wrapped it in HD foil and placed in an old Igloo Playmate cooler. It fit like a glove. I placed an old towel on top of the wrapped meat. This was now about 4:45pm Sunday. Perfect timing. My plan was to let it rest until 6:00pm and serve.
Frankly, we couldn’t wait. At just past 5:30, we broke into the cooler and pulled out the shoulder. I placed the unwrapped meat into a disposable aluminum pan and dug in with my Bear Claws. The meat came away from the shoulder bone easily. Everyone present was grabbing meat from the pan while I was still shredding. It was obvious at this point that the meal was going to be a resounding success. Needless to say, we all ate to the point of pain. We tried different BBQ sauces (we had 3 choices), and settled on no sauce or Sweet Baby Ray’s.
After dinner, I vacuum sealed five one-pound servings, and saved some for dinner in a couple days. We will be making pulled pork again soon. No need to change anything.
I started with a bone-in pork shoulder weighing in at 9 lb, 1.75 oz. I bought it at my local butcher. I’m still debating if this place is going to be my go-to meat supplier, or if I need to look into a Costco membership.
I made up a batch of DM’s pork brine Friday night. I heated the ingredients thru, but didn’t boil it. I didn’t add the InstaCure, since I couldn’t find any. I adjusted the salt content to just over 1 cup. I put the brine into my brining bucket and placed it in the fridge to cool.
On Saturday, I rinsed the meat and placed it into the brine at just before noon. I used a marble pestle to weigh down the meat, so it didn’t float in the brine.
I took the meat out of the brine just before midnight, for 12 hours in the brine. I rinsed it and patted dry with paper towels. During the brining process, the meat gained a little over an ounce in weight. I coated the shoulder in yellow mustard and Famous Dave’s Rib Rub. It was difficult to get the rub onto the sides of the piece of meat, so I have to work on that process. Next time, I’ll cover the sides first, then do the main top and bottom. I found a good place to insert the thermometer probe away from the bone. I put the meat into the smoker at almost exactly midnight, closed the door, and set the temperature for 225 degrees. I used 6 1/8 ounces of Hickory from Smokinlicious. It was in the low 20s at that time, but I was confident the smoke would proceed well despite this.
I recorded the following times and temperatures:
6:00 151 degrees
10:00 160 degrees
12:00 168 degrees
13:40 176 degrees
15:15 185 degrees
16:30 190.5 degrees
I pulled the meat out at 16.5 hours. It smelled heavenly. I tested the meat with a hand-held thermometer, and read varying temps at different places on the shoulder. Some of them were higher than 200 degrees. I double wrapped it in HD foil and placed in an old Igloo Playmate cooler. It fit like a glove. I placed an old towel on top of the wrapped meat. This was now about 4:45pm Sunday. Perfect timing. My plan was to let it rest until 6:00pm and serve.
Frankly, we couldn’t wait. At just past 5:30, we broke into the cooler and pulled out the shoulder. I placed the unwrapped meat into a disposable aluminum pan and dug in with my Bear Claws. The meat came away from the shoulder bone easily. Everyone present was grabbing meat from the pan while I was still shredding. It was obvious at this point that the meal was going to be a resounding success. Needless to say, we all ate to the point of pain. We tried different BBQ sauces (we had 3 choices), and settled on no sauce or Sweet Baby Ray’s.
After dinner, I vacuum sealed five one-pound servings, and saved some for dinner in a couple days. We will be making pulled pork again soon. No need to change anything.
