What is the reasoning behind taking pulled pork to a IT of 185 or 190? It would be considered well done at 170 right.
Thanks.
The fat renders out and makes it real tender ;D
If you try pulling it at 170 and then do another one and pull it at 185 - 190 you will see the difference for sure. It will not pull very easily at 170. Maybe that would be good for slicing. At 185+ it will just pull with ease almost melting off the bone.
For tough cuts of meat such as pork butt (not the loin or ham), and brisket they contain a lot of tough connective tissue (collagen). To make them tender you have to slow cook them, and slowly bring the internal temperature to around 185°F; some go higher. This method of cooking causes the connective tissue (collagen) to break down down; the tightly bond muscle fibers begin to push apart at around 160°F - at this point the muscle fibers are very dry. As you continue to cook, the collagen continues to break down, turning into gelatin. This gelatin coats the meat fibers giving the meat texture a sense of moisture.
If you try to cook at to high of a temperature, this process cannot occur. You can use temperature up to 325°F, but I prefer to stay at the lower temperatures that are mentions frequently on this board.
Also during this breakdown process as others have mentioned. As the connective tissues breakdown there is a stall period for the temperature rise. This stall period can last several hours where the temp will stay at around 160F then start to rise again. I like to take my butts to at least 195F to 200F.
I recently did a pork butt, intended for slicing not pulling, and took it off the heat at IT165. I could not have pulled it, I think, but it was fantastic as sliced pork (if you do this, cut across the grain, which is a bit hard to figure out in a butt, as there are different muscles involved that have different grain directions).
I will be posting a full writeup on this with pics later today, once I extract all the pics from my camera.
Habs has ya covered on the science of "why", and Meube is telling you good about the "stall"...
Don't freak out when temp stops climbing -- just be patient.
I cook mine with hickory at 225° until they reach 195° (no matter how long it takes).
Then I FTC for anywhere from 1-6 hours.
Bone falls right out, and the meat pulls like butter.
Thanks for all the info.