Hello All,
I have not used my smoker for over a month and I think it is time to fire it up again. Living in Minnesota it has been damn cold! We are having crazy warm temps of 40 degrees and it is giving me the itch to make some pulled pork sandwiches. Does anyone have any suggestions for meat prep (rubs/marinades) and smoke/cook times for the pork? Thanks for your help!
Rubs you can get in the recipe forum. Cook times will vary with temp. and if you have a stubborn butt or not. I have cooked 8 lb butts at 220-225* and they vary from 14 -22 hrs give or take. Cook by temp not time. You want an IT of 190 -200*, then FTC for a couple of hours.
You will be going along and the IT will be increasing at a steady pace. Then you will hit around 160* and it won't move for hours. This is the "stall" and it is when the meat is getting tender. Don"t panic and raise the temp., just let it cook.
I've been trying different things for pulled pork lately. I've injected the butt and rubbed it. I also really like the vaunted vinegar sauce to add in after it's pulled. Check out the recipe site and see what you think. I was told that it's really hard to mess up a pork butt and it's true. They are very forgiving. I've been having fun experimenting lately.
This weekend they are talking around 28 degrees but maybe just a hair warmer. This will be the warmest outside temp I have smoked in. The 2 other times I have used the smoker it did not get above 8 degrees. I made jerky both times and it turned out great. I was not able to get the smoker over 190 degrees and have hesitated to do anything else at this point. With the outside temp being a little warmer I am hoping to do a little better than that. If I can only get it to 200 degrees IT do you think that will be an issue?
Here is a link to the Recipe Site (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes). You will also find the cooking/smoking methods in the recipes. For pulled pork recipes look under the Pork section. Also this site has a variety of recipes.
Big T
The 190 or 200 cabinet temp is doable - will just take longer - in the case of the 190, much longer. The best thing to do with a butt, is to let it do what it wants to do and rest easy that it will turn out fine. Set the temp, and put the butt in. I currently reside in pulled pork country. Most you get around here is simple - salt and pepper and smoke - with sauce added after pulling or off the side. Most bbq joints don't use much of a rub if any and doubt if any use injection. I'd suggest to keep it simple for the first one, then add things on future smokes. Less to worry about. Salt, Pepper, and smoke will turn out a great butt. I will add one thing to what has already been said. Yes, cook to temperature is a good rule of thumb, but truly you should cook to tenderness. Butts seems to be the cut of meat with the most variables in cooking times. I've taken some butts off that seemed to be stuck at 185 and they pulled perfectly. But I did do a fork test for tenderness and checked to see how loose the bone was before removing from the smoker.
Big T, there is another solution to the temp in the tower if you're concerned about the ambient air temps preventing your Bradley from heating up like you would like for it to. Use your Bradley to put the smoke on that pork butt at 190-200 if that's all she will do for 4 hours and then simply move the butts into your house oven with a temp setting off 225 or so. Place them on a rack in a roasting plan and finish the cooking time there to an IT of 190-200. You're good to go.
Thanks for all the suggestions!! This is sort of a test run for me. My fiance graduates from Medic school this spring and she is thinking of having a small get together. I thought some pulled pork sandwiches fresh out of the smoker would be great but wanted to have at least one under my belt before I got into it.
Good luck Big T and let us know how it goes. If you get started and then have questions, don't hesitate to ask.
It is in the fridge ready to go in the smoker early Saturday. I decided to inject it with a marinade I found and I rubbed it with mustard and they a dry rub. I hope it turns out. It isn't the greatest looking butt that I have ever seen in the meat counter but I guess it will do. Next time I am going to go to a local meat locker. Didn't have time to get there this time around so I had to get one from the grocery.
It will taste great. Don't worry about how it looks. You're going to tear it up when it's done anyhow. Enjoy yourself.
BigT
Trust me if you follow the tips here, it'll taste fantastic. Try and post some pics if you can.
I did my first butt tonight and everyone said it was great, I'll post pics as soon as I get them down loaded from the camera. Did a 4 pounder, only feeding three people, and have some yummy leftovers.
Don
As promised here are the pics from my smoke yesterday.
1. Used Pepper, Rosemary & Thyme bisquettes and Sublime Swine rub
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/_MG_1060.jpg)
2. After 4 hours smoke, looking good, IT was 180.
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/_MG_1062.jpg)
3. Family was getting a little antsy from the smells coming from the garage so I pulled at 185, FTC for an hour and a half.
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/_MG_1063.jpg)
4. Served with a Spring Salad and Bacon Ranch Patatoe Salad from Hy-Vee, this one is sitting on a Hawaiian Sweet Sandwich Roll.
(http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/_MG_1064.jpg)
Don
Quote from: dman4505 on February 18, 2011, 06:30:23 AM2. After 4 hours smoke, looking good, IT was 180.
The IT was 180*F after only 4 hours??? They usually take a LOT longer than that. What was the cooking chamber temp?
oops fat fingers, the IT hit 180 at 6 hours, chamber temp held steady at around 225 per the door gauge.
Sorry about that I'm not the greatest typist in the world.
Don
just skimmed quick and missed it, how big was that butt?
3.92lbs., only had to feed 3 people, and we have leftovers
So technically it was half a butt
Total cook time including FTC was 7.5 hours
Don
Used Pepper, Rosemary & Thyme bisquettes
I saw those at Cabella's last time I was there. What did you think of them?
We like them I've used them on chicken and turkey this was first time on pork.
My wife gave it two thumbs up on the pork.
Don
That still seems like a really short cook time. I've done some that size and they take closer to 14 hours when I've done it. That looked like a pretty lean butt with no fat on it. Just curious what kind of cut it was to take that short of time for cooking.
Sure looks like it turned out really good.
Didn't save the wrapper so I'm not sure of the exact cut and you're correct there wasn't a whole lot of fat on it. It turned out fantastic, good flavor and done throughout.
Started it at 10am and it was 6pm when we started eating. I was figuring on longer myself, I need to get a second themometer to verify the chamber temp. I've read on here that the gauge on the door could be off a few degrees, it didn't vary much between 215-225. So it may have been hotter than I thought.
I'm going to try another here in a couple weeks I'll keep better notes on the process.
Don