Ok, so let the fun begin. I am charged with preparing some food for a party this weekend, so naturally I have decided to use the smoker. My wife is graduating from college (finally! two incomes might be on the horizon!) and we're having a small get together with roughly 30 people. It will be more of a lunch/snack type setting, so we don't need massive amounts of food. Went to Sam's because i heard their prices were good and it seems like some others on here trust them. Picked up a 3 pack of bbr's and a twin pack of boston butts. I will be making all three slabs of ribs on Saturday morning and will have plenty of time for the 3pm start. My wife has suggested there will be plenty of food and that I only need to make one of the butts which will be pulled and made into sandwiches. The other will get platic wrapped and ziplocked and into the freezer.
So here's where you guys come in. This is my first pulled pork and I've been readin plenty on here to feel confident, but am open to any suggestions. I believe I will use Iceman's Oink'r rub and will put that on the night before cooking. I plan to smoke this a couple days in advance, wrap in a couple layers of foil, refridgerate, then reheat in the oven on Saturday.
My major questions at this point:
Should I brine it first and if so does anyone have any suggestions?
What temp should I pull it at if I plan to reheat later?
Should I still FTC after cooking the first time?
Feel free to shoot holes in any other parts of this plan as well. Thanks for the help.
A couple of pointers on to brine or not ...
IF your pork is "enhanced" (i.e., contains x% of a solution ...) then DO NOT brine - it's been shot with salt water +. If you have plain naked un-enhanced pork then I like brine - 8 oz salt + 16 oz molasses per gallon of brine solution for 12-14 hours for large cuts like a butt. You need to be able to keep the meat completely submerged and refrigerated while in the brine. This can be done in a cooler using ice for part of the water and added ice packs or frozen jugs of water .
Second if you do brine then your rub should be salt free, and little sugar - you've already taken care of those with the brine.
With two butts plus ribs to tackle I would suggest that unless you are brine experienced keep it simple - skip the brine for now and focus on good pork and having a whole lot of fun!
Yes you still want to FTC the butt to let the juices redistribute. You can pull the butt and put it in a crock pot and fridge until ready to reheat. then put a splash of Apple Juice in the bottom and reheat. Will be just as good as right out of the smoker, well as close as you can get. I would suggest adding some mooink balls to the lineup as they are really easy to do and they go over really well.
I would do both butts in advance, pull and vacuum seal. You never know if you might need to break out the 2nd one... (or send home samplers)
Butts freeze Ok, but take days to thaw. I'd rather do the work on the front end, and freeze the 'ready to eat'.
Can't go wrong with Iceman's rub. Some good stuff.
No brine on a butt from Sam's!
Do rub it a cpl days inadvance (can't hurt)
Like 10.5 said cook to 192* or so and FTC.
After FTC, do a re-wrap for visit to fridge.
Take some apple juice and pour into the FTC foil and mix the juice
with left over FTC juice and save that for the re-warm.
Again, Congrats to Wife and You!
When me and my wife got married she was missing one semester having her degree.
Four kids later she decides to go back to school.
Switched majors which took two years to Graduate.
She worked 31 days and said she had had enough. ;D
But she does have it to fall back on if she has to.
Ok, so the answer to one question lead to another.....
Should I pull the pork then refridgerate or leave it whole and reheat then pull? It seems like both ways have been done.
First, congrats again db.
I think the guys have ya pretty much covered. Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should not be brined.
I never trust a butt. Cooking times can vary quite a bit. Many have said, and I agree, pulling it and putting it in the fridge overnight can enhance (there's that word again) the flavor.
The ribs? 6-7 hours. And then, to sauce or not.
How about some ABTs? Good on the side. Smoked nuts are good too - a little cayenne in there.
Enjoy yourself. Sure, easy for me to say :D
I would pull it while it is hot... (let rest in FTC for a couple hours to let it 'get happy')
You're already tired, dirty, smokey, covered in pork fat, possibly drunk. Get it done and wash/pitch the pans!
Good luck! MrsSTC went back for her Master's a couple years ago. A lot of work, but she was happy to get it over and done with. Congrats to MrsDB!
Well, it would be going in the fridge for two nights, but I wouldn't think that would make a big difference.
Yeah, 6-7 hours is exactly what iwas planning on for the ribs. Usually a single slab takes me about 5.5 hours, so I'm adding a little time for the extra load.
Not sure what ABTs are, little help?
squirt, what pans are you referring to? Just using a larger foil pan underneath foil moisture/drippings? I haven't typically done this in the past but could definitely get that set up if it would help.
I do my 'pulling' in a big foil roaster pan. (2 butts will fill a full steam time size pan) Just easier to catch the mess/drippings when you are tearing it apart.
Some put a foil pan under the butts while they cook, some don't.
Thanks to all for the congrats. CRG, I hope it lasts more than 31 days, that wouldn't even cover teh student loans that I will be inheriting :o
Quote from: squirtthecat on May 04, 2010, 08:56:05 AM
I do my 'pulling' in a big foil roaster pan. (2 butts will fill a full steam time size pan) Just easier to catch the mess/drippings when you are tearing it apart.
Some put a foil pan under the butts while they cook, some don't.
Got ya. We have some nice Pyrex pans that I was going to use since they have lids and could be placed in the oven if needed (although maybe crockpot would be better).
I may need something bigger than the standard water bowl during cooking so I won't have to keep opening and adding water every few hours.
Definitely..
Walmart has foil 'cake' pans that are 9x13x2.5". Sometimes they are blue or red colored. They fit great, and will hold enough water that you won't have to worry about it. (at least not in the middle of the night)
I put a pan, half full of warm beer, on the rack below the rack the meat is on and collect the drippins. Then go to bed.
In the morn refill the pan with some more beer and wait for the butt to tell when its done.
When you do the FTC put the pan in the fridge to let the fat become solid, discard the fat and you have some killer juice you can add back to the pork.
Just looking at the packages, it looks like one side of the meat has a relatively layer of fat on it. Should I trim this off before cooking or put that side up in the smoker?
I trim it down to an 1/8"
The butt has plenty of fat in it allready.
I don't trim them.
I have enough work to do.
;D
Personal choice on trimming.
If you do, you get a butt with a lot of usable bark to mix back in with the pulled part.
If you don't, you may lose some of the bark if it is too fatty to mix back with the pulled part.
I try not to mix fat back into my pulled meat.
Others may differ.
Congrats to your wife. Four years ago Mrs Scud decided at 49 to go back for another Masters - turned out she essentially got 2 more Masters. Got her a good job now and making more than I am at 32 years of doing this. Bad thing is that she has the attitude to go with the 3 Masters. Wish she was making enough I could quit and stay home and cook and sell bbq! But then again, I probably lost both big stickburners in our floods - the water has not receded where they had been sitting. Funny thing is that I am the one that wants to go back to school - but she has not let me pull the trigger on it - then she slides in after telling me for almost 30 years - no way, no how is she going back to school?
No brine - no need - the shoulder has plenty of fat and collagen for you to have a moist, tender, succulent result. Trimming - make it simple for yourself. No need to, but knock yourself out if you want to. I'd also cook both, as it won't take as long or cost as much to do 2 concurrently as it would 2 back to back. I usually mix the fat into the pulled meat, but make sure it is small pieces. The fat is expected around here. Or you can leave it out. If you do, take time to cut the bark off and mix it in. If you don't you will be losing lots of smokey goodness. Frig for two days is a good thing. All that meat, all those juices and all the smokiness meet one another, get comfortable with one another and really get intimate with one another before it reaches you plate. Pulled pork almost always tastes better the day after.
ABT's are Atomic Buffalo Turds. Cored and stuffed fresh jalapeno, wrapped in bacon and smoked until done. Killer appetizer. There are many appetizers - ABT, Moinkballs, Diablos, Fatties, Bacon Explosions, bacon wrapped chicken tenders, etc.... That are great additions to meals
Not to hijack but Caney them big stic burners should just need some cleaning out and re seasoning and you should be back in business.
Thanks Caney. I hope there is no more school in either of our futures, but we have a long way to go. I don't think she'll be passing up my income, but only because she's going to be a teached, not because I make THAT much.
It sounds like I've gotten a concensus on everything except the reheating method. In the oven or in a crockpot? And do I need to add some liquid to it when I reheat?
Sorry for the overload of questions. Just trying to avoid all the little mistakes along the way.
I would reheat in the crock pot with the juices from when the pork was cookin.
Quote from: ArnieM on May 04, 2010, 08:44:34 AM
First, congrats again db.
I think the guys have ya pretty much covered. Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should not be brined.
I never trust a butt. Cooking times can vary quite a bit. Many have said, and I agree, pulling it and putting it in the fridge overnight can enhance (there's that word again) the flavor.
The ribs? 6-7 hours. And then, to sauce or not.
How about some ABTs? Good on the side. Smoked nuts are good too - a little cayenne in there.
Enjoy yourself. Sure, easy for me to say :D
Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should stay in the display case!!! :)
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on May 04, 2010, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: ArnieM on May 04, 2010, 08:44:34 AM
First, congrats again db.
I think the guys have ya pretty much covered. Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should not be brined.
I never trust a butt. Cooking times can vary quite a bit. Many have said, and I agree, pulling it and putting it in the fridge overnight can enhance (there's that word again) the flavor.
The ribs? 6-7 hours. And then, to sauce or not.
How about some ABTs? Good on the side. Smoked nuts are good too - a little cayenne in there.
Enjoy yourself. Sure, easy for me to say :D
Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should stay in the display case!!! :)
;D ;D ;D ;D now that's funny!
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on May 04, 2010, 01:24:13 PM
Any pork that says "Enhanced" or "Always tender" should stay in the display case!!! :)
I agree 100% ! Enhanced pork (and poultry too) is one of the things (or is that two) that make me crazy. Words to watch for - "Always Tender", "Moist and Tender", "Always Moist", "Tender 'n Juicy", "Guaranteed Tender", or anything similar. When you see these stay away.
We're off and running! Did a little trimming last night and got these rubbed, wrapped, and taking a nap in the fridge until late tonight. I've decided to do both of them, that way I can feel free to eat a little of it myself. The plan is to put it in late tonight and have it come out around lunch time on Thursday. We'll have to wait and see if the meat cares about my plan.
Here is the before shot. Got the Iceman rub made already. I didn't have a means of grinding the red pepper flakes, so I tried it with just adding the flakes.
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db24b3127ccefa5e023f682200000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
Here is one wrapped and one not wrapped yet.
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db24b3127ccefa5e1906288e00000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
Looking delish !
Those are goin to be gooooood.
I like your idea, 1 for me and 1 for the party. :D
I think I will put them both on the same rack if they fit. That would save me from needing to rotate. Anybody see any problems with doing that? It will also help to keep the temps similar on the two. I just got my Maverick and it's already not enough because I need to monitor both pieces of meat and the CT. What I will most likely do is monitor the piece that looks considerably smaller and the CT until morning, then when the smaller piece gets in the neighborhood of being close I will stick the second probe into the other piece so Ican monitor both.
The other issue I just realized was my lack of bubba pucks. I've always had shorter smokes to where I could open the door and remove the last few pucks before they smolder. I plan on this going overnight, so I may be getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning just to slide a few pucks.
You could always start early in the morning go to bed and get up normal time and slide the last pucks. That's what I usually do
You might still want to rotate the rack front to back, since the back of the box is hotter than the front.
Quote from: FLBentRider on May 05, 2010, 09:29:10 AM
You might still want to rotate the rack front to back, since the back of the box is hotter than the front.
Yeah, I planned on that, I was just thinking if there were two racks the bottom rack would get considerably more heat and smoke. This way the two should be even, even if they're not individually.
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on May 05, 2010, 08:28:29 AM
You could always start early in the morning go to bed and get up normal time and slide the last pucks. That's what I usually do
I could also add a little extra time to the smoke if I wanted a little extra sleep.
Meat just went in at 11pm CT. By the time I got the Mav wires situated and and the door closed I was at 96F in the cabinet. The meat temp was at 50F. I've got 5 hours of smoke ready alternating 2 hickory to 1 apple. I'm off to try and get some sleep and will be checking up on it a the end of the smoke stage, about 4am. Till then I will leave the slider at max and would be surprised if it would manage to get over 220F in the next 5 hours anyway. I'm planning on keeping it around 210F when I can.
It will be great db.
Quote from: db14 on May 05, 2010, 09:20:21 PM
Meat just went in at 11pm CT. By the time I got the Mav wires situated and and the door closed I was at 96F in the cabinet. The meat temp was at 50F. I've got 5 hours of smoke ready alternating 2 hickory to 1 apple. I'm off to try and get some sleep and will be checking up on it a the end of the smoke stage, about 4am. Till then I will leave the slider at max and would be surprised if it would manage to get over 220F in the next 5 hours anyway. I'm planning on keeping it around 210F when I can.
I hope you can sleep. When I put my butt on last weekend at 1am I was up every 2 hours checking on it. I guess is't a subconsious thing....
I think you're on track... it's going to be great.
Yeah, I thought I was on track too. After that first fours hours got up and checked it and the IT was only at 100F and the CT was at 130ish. Thought that was low for both, but there was a lot of meat and a lot of water. I added a couple more hours of smoke since the temps were still so low. Just went out again and after 7.5 hours the temp was at 100 and the CT hadn't changed much. I finally knew something was up and figured out that the power cord between the cabinet and the SG, although it looked plugged in, was slightly unplugged and I was getting no power to the heating element. I've got it going now, but I hope things didn't get ruined. Is the meat still safe after being at that low of a temp for that long? If so, I essentially just cold smoked it, right? How will that effect the tasted/bark and should add more smoke now that the heat is going? I gave it a lot of smoke already and don't want it to be overbearing either. Not happy. I wish that little light was easier to see.
I know the gov't in all their wisdom would start to hyper-ventilate, turn purple, and their eyes rotate in their sockets, but your meat is fine. Two things on your side - the smoke and the fact that you will probably be cooking this baby to 195 or above. Lets put it this way. People pay big money in the white linen steakhouses of the world for steaks that have gone through the controlled putrification commonly called dry aging ----- and have those steaks rare or at least well less than the 165 deg min encouraged by the guvmint ----- and don't seem to mind or die. My dad's side of the family are ranchers in the Hill Country of Texas. My grandmother lived to be 95, my great grandmother 101, my great great grandmother 98 or 101 (there is some debate), my great great great grandmother 96. When they slaughtered a calf (which was frequent), did it get eaten all at one sitting - no, nor did they have refrigeration or ice. They didn't die eating meat that had been left out for a few days. Neither did the men - Grandfather 99 - old age, great grandfather - died relatively early probably with cancer, great great grandfather - don't know how he died but in 80's, great great great grandfather sheriff died in a shoot out. I and a couple of my friends still leave butter and cheese out for days. Sure tastes better that way than cold from the frig.
But then again take note of who you are getting advice from. My CB handle in the 70's was given to me by a friend. It was Cow Patty Daddy - after picking up a sandwich I accidently dropped on a cow patty while quail hunting and then picking it up and eating it and made him turn green. But then again I have only had stomach problems 3 times in my personally cognizant history - once at 7 my dad and I had the flu together and tried to outdo one another in....uhhh.....uhhhh..... projectile presentation of pea soup. Once on our first cruise to Alaska when I went crazy with all that food - but no throne duty, and once on a Nile cruise I got weazy - but no throne duty. All those gallons of jalapenos consumed throughout my life musta paid off!!!!!
We're now 3 hours in with the heating element actually on and the CT is 204F and the IT is 146F. We're getting somewhere now. I'll need to rotate soon and start thinking about when I want to put the other probe into the second piece of meat instead of monitoring CT.
Wear some gloves, I found out the hard way those things stay hot.
Well, we're about 6 hours in and it appears that one is stalling already while the other one tries to catch up. The smaller one has been at 165F for a while now and the big one has climbed up to about 150F. It's gained about 10 degrees on the smaller on in about the last hour or so. I went ahead and put the probe in the other piece btw.
So here are the pics from the cooking. The little one got done after about 11 hours (after I got the heat on). The big one is at 189F right now. I FTC'd the little one for two hours before pulling it. It had a decent amount of fat in it surprisingly. The meat was moist and tasted pretty good though. We'll see how the second one turns out.
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db27b3127ccefa582a6d801100000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db27b3127ccefa580b6dc09900000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db27b3127ccefa59ec38a06b00000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db27b3127ccefa599425217a00000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0db27b3127ccefa5838b701f200000030O00AZuXLZq1bMmQPbz4U/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
Nice looking pig!
That looks great.
I assume it tasted as good as it looked.
Looks superb! Great work. Bet it taste great too.
Now that came out nice.
Yeah, the taste was good, although it seemed to me like the flavor wasn't as strong in the center. I'm think since all of the smoke hit it when the heating element was off that maybe the smoke didn't permeate into the meat as well. Just a guess but it makes sense to me. Overall, not bad for a first go and considering the circumstances.
With that thick a cut of meat, it won't.
The trick is to chop up the bark and mix it in with the pork.
It's even better the next day.
Sounds like you had a happy ending!
Ditto on FLBR... It's even tastier the next day.
Good lookin pile of pork db.
The bark looks awesome.
Like whats already been said the flavor is better the next day.
I've got 2 butts I'm puttin in the smoker tonight yankin out tomarrow, pullin, throw in the crock pot and addin the juice I will be collecting durin the cook and warm up for the party on Sun.
Got a brisket goin on too.
I did mix in the bark, or at least the pieces I didn't eat myself while trimming. The bark on the top of the meat was a little thin in spots, almost like a skin, but it seemed ok. It's all mixed together and in the fridge. There are 2 of those 13x9's full of pork and there would be more if I wasn't so picky when it comes to fat. I discarded quite a bit since I knew there would be plenty.
I also saved some the the drippings to possibly use for the reheat, but it looks like pure grease, kind of orange-ish. Is that normal?
I also got some positive comments from the wife who said "I'm really glad you decided to cook both of them." I also got her to try some after she said she doesn't like pork like that and would not eat it. Her response? "That's pretty good, I might eat some of that." I'll call that a step in the right direction. Now if I can only get her to eat ribs :-\
Quote from: db14 on May 07, 2010, 06:47:27 AM
I did mix in the bark, or at least the pieces I didn't eat myself while trimming. The bark on the top of the meat was a little thin in spots, almost like a skin, but it seemed ok. It's all mixed together and in the fridge. There are 2 of those 13x9's full of pork and there would be more if I wasn't so picky when it comes to fat. I discarded quite a bit since I knew there would be plenty.
I also saved some the the drippings to possibly use for the reheat, but it looks like pure grease, kind of orange-ish. Is that normal?
Put the drippins in the fridge, the fat (kind of orange-ish) will become solid, discard the solid stuff, what you have left is some dark very flavorfull pork juices.