OK... Time to Do Some Pulled Pork...

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With the success of my first smoke with Baby Back Ribs (see post http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5820.msg55987#msg55987) I am going to tackle Pulled Pork.  Here is what is happening...

I got 14.7 lbs of Pork Shoulder Boston Butts.  It was a BJ's Pack so it was cut in 2 pretty equal parts (one is a little thicker than the other).  See the package here...





Anyway... I rubbed them down with extra virgin olive oil and dry rub them with Lysander's All Natural Meat Rub for Pork.  It comes in a 3.8 oz brown bag looking package.  I purchase it from The Fresh Market here in South Florida.  It is YUMMY!!! And I prepared the bottom side of one of the trays with thick cut bacon.  I took this tip from nsxbill (great idea).  He states to always use the top shelf of the smoker to put about a nice layer of thick bacon to drip down on the butt while smoking. 

I preheated the Bradley Digital to 250, filled the bowl with BEER (not water).  Beer does not evaporate as quick as water and I love beer!
Here is what we are looking like...







I load in 4 hours of Alder Wood and 3 Bubba Pucks and set the smoker.  Pull the tap for another beer and relax for a few hours...

After 2 hours I swap the trays for even smoking (and bacon dripping) and spritz with olive oil.  Lookin' good...



After 4 hours (end of smoke) I remove from smoker and put each one on its own baking tray, spritz with olive oil (and remember that bacon on the top rack... I took a few of those pieces and rested them on top of each butt) and cover as tightly as possible with aluminum foil.  I put them into the (205 degree pre-heated oven) and let them slow cook overnight and through out the next afternoon. 

Slurp...



Ready for the oven...



At this point I am going to sleep.  My plan is to keep them going in the oven until they are ready.  It should be between 1 PM and 4 PM tomorrow, (which is between 15 and 20 hours of slow cooked goodness at about 200 degrees).  The thinner/smaller of the two will be ready first and my plan is to pull/rake/fork/ as much as possible and simmer it in my 'Alex's Jack and Coke Mop Sauce' (found here, http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5911.0) while the other butt finishes.  At the same time I will be making the second half of the mop sauce, bbq sauce by cooking it down and reducing it into a thick sauce rather than a thin mopping sauce.  The thin mop sauce is great to simmer in while the thick bbq sauce is great to dip into for the freshly pulled larger butt.  Everything finishes around the same time.

I will post more photos and report more when I get to that phase tomorrow afternoon.

By the way... have I moved from Newbie to Resident Assistant Cook (or something)  :D

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OK 10 AM (10 hours of 200 degrees in the oven) and we are looking great!  When I put the butts in the smoker they were fat side down so the one on top would drip on the bottom one (the bacon dripped on the top butt).  When I put the butts in the oven I put them fat side up (they were naturally scored from the racks) and I put the bacon on top to let the flavor sink in while they slow cooked.  I misted them with olive oil and they cooked (and cooked... slowly). 



At 10 AM I took them out to inspect and moisten them up.  They naturally will fill the pans from the broken down fats, so I simply take a turkey baster and wet them in their own juices, re-cover in foil and swap positions on the racks.  They are already shrinking off the bone so we are getting very close. 



I am going to start making the mop sauce and bbq sauce for the next stage...  See start of this post for the link to the recipe.  I will post some images as I go...

[Mr Walleye]

Lookin' good Adboom!

You're well on your way to some great eats!

Mike

[Wildcat]

Looks great.  ;)  To bad I live on the other end of the state.   :o  Can't make it there in time for dinner.  ;D

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Things came out even better and faster than expected...  When the meat shrinks back on the bone about 1/2 inch it is ready.  I started to make the first batch of mop sauce about 30 minutes prior to pulling the first butt out of the oven.  I made a double recipe (what would make 4 cups).  I brought the sauce to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.  At 12 Noon (16 total hours including the 4 hours of smoke) I took out the first butt.  I pulled and shredded it and put it in a sauce pot with the mop sauce and covered and simmered for a few hours.  During this time, I made an additional batch of sauce which I cooked down to turn into a thick bbq sauce.  I also took some of the drippings and made a gravy.  To do this I took about a cup of drippings and put it in a bowl and then into the freezer for about 20 minutes.  The fat rose to the top and solidified.  I scraped it off and took the remaining jelly, put it in a sauce pan, added some water, and a small amount of flower and cornstarch.  I simmered it down to reduce into a nice smokey gravy.  I let everything simmer and cook down for about 2 hours (until the 2nd butt was ready).  At that time, I pulled the 2nd butt from the oven and pulled the pork!  My sauce and gravy are ready and we are ready to roll!  I give it 2 thumbs (butt cheeks) up!

Here are a few shots from the finish...

This is the first butt that I simmered with the 4 cups of mop sauce.  This is what I would call smokey, bbq pulled pork.



This is the bbq sauce as it reduces.  You can see all those ingredients... yummy...



This is the gravy as it reduces.  We added corn starch and flower to help it thicken.

These next few are of the 2nd butt as it came out of the oven.  We removed the bacon and simply pulled it apart.  You can see how easily it falls apart.  A fork pulls it and shreds it with ease (and keeps from burning your fingers).











Meat just falls off the bone... awesome!



I put it in a corning bowl, covered and put in the oven on warm until serving time.  I served both the butts with the sauce variety (thin and thick mop/bbq sauce and the gravy).



I hope some of you try my recipes and enjoy as much as I have so far.  By the way... ulitmate thanks still go out to Bryan who hooked me up with the deal on the Bradley Digital Smoker (where all the magic happens)!  Let me know what you think!

Alex

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I see I made an error in posting... This is what the gravy looked like as it reduced... 



The other pic was of the pulled pork prior to mixing with mop sauce.

Enjoy,
Alex

[Mr Walleye]

Alex

Looks fantastic! Your guests are in for a treat.

Next time I do butts I will have to give your mop sauce a shot. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

[Wildcat]

Nice Job!  ;)

[LilSmoker]

LilSmoker

[parishollow]

I can't look at those pictures after 9 o'clock, makes my mouth water too much and I be drooling on the pillow!
Nice post, thanks.

[hillbillysmoker]

Great looking results.