pulled pork questions

[charlandk]

Hi all,
I am going to be doing a pulled pork for the first time.  I just purchased an 18 pound pork butt. 
First question is...should I cut it into two 9 pound chunks or 4 4.5 pound chunks or just cook as is?

The goods that Chevyman posted looked great and hope to have results as good.

I bought the butt today but want to eat it later in the day on Sat.  Is it ok to stay in the fridge until then or should I freeze it for now and take it out later?

I like the idea of the mustard rub so I will be doing that.  Do you do a pork rub first and then the mustard or the mustard first then the pork rub?

Please give me any tips that any of you might have. 

Thank you very much!

Kevin

[Habanero Smoker]

Is there any skin on it. That is very large for just the butt. I it may be you purchased the whole shoulder, which would include the butt (upper shoulder which the shoulder blade); and the picnic shoulder (lower shoulder with the leg bone). If so they are too distinct muscles, and the picnic is usually cooked a little differently. If it is both pieces I would separate it just below the shoulder blade.

Either way; whether it's a large butt or whole shoulder, separating it in half would be best. You will increase the smoke/cooking surface; which may cut down on some time, and give you more bark.

[chevyman]

i agree with Habanero....... I dont think that is a Reg Butt. If it is, that was one big Hog. Anyways i would cut in two or three sections and remove skin if it has any. Also you want to put your mustard slather on first and then your rub. You should be ok if you keep it in the frige. Also i would HIGHLY recomend that you FTC  as it will make it VERY juicy and tender. Hope this helps alot and dont forget to post pics!!!

[charlandk]

Thanks guys,

What does FTC stand for?
What temp to I take it out to "FTC" at?
Last one....what is the best method to FTC?


Thanks all!

[Malc]

FTC = Foil Towel Cooler
1. Wrap in aluminum foil
2. Wrap in an old beach towel
3. Place in a warmed cooler for a couple of hours to let the juices redistribute and stay in the meat.

It makes pulling very easy.  You should be able to pull the bone out of the meat with no help from a knife.  I take my butts to about 190 before pulling.  You could go a little less like 185, but then I would FTC longer.  That is what I do, anyway.

[charlandk]

Thanks guys,

I really appreciate the help. 
What IT should I get the butt to before I take it out to FTC?
Once I do take it out to FTC, how long should it sit?  Also, I do not have a warmed cooler, so if I put it back in the BS on a low temp, would that do ok?  Last, or almost last...I think I really have two more...I read a thread on here saying something about adding apple juice I think when you take it out to FTC.  Any advice or suggestions on that idea?  And now really the last one, I do plan to add my own bbq sauce.  Is is best to just add that after the pork is pulled?

Thank you all again.  This is very new to me and it is great to have a place to ask some questions and get back good answers.

Kevin

[Consiglieri]

Hi Kev.  Here's a link that describes Icerat4's technique, which I found works quite well:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4528

don't put bbq sauce on the meat until you shred it.  You may want to baste the meat after the first four hours of cooking (with apple juice or a mop sauce of your choosing) every so often.  I cook the meat until it gets up to 195F.  As you cook, bear in mind that the meat will hit an internal temperature plateau around 155-165F and stay there for quite a while.  That's a good thing: connective tissue is breaking down and making your meat shreddably delicious.

FTC: I spray apple juice on the meat and then wrap it up.  How long you FTC is up to you.  I've gone over the six hour mark (in a good cooler) just to see what would happen.  some don't FTC at all, but I find it really helps the meat break down and also helps me manage time.  If you're going to FTC, I'd do it for at least 1 hour.  As to a "warmed cooler," we're talking about a regular cooler that has been warmed up, typically by pouring hot water into it for a bit and then dumping out the hot water.  some people just wrap up the meat and put it into a microwave to sit (don't turn on the micro).  Others put the wrapped meat into an oven preheated to 150, then turned off. 

Good luck.

[charlandk]

Is there a particular temp or temp range that seems to work well for doing this?  If I crank up the BS all the way, the thermometer on the door will get up to about 225-250ish if I keep the vent pretty closed.

[Ontrack]

Kevin-Are you relying solely on the Bradley thermometer temps or do you have another thermometer? I would strongly suggest a Maverick ET73 or similar device because of the very unreliable temperatures that the Bradleys are known to produce...

[Consiglieri]

Is there a particular temp or temp range that seems to work well for doing this?  If I crank up the BS all the way, the thermometer on the door will get up to about 225-250ish if I keep the vent pretty closed.

I learned here that you want to be careful with the vent, you want it open enough that smoke isn't backing up and out of generator (it'll gunk up the system and foul it good).  You want the moisture to exhaust too.  close it enough that you can hit your target temp, but also so that smoke isn't backing up.

For pulled pork and ribs, i shoot for a cooking temp between 210 and 220.  You'll want to monitor box temp with something other than the door thermometer unless you've verified its accuracy. 

[charlandk]

Should I cold smoke it for 4 hours then begin to cook it or just get it up to temp and smoke and cook it at the same time?

[Gizmo]

Set your temp control to max (or just shy of it if you have the original with a slider switch).  Preheat your BS to 260 without the pucks, should take 45 minutes or so depending on conditions.  Once the temp is up, load your meat that has been out of the refridgerator getting up to room temp, and then load your pucks (12 for 4 hours of smoke).  If you have the digital, reset the timer on the oven for max time (9+ hours) and the smoke generator to 4 hours (+ 20 minutes if you have 3 bubba pucks) and push the wood advance 3 times to get the first puck on the burner.  Make sure you pause between pushes for each cycle to complete.  On the original, there are no timers so you just need to advance the pucks 3 times.  Watch the box temp with a remote thermometer with the probe near the meat, ensuring it is not touching anything that would affect its reading.  The door and the built in digital sensor that controls the on/off cycle of the heating element, don't always give you a true reading as to what your meat is experiencing.  Start dropping the set temperature as the remote temperature gets back up to your desired box temp (like 200 - 210 deg).  It will take a couple hours for the box to get back up to temperature depending on the load and external weather conditions.  On the digital, it has been my experience that it will be several hours before the digital temp read out will match the remote probe temperature and you will not .  Eventually the set temp will match your desired box temp and you will not have to adjust it further.