Pulled Pork roast – dry as a nun’s fart

destrouk · September 06, 2013, 02:31:47 PM

Good to see your here mate !!! 8)

These boys wont Bash you to much unless u forget pics ;)

I agree and disagree with some of the comments I always have water in the bowl and I use apple juice in it and spray the meat down ( not mop ) with a mixture of apple juice and cider vinegar .
I also roll smoked for the whole cooking time

at the end of the day its what works for you best

Try the way we chatted about on the phone and gimme a call in the morning !!

smokeinBC · September 06, 2013, 08:11:03 PM

Hey Tim! lots of great info on this site and I appreciate your help.

Going to try again tonight starting at 11:00pm. I'm taking all of your advise and getting back on the saddle.

Going to see how moist I can get this Nun to fart :P

smokeinBC · September 07, 2013, 09:42:06 AM

Well it's happening again

It's still cooking 10 1/2 hours

Just my luck the power went out last night. But I caught it fairly quick.

I started smoking at 11:30pm last night. I noticed the power was out at 2:30 but it was only off for a short time I refilled the water and noted that the IT temp was 112

At 9:00 am this morning the IT reads 149

I checked it with a 2nd theremometer and it reads 160

So now I'm scratching my head. I am going to still take your advise and just cook it till at least one theremometer reads 190 but is sure looking done to me

This is at 11:30pm just putting it on

This is 9:00am this morning

Here are the temp readings

Ill keep you updated as I go

Saber 4 · September 07, 2013, 10:29:27 AM

Be patient Grasshopper, the pork will be done when it's done, it's looking good but not cooked in a pulled pork sense. Let the stall play out with a full bowl of hot water and all should be well in Piglandia.

Tenpoint5 · September 07, 2013, 12:21:37 PM

Now that you have opened the door and found out your thermometer is correct leave it alone and stay the heck out of the cabinet and leave the door alone pretend its on a time lock and wont open till 190 degrees. Then when it does double wrap in foil and wrap with a couple of old towels and stick it in a cooler for a couple hours to let everything get happy happy happy. Your lucky you have a netting around it so it wont completely fall apart when you unwrap it!

smokeinBC · September 07, 2013, 03:31:03 PM

Well here we are at 3:30 and I just pulled it out of the smoker. That's 16 hours and I still didn't get a reading of 190

Yes I took it out before 190 but really 16 hours?????

I set the smoker at 220 but around 11:30 bumped it up to 260

The three reading when taken out were

184 176 183

Interesting enough the first two where accurate with the water test yet the first and third read close

It's now wrapped in FTC for a couple hours

Wildcat · September 07, 2013, 05:34:19 PM

The vast majority of my butts take roughly 18 hours. Some around 16 and some up to 24. It will not hurt it to cook for a long time and in my opinion it usually turns out better.

Snoopy · September 07, 2013, 06:11:26 PM

Ive been lucky not to have mine take 18+ so far i guess, but I would definately consider just throwing em in earlier if it's taking a lot longer in yours.

Do you have an ambient temp probe for the inside of the smoker? I know this thing has issues of temp swings like crazy of what the display is telling you and what it actually is, again i think i got lucky with mine and it's usually pretty accurate to my setting not to the readout of the temp.

Like most have said, I'd halt on the bumping of the temp and let it do it's thing, it's all just trial and error really but every piece of meat has its own mind and will be done when it wants to be.

Also from the pics it appears you are oppening that door a lot, i open mine to spray it down every once in a while but once it gets around the 150 mark i don't touch the door. if the heat inside drops below the temp your meat is at it makes the stalls last a lot longer. and just to double check was the vent wide open? and did you refill the water bowl with boiling water?

Just my 2 cents, i'm fairly new to this as well, but have gotten all my info and most of my techniques from the smoker gods and goddesses here. hope it turns out, that ftc should bring the temp up a little bit too.

smokeinBC · September 07, 2013, 07:34:14 PM

2 hours wrapped and we were ready to eat

But again it was too dry. Not as bad as the first one but some parts wouldn't pull and tough

Yes I had the vent open and water in the tray all the way through

I think for the next one ill cook at 260 all the way through. I'm wondering because I have a 6 rack I should turn the temp up more

Oh and the door was shut. I opened it I think three times quickly

Snoopy · September 07, 2013, 07:48:23 PM

ok, again just an assumption, that shouldn't have made much of difference. I also have the 6 rack and again just a lucky one i'm guessing but ive never gone above 220 on my pork and it's always come up to 190, I think out of the 8 butts i've done so far the most it's gone is about 16 tops, and none have been above 8#s. I do inject mine though with a mix of apple juice and jack danials the night before which helps with the moisture. I'll leave it to the more exp. at this point cuz i'm clueless as to what could be causing it.

KyNola · September 07, 2013, 08:20:32 PM

I've had pork butts go 26 hours before. Patience is not one of your virtues.

If your pork turned out dry twice you need to find another source for pork or your cut of pork is not a pork butt. I don't know how else to help you but I do know this. You keep smoking your pork at 260+ and you might as well just roast it in your house oven.

DukeNukeIt · September 07, 2013, 09:10:07 PM

Cut that Butt in half. I smoke my butts (around 4-5 lbs each) for only 10 hours, then FTC for 2 hours. Internal temp 195 before FTC.

If you want quicker cooking time, then smoke a smaller chunk of meat...

TedEbear · September 08, 2013, 01:29:13 AM

Quote from: smokeinBC on September 07, 2013, 03:31:03 PM
Yes I took it out before 190 but really 16 hours?????

I set the smoker at 220 but around 11:30 bumped it up to 260

Others have repeatedly offered suggestions on how to slow smoke it to turn out moist and tender. If you will eventually start following their advice those dry, tough butts should turn out better. You obviously are not doing that yet. Third time's a charm?

Habanero Smoker · September 08, 2013, 01:35:31 AM

I generallly don't like photos and prefer to read, but in this case, the photo may actually help. The meat does not look like a shoulder cut, but one from the hind leg. It is still hard to tell, because the rub may make the meat appear darker then it is. To me that cut looks more like a butt end cut of the ham. If so, that may be the reason you are producing a dry product.

KyNola · September 08, 2013, 06:59:24 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on September 08, 2013, 01:35:31 AM
I generallly don't like photos and prefer to read, but in this case, the photo may actually help. The meat does not look like a shoulder cut, but one from the hind leg. It is still hard to tell, because the rub may make the meat appear darker then it is. To me that cut looks more like a butt end cut of the ham. If so, that may be the reason you are producing a dry product.

Bingo!