Birthday BBQ -- Pulled Pork for 20 People on Kamado Joe

[scottranda]

It's my birthday today, so I opted to invite 20 friends over for a BBQ. I bought 18.25 lbs of pork shoulder. This morning I fired up the Kamado Joe at 5am, and put the meat on at 6am. I'm aiming for it to be done around 4pm-5pm at 250 degrees. I'm having a bit of a hard time to fit all that meat onto my KJ Classic, but it [barely] fits. I'm going to rearrange the meat after some shrinkage.
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I rubbed it with Team Sweet Mama's KC Rub from Savory Spice Shop (we have one in Charlotte, and I know there's one in Raleigh too). Great store, and it's a FANTASTIC rub.

I used a pork injection of apple juice, salt, sugar, worchestire sauce, and a little bit more rub. I didn't use too much injection because I've never injected before, and didn't want it to be overpowering, but I wanted to give it a shot.

I'm going to top it tonight with Dinosaur BBQ "Sensuous Slathering" and "Wango Tango" Sauce. I was amazed I found that BBQ sauce in NC since it's a northeastern / NY thing. I've been working up in Buffalo, NY for 2 months and I think they produce some GREAT BBQ (at least the Dinosaur BBQ restaurant in Buffalo). I'm hoping the BBQ sauce tastes as good in the bottle as it does in the restaurant.

More pictures to follow as the cook continues...

[Danjohnston949]

scottranda, You feed your guest like that they will Never Go Home! Happy Birthday! Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan

[LA Pork Butt]

scottranda I am assuming you will pull it. I have done many 10# Boston Butts on my Big Green Egg and as many as 40#. I believe you will need to change your cooking strategy to have you food ready on time. I put a 10# butt on last night at 5:30 @225 and I'll pull it his morning after about 15 hours when it reaches 200, double rap it in foil and put it in an ice chest with old towels until I am ready to serve at noon.

Here is my suggestion. Raise your temperature to 275 and you will probably need to wrap it when reaches the stall at about 160. The stall usually takes about 6 hours and wrapping can cut the time in half. Keep me posted if you can use any help.

[scottranda]

Thanks LA Pork Butt! Yes, I plan on pulling it. I am monitoring the temp closely. Last cook, I did 14 lbs at 225-235F for 10 hours, and it was done. So, I figured with a few extra pounds, I'm going to raise the temp to 250. I'll monitor it closely, and see if I need to wrap it, but good advice for me to keep an eye on it!

[LA Pork Butt]

scottranda that's a good idea to monitor it closely, since while in general the meat cooks the same sometimes for so unexplainable reason a piece misbehaves. Happy Birthday! With 20 people and 18.5# of meat they will leave stuffed or you will have some leftovers. There are some great recipes out their for leftovers.

[scottranda]

Here are an hour late photos. Coming along!

[LA Pork Butt]

scottranda Wouldn't you know it I have a misbehaving piece of meat. Normally I do them at 225 for 12-14 hours. This one seems to be stuck in a second stall at 188. It has been on for 17 hours. I have to decide if I will let it ride till noon, wrap it or pull it early at 190 and put it in the faux cambro. BBQ is more art than science.

[Danjohnston949]

Keep At it LA, 👍👍🐷👍👍. Never Let A Dead Pig Get You Down! From Fargo, Dan

[scottranda]

I'm 10 degrees behind my previous cook, so I'm going to wrap it once the bark forms and settles.

[LA Pork Butt]

scottranda I decided to pull and wrap at 190. Temp dropped to 188.

[_John_]

Looks good, I like that injector!

[scottranda]

Thanks _John_! First time using it. Worked really well.

[LA Pork Butt]

scottranda pulled it at 19 hours and 15 minutes at 194.

[scottranda]

LA Pork Butt Wow! How big of a hunk of meat were you doing?

[LA Pork Butt]

10# misbehaving piece of meat.

[Mosca]

IMO Dinosaur SS and WT are the best store sauces you can buy; not overly sweet, lots of brightness and savoriness. If sauces like Sweet Baby Rays aren't your thing, try Dinosaur. (Tip: mix SBR and Dino for a real treat.)

[Spinaker]

I love Dinosaur. Their cook book is awesome. It was the first one that I ever owned. I can do owe a but of gratitude to the folks in Buffalo. My cousin got me some of the Mango Tango last year for x-mas. it didn't last long.
Nice post, Happy birth day.

[scottranda]

I had to help a friend move, so I left my smoker unattended with the meat wrapped. MDW texted me to tell me the meat was at 208F. OOPS! She took it off the smoker. It's resting now. I guess the wrap just POWERED through the stall. My smoker temp was only 205F.

So, even though I overshot the temp a bit, it's still probe tender. It'll still be plenty delicious, right?

And, it's in my faux-bro right now. So, I plan on unwrapping it 15 minutes prior to serving and checking the temp. If it's < 160F, I need to stick it back in my oven? Can I just Thermapen it right through the foil? Or do I need to unwrap it?

Glad to hear you guys Mosca and Spinaker like Dino BBQ just as much as I do. Now that I'm a bit of a BBQ snob (thanks to you guys), I'm picky on my BBQ. It's hard to find something to complain about with Dino BBQ!

[Mosca]

I use Dino SS for chicken and for a treat my mom used to make when we were growing up called LBJ burgers, an open faced cheeseburger slathered in BBQ sauce. Which is really good, btw; simple and really good.

[Huskee]

As an experiment I've taken my pulled pork to 210-211 and then held it. It was perfect. I've taken them off at 195 too and held, again it was awesome. I'm not a big believer in &quot;203&quot; other than in conversation, not really in actual practice.

[Dewesq55]

I'm with Huskee on this. I have looked butts off in the high 190's and they were awesome. Same with a bit higher than intended.

[scottranda]