True or false: Pulled Beef is better than Pulled pork

[rickgregory]

I like that magical animal, the pig. I make some pulled pork here and there. But wandering through a local market I saw chuck on sale for $5.75* and I wanted some for tacos so... I grabbed a couple of the small ones that had good intramuscular marbling and today I tossed some Meat Church Holy Cow on the and put them in the Weber. And pretty much ignored them for a few hours (once the kettle got to 320 so i closed a vent and it ran in the 280s after that). Wrapped them at 160, let them hit prob tender and I just pulled them....

and...

I like them better than pulled pork. I don't know why. Pulled pork is fine but I always feel it needs sauce. These I was picking at while pulling. The beef flavor seems to come out more here than the pork flavor does in smoked pork butts.

So what say you? Pulled chuck or pulled pork?

*Note to Texans: yes, we know you have HEB wagyu cattle follow you home and butcher themselves on your patio for $1.99/lb. We're all jealous.

[RonB]

BEEF - it's what's for dinner!

[Huskee]

I prefer pulled beef for sure. But I happen to prefer less bark with my pulled beef (it gets too dry for me) so I wrap it closer to the start of the stall instead of after like most other things I smoke.

[mnavarre]

On their own? I like pulled beef better. In tacos, it all depends on the salsa & fixings. Pulled pork tacos are... good, but vastly inferior to actual carnitas. Pulled beef is just more versatile in a taco for me, I've made tacos with just beef, salsa, a bit of guac, and cotija. Make an adobo, let the beef stew for a bit while it thickens and you've got a quick barbacoa situation. Smoke til the bark is set, throw it in the InstantPot with some stock, chilies and spices & you've got birria. Smoked machaca. Nachos with either, rolled tacos with either. I could go on. Also cooking chuckies is just more fun to me, they take some attention to turn out good, butts are the easy button.

[rickgregory]

Pulled pork tacos are... good, but vastly inferior to actual carnitas.
Oh yeah, carnitas (and al pastor and some other preps) are a completely different thing. LOVE carnitas.

I've made tacos with just beef, salsa, a bit of guac, and cotija
That's lunch tomorrow for me....

[dubob]

My head is spinning from all that. Way too many choices. 😍

[das85]

I like my best pulled chucks more than my best pulled butts. Usually I find myself wanting to sauce the butt, while just wanting to eat the beef.

But I think I like my best pulled lamb shoulders (square cut, bone-in) more than either..

[Stuey1515]

You beat me to it, just had pulled lamb Reubens tonight, superb with a little mint jelly and mayo instead of russian dressing

[Jerod Broussard]

Pulled chuck rocks in tortillas. Pulled pork is OK.

[rickgregory]

(reads replies)

My people!!!

[jfmorris]

Beef if I have the choice, but it certainly costs more per pound thank pork. I blame the lack of flavor in pulled pork on commodity pork. I'll still go for boston butts if I need to feed a lot of people.

[scottranda]

Heartily agree.

[jfmorris]

rickgregory I bought a much more expensive butt from Porter Road one time. It was good, and probably had more flavor without saucing - it was certainly darker meat for sure - but it wasn't so good I won't eat the commodity pork. And I recall it being drier than the butts I am used to as well, so I would be tempted to wrap after the stall versus going unwrapped the whole way, if I do one of those again.

[Attjack]

My sister's pork is phenomenal but there's probably few people producing the quality of pork she does. My family gathered at my cabin last weekend and all the left over waste from watermelon rinds to egg shells went back with her to feed the pigs. When I cook one of her pork chops and compare it to what they sell in the supermarket it's as if they're different animals.

[LA Pork Butt]

What can I say?

[rickgregory]

I'm sure you're quite tasty smoked

[Huskee]

[changes name to LA Beef Butt]

[Waiting for the Worms]

Beef for the win.

[lemayp]

Guess I need to do more chuckies. I've done a couple for large groups and its always gone, but i've always got pulled pork in the freezer and a couple butts waiting to be smoked...

[Huskee]

In additon to rickgregory's tip below- another tip is take the chuck to ~200+/-, like you would a pork butt, but *hold it there* an hour, then do the faux cambro hold for another hour or whatever. So add an hour to your cook. The chucks benefit greatly from that extra time up at temp.

[rickgregory]

Guess I need to do more chuckies. I've done a couple for large groups and its always gone, but i've always got pulled pork in the freezer and a couple butts waiting to be smoked...

They key to chuckies is to get ones with marbling throughout, not just a big fat seam. The latter will be tough since the meat is actually relatively lean. I just wanted to get these on so no images (I know...) but be picky and find a well marbled chuck if you want to pull them.

[Finster]

Easier said than done

[rickgregory]

Finster - but worth it. Whenever i see a sale like this, I cruise by the case and see if they look good. If not, pass. If sale are rare or you typically don't see chuckies like this, it's worth grabbing a lot and vacseal+freezing them.

[Huskee]

{crying that I can't get any more Click chucks}

[tbob4]

Honestly I wouldn’t want to choose between the two. I love the pulled beef for it’s flavor but for versatility I would go with the pork. You can’t say "I’m not including carnitas" in the question without allowing for the fact that you can do so much with the pork. mnavarre ‘s answer made me laugh (in a good way) because I was going to say what he said about beef and answer it with pork. Then I read his and thought he had a great counter-point.

[Attjack]

Carnitas are pulled pork.

[rickgregory]

Attjack Carnitas are pulled pork.

Um. No. I mean, in the sense that they're both shredded pork butt, yeah, but pulled pork as the term is used (or at least as I've seen it) is smoked low and slow until tender, then shredded.

Carnitas, as mnavarre says, is braised in pork fat, then fried and there's no smoke. The preps are completely different

[Attjack]

Pulled pork is pulled pork. If you put it in a crockpot it's still pulled pork. Carnitas are pulled pork.

[Mark V]

I will go against the grain and vote for pork. I just like the way pork turns out from smoking better than beef does, in most cases. I think it is easier for one thing. That being said, I am working on my brisket game, but not for pulling. Back and short ribs are also on my menu.

[rickgregory]

(blocks)

(not really)

[Huskee]

If you pull brisket you will anger some superhuman force, somewhere. I'm sure of it.

[Old Glory]

Agree. Plus my wife is not a fan of BBQ beef. Might just be my cooking though...lol.

[FireMan]

I’ve been wantin to try this since Huskee first posted this a way back. But, it’s ton of meat fer one person. Guess I need to invite some body over.

[rickgregory]

So, one reason I did this is that they'd cut and packaged the chuckies so there were about 2lb each. I smoked 2 of them and got about 3 and a fraction pounds. BUT... the key is that they were only 2" thick or so. That meant cook time was only 3.5, 4 hours and you get a lot of bark for the volume.

If you don't see them cut like that, just slice them down.

[Huskee]

rickgregory That's how my local grocery store slices them too, like a super thick steak and less like a roast. I will stack 2 of them and smoke them as one since I like less bark (gasp!) on pulled beef. Longer cook time be derned.

[rickgregory]

Huskee

I will stack 2 of them and smoke them as one since I like less bark