Any tips for doing pulled pork on the pellet? I've got a gorgeous kurobuta bone-in and I wanna do it justice. Planning to hit it with a generous amount of Meathead's pork rub (SO good) and picked up some Lumberjack competition blend pellets (haven't tried them before). How do folks here maximize smoke flavor/meat juiciness? Is this a job for the foil boat? Do you wrap with some rendered lard? Don't wrap at all? Spritz with ACV? What temps do you use? So many factors....
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Dry brine, Memphis dust, in pellet pooper till 203Ā° IT, faux cambro for an hour, pull n serve.
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Something I've been doing lately (though on my kettle with SNS and not on a pellet) is to put a drip pan under the pork. Then, after the cook, I remove the fat from the drippings (I use a fat separator/grave maker, but there are other ways) and mix the de-fatted drippings with the pulled pork. Takes the flavor and moisture to another level.Comment
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Dry brine, rub, let it ride at 275. Only thing I do extra is after I like the bark I place it in an uncovered pan and when done add the collected drippings back in to the pulled meat.Comment
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Dry brine with Meathead's pork rub overnight. In pellet smoker. I go 180F for an hour to get smoke on the meat then 250F until internal temp of 205. I don't wrap pork butt. You can let it rest in a faux cambro, but don't need to before pulling. I too use a drip pan and add the collected drippings back into the pulled pork.Comment
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OK LOVE the idea of collecting the drippings to send it back in post pull, that's genius.Comment
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The one Kurobuta pork butt I did was way, way leaner than any pork butt I'd seen (not as many as many of y'all, but still). It was like loin almost. Something to watch for.
Very important on a pellet smoker to use a low-T "smoke" or "turbo" setting if you have one. Otherwise set it to the lowest temp it will do, and give it 60-90 minutes on that before going to target temp. Also very important that the meat go in as cold as possible, which also maximizes smoke uptake. I've done this side-by-side with a butt done in a kettle with charcoal & wood chunks and although the latter is admittedly more pronounced on the smoke, the pellet-smoked is really close when done this way.
I've used a foil boat on my last few butts and it is a significant improvement. If your K-butt is looking lean and dense, another great reason to use one. I'm pretty sold on the technique now that I've used it a fair bit.
Good luck, and can't wait to see your results!!Comment
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I suppose ā Buy a Kettleā isnāt the answer you are looking for right?šComment
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Just rubbed and ran at 225F until prob tender, about 203F
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Pork butt, in my opinion is something I think you almost have to try to mess up. Iāve done some at 225 whole cook, mixed temps on other cooks, wrapped and unwrapped, and so forth. Personally I prefer to wrap my butts as it helps them cook a little faster and it keeps that wonderful fatty juice in there too.Comment
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PRO TIP #1 and you will thank me. When it is done and you are ready to wrap in foil and let it rest add one whole stick of butter and maybe a tbsp of garlic powder just before you wrap.
PRO TIP #2 but more controversial. I use my kitchen aid to pull pork butts. Especially when I have a lot of them to do.
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Oh yeah. Totally forgot about #2. Game changer. I did butts for a church event and due to work conflicts I ended up having to smoke them later than I planned and had to shred them at night so I could freeze vac them; the event was 2 weeks away. Anyway I used the stand mixer to shred and it was so simple and a great time saver. On top of the compliments on how great it tasted people were perplexed how I pulled it so well.
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Last edited by bbqLuv; February 1, 2023, 10:23 PM.Comment
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Like above. I find it easy to cook a pork butt. Trim, Rub with Meat church Honey hog. Put on LSG pellet smoker at 225 the night before. Cook until 203-205. Then let rest and pull.Comment
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Iām gonna catch the drippings on my next one šComment
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