Pork shoulder, convinced the key is in the hold

[Meatyorology]

After many cooks I'm totally convinced that I get the best results from holding my pork shoulder for hours after hitting 203. The last two times I have skpped crutching it and simply wrapped it in a cooler for 2-3 hours and it has been fantastic. It absolutely seems much more tender the longer I leave it. I do not even feel it needs any sort of wrapping juice, it's a big enough hunk that there is still plenty of tender juicyness , just a little sauce and good to go.

[RobertC]

Yeah, I've been thinking something similar. I don't think 203 is necessary, either.

[Huskee]

203 is a bit of a misnomer.

[binarypaladin]

How so?

[DeusDingo]

203 = "to ol' tree" which means if it wasn't any good you bury it under a tree to hide your shame

[lostclusters]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[Thunder77]

Can't argue with those results! I am thinking the same thing as you. On Friday I took mine all the way unwrapped, then faux Cambro wrapped in foil for four hours. That was my first time trying it that way. I am very pleased with the results!

[ecowper]

So .... I have never wrapped a pork butt .... the key, to me is a combination of it getting to a state of being probe tender and then allowing it to hold/rest in a faux cambro for a couple hours. Once it comes out of the cambro, it should rest on the counter until internal temp is 145-150 .... it pulls much better at that point, in my opinion.

Which, by the way, is pretty much how pulled pork is done in the south. So ... maybe they know a thing or two ;-)

[texastweeter]

I cool it very slow, over 4 hours in my ovens warming drawer, dropping the tem every 30 minutes. I agree in the hold.

[DWCowles]

Beautiful!

[Abom]

This is how I've always done it, but I also use a ceramic smoker so drying out isn't an issue. I go to 200 or 203, wrap it up and store in in the cooler wrapped in blankets for a few hours. Works every time.

[LA Pork Butt]

Meatyorology I agree. I've probably cooked over 100 Boston Butts and every time I didn't wrap it and hold for at least a couple hours in the faux cambro I was disappointed.

[ecowper]

Only 100? Dang, you need to catch up bro ;-)

[lostclusters]

What temps should I consider when holding pork butt, beef brisket and ribs?

[Huskee]

What temps should I consider when holding pork butt, beef brisket and ribs?

Keep it high, above 165, if you want it to soften, and above 140 for safety. Most common faux cambro temps I'd say are 180-190 and waning.

[lostclusters]

Thanks for the info!

[ecowper]

Huskee I try to hold at 170+ .... have found a lot of success right there.

[Pirate Scott]

I have been holding in an Igloo 5 day cooler, I put a teapot in it with boiling water, food wrapped in foil or foil covered pan keeps warm for hours. I have not measured temperature but still hot to touch.

[kmhfive]

Very nice PB! I hold mine at 170 in the warming oven, or wrapped tightly and back on the grill at a setting on 150F (it takes a long time to cool the grill down to 150 on that setting, so more like texastweeter ).

[clayburnr]

Double Smoked Pulled Pork Question?
Growing up in Middle Tennessee I was raised on pulled pork that was was tender juicy and every bit had a good back taste of hickory smoke that was great. I considered that pork and a light coating of thin red sauce a slice of heaven on earth. Today when I make pulled pork on my Trager pellet smoker it comes out tender and really good but it does not have much of that back taste of smoke in every bite. The bark is good but the interior parts are tender and juicy but they don't seem to have much smoke flavor. I am trying to find a way to increase the smoke flavor throughout the meat someway. I have tried preslicing the meat and that worked some what but this tended to dry the meat. I was wondering if after a normal shoulder of pulled pork is cooked and pulled if it could be smoked again somehow to increase the smoke flavor. Has anyone got suggestions on what to try to increase the smoke flavor throughout the meat. What I am looking for is that good but not overpowering taste of smoke in every bite of tender juicy pulled pork. My typical way to smoke pulled pork is to dry salt it overnight then add rub (similar to Memphis dust or sometimes just black pepper) and yellow mustard. Smoke in the Trager until internal temp is around 200 - 203.

[HawkerXP]

I don't have one but I've heard pellet cooker folks (pellet heads?) say this before. Maybe one of those smoke tube things?

[JCGrill]

How's the smoke on other things? Pellet grills are a bit more difficult to get heavy smoke in, and I have begun using a smoke tube.

[lostclusters]

Double Smoked Pulled Pork Question?
Growing up in Middle Tennessee I was raised on pulled pork that was was tender juicy and every bit had a good back taste of hickory smoke that was great. I considered that pork and a light coating of thin red sauce a slice of heaven on earth. Today when I make pulled pork on my Trager pellet smoker it comes out tender and really good but it does not have much of that back taste of smoke in every bite. The bark is good but the interior parts are tender and juicy but they don't seem to have much smoke flavor. I am trying to find a way to increase the smoke flavor throughout the meat someway. I have tried preslicing the meat and that worked some what but this tended to dry the meat. I was wondering if after a normal shoulder of pulled pork is cooked and pulled if it could be smoked again somehow to increase the smoke flavor. Has anyone got suggestions on what to try to increase the smoke flavor throughout the meat. What I am looking for is that good but not overpowering taste of smoke in every bite of tender juicy pulled pork. My typical way to smoke pulled pork is to dry salt it overnight then add rub (similar to Memphis dust or sometimes just black pepper) and yellow mustard. Smoke in the Trager until internal temp is around 200 - 203.

I have noticed on my last cook, which was only my second cook on my KBQ, that after a time the surface of the meat becomes dry. Meathead teaches us that smoke only sticks to cold and wet. Spraying the surface of dry meat even with only water will help more smoke stick to the meat. Although, I can tell you that if you add apple juice and cider vinegar to the water it will make your pork taste better than using water alone.

Maybe this should start a new thread.

[clayburnr]

Thanks I will try that