2lb pork butt, am I in trouble?

[bezwong]

Momma wanted to eat some pulled pork. I've never made pulled pork - but I'm pretty confident i can't screw up too much if i have the help of amazing ribs and you guys.

I wanted to get started with chicken wings since that screwed up first, and 'ahem' my mother was involved.

I was thinking of cooking Saturday in the oven. My expectation was to cook it bone in for more than a couple hours depending on size.

She came home today and the first thing she did was remove the bone, and cut up parts of the meat to make pork stir-fry.

I'm really shocked...

Her reasoning was that she had to prepare something for dinner and because it's your first time making you should try a little first.

To make stir-fry out of a meat that could have been used for a special occasion.

It baffles me that she couldn't have used something else to simply fill our stomachs.

Is a pork butt short of 2 lbs going to be okay? My concern is that i don't know which parts she used.

It could be majority money muscle for all i know.

So we might end up with very little pulled pork for Saturday.

I'm confused, any words of advice to prepare me for the worse?

All i wanted was to cook something awesome for the family.

I hope it'll be okay *Sigh*

[scottranda]

If it doesn’t pull because it’s too small, chopped is fine too. Chopped pork is good too. It’s just not pulled. Not all is lost. And because pork is so cheap, just go buy it yourself for your next cooking adventure, and pull that baby. Either way, the best taste will be from which dry rub and sauce you use. Not really whether it’s pulled or chopped.

[RonB]

Next time be pre-emptive. Gently tell your Mom that you're planning something special for this piece of meat - please don't do anything with it. If you can manage to save a hunk of meat and produce something good, she will start to respect your ability to cook.

[bezwong]

Haha, yeah gently for sure. The only times we ever have conflict is if she doesn't know or if she buys something and she wants to do one thing and i do another.

[Mosca]

And don’t worry about "money muscle". The only time I ever heard that was on tv. It’s all pulled pork.

[scottranda]

It’s slightly different, but not enough for anyone to tell. Mosca is right though. It’s a TV thing.

[Steve R.]

This could still work just fine. I recommend not trying to form too solid bark and go ahead and wrap soon after the stall to prevent moisture loss. Your mother just might like the pulled pork so much that you won't have to worry about her stir frying your pork butt next time.

[bezwong]

It's still hilarious to me that this happened. Well i've cooked ribs before, and she really liked it.

But that didn't stop her from buying her own st.lous ribs and putting it in the toaster oven on high heat for a few hours.

Not shitting on her cooking ability, she does cook some things well.

But if her experiments go wrong, she'll tell you to stop complaining and don't worry about it brah

[bezwong]

scottranda You're right, pork isn't that expensive. I'll just go buy another one. I got on me hands some memphis dust rub and kansas city classic. Can't go wrong with that right?

Mosca Interesting, all pulled pork eh? From what i was seeing on youtube, it sure looked different. I'm not exactly sure if that money muscle is there, but i'll see until after the cook.

Thankyou all for the encouragement, i'll try and remember to post pictures on Saturday or Sunday.

[Mosca]

bezwong It’s in there, there is a separate muscle that is more tender and tastes richer, but the concept is from competition. Everything in competition is geared to one bite.

[kmhfive]

Good luck. It will still be good. Wrap once you see some bark. It will work!

[fzxdoc]

Moms are famous for pre-emptive strikes of all kinds, I've learned. I think it's in their (our) job description.

Cute story, bezwong . Hope the cook with the replacement pork butt turns out well.

Kathryn

[bezwong]

You betcha, if this time ain't good. Then maybe next time, i am hopeful.

[fzxdoc]

Of course it will be better, bezwong ! I have faith in you and in the learning curve. Just hide the pork butt from your Mom, and you'll be fine. Have fun with your next cook.

Kathryn

[EdF]

Here's a plan B if you're willing to bypass the pulled pork for this smallish piece: https://www.evernote.com/l/AKKwh0tnl...4OQGHYdmp1juUA

It's _very_ good.

[fzxdoc]

The crispy edges and the char of the thinner piece of pork will have you changing your mind., bezwong. You'd be surprised how quickly you have that PB whacked into submission. Serve with gnocchi in brown butter. And serve with crisp white wine to cut the unctuous-ness. And a green veggie if you absolutely have to. OMGoodness it's good. EdF posted this link a while ago and it's amazing.

K.

[EdF]

Indeed it is. And it's ridiculously easy.

[bezwong]

fzxdoc Haha well if i ever have a kid, i'll set his targets on pounding the pork. I'm getting really good feels from this recipe

[bezwong]

Okay so the weekends cook has concluded. As promised i would post updates.

There has been some success and some failures.

Pork Butt / Pulled Pork

I personally felt i made a lot of stupid mistakes here.

I salted the pork butt on friday night and left it uncovered, which i shouldn't have done.

Next morning, the exterior was dry. And i thought this was okay when i touched the outside

Sprinkled some water, added my Memphis Dust Rub. Stuck a temp probe inside

Preheat oven to 225 and stuffed er in with the baking sheet. This was at around 4pm or so.

Set the thermometer to ring at 160 fahrenheit since that should be when it goes past the stall

I was expecting a stall....but i didn't get that. It just kept going up linearly.

So i thought something went wrong. I was told to wrap when i saw bark.

I'd look in but there didn't seem to be that "dark looking bark".

I could be mistaken because maybe the rub doesn't turn dark, or it's because i'm not using a smoker

Anyways, at this point i thought i should leave it unwrapped and let it cook until 195 since i want bark.

Come 1:00am and i'm pretty tired, totally unprepared for how long pork butt takes to cook.

I also realized that the water pan went dry, that mistake was an eye opener

Here's what it looks like straight out of the oven



Here's with the thermometer pointing to 195 F



You can see that wet spot i stuck a fork in. I attempted to turn it and there was some resistance.

So i thought, damn i should put it back in the oven.

But it's already like 1:40am and i couldn't care less

I wrap it in foil to leave it to cool for 30 minutes.

It sort of has this banana bread look to it honestly lol



Time to pull the pork.



When i first looked at it i thought, god dayum this looks dry.

And i didn't see any globs of fat to remove either.

I think i f'ed it up

I reach for a piece to taste and it has a really porky flavor to it and seemed chewy

And i don't mean that in a good way.

It tastes like the kind of pork someone would boil and because it was so tough

You would keep chewing and chewing, and eventually you get a taste of something similar.

The bark didn't really seem like proper bark. It seemed like just pellicle.

It sure tasted different, like something more considered palatable.

But far from anything considered strong tasting.

So i was kind of disappointed yesterday, 9 hours for a 2 pounder.

I wish there was at least a bone in, so i would know for sure that it hadn't reached a good temperature.

--------------

My dad tried it the next day with a sandwich, microwaved it and put on some mayo.

He thought it wasn't chewy and it was just about right. There wasn't very little' give' when he bit down.

So i really don't know. Maybe he just has low standards right?

As long as i don't love it then it's hard for me to recommend it to family.

----------------

Next time I'm getting a 5lb pork butt with bone in.

Dry brine for 1-2 hours minimum or overnight in the fridge inside a container.

Check every few hours to refill water pan

When it hits 160 F, regardless if there is bark.

I'm wrapping in 2 layers of foil to let it cook until 195 F

If at 195 it doesn't pass the fork test, and the bone doesn't come out that easily

It's going back in until 203 F

I will make another thread for my second attempt.


----------------

Can anyone recommend any suggestions to bring some life back to the pulled pork?

Should i use water to moisten and then butter her up?

More specifics would be most appreciated

[bezwong]

My first love was ribs, so i went back to her the next day for some comforting.

Used Memphis Dust Rub, after 3 hours i took them out and began putting the K.C Classic Sauce.



Broiled it in the oven while watching the bubbles



More SAWCE, mmm lovely



Baby come to daddy



All is good for a sunday night

[k2kyo]

In an oven you probably aren't going to get a stall, especially on a small piece of meat, so don't worry about that part. Wrapping around 160-170 and adding some sort of simple liquid (apple juice, etc) will help keep moisture in as it's effectively being steamed at that point. Finish uncovered to firm up the bark. A larger piece of course will be more forgiving.. a 2lb piece shouldn't take all that long and runs a higher risk of drying out.

I take pork to 203 probably 99% of the time, just seems to be the magic number for my smoker. Around 160 is where fat begins breaking down, so holding it in that temp range certainly doesn't hurt. The pork shoulders I get tend to vary quite a bit in cook times, so I tend to start early then let it sit in my warming oven at 170 for a couple hours.. you can do the same thing by building a 'faux cambro' as MH calls it, basically lots of towels stuffed into a cooler.

[DWCowles]

All looks good

[kmhfive]

For pulled pork that has dried out a bit, I will sometimes add a tablespoon or so of Apple Cider vinegar to a bowl-full and microwave on high for a minute covered. Rest for a minute, then stir. I'll add that a little at a time to a Cast Iron Skillet on Med heat with some bacon fat until the edges are slightly crisp. That's pretty good with a creamy coleslaw.

The ribs look like they tasted great!

[bezwong]

Thank you all for the comments and advice. Thinking back on it, my first impression wasn't that great. But after eating all of it myself with sauce, i cannot say it was all that bad. Next time I'll do better