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First Longer Smoke |Pulled Pork|

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    First Longer Smoke |Pulled Pork|

    Hello,

    Tried my first longer(ish) smoke on Sunday. 12 hours Boston Butt! Came out great. Went with Memphis Dust after a 18hr dry brine. Did make the mistake of not wetting the pork with water (or mustard) prior to adding the rub, but seemed to have enough moisture to compensate.
    10 hours @225 with lumberjack Fruitwood blend
    then 2 hours @ 250 to make a dinner deadline.
    Cooked on a Traegar Silverton w/ ambient temps in the 50s but a good bit of wind.
    Pork was found at a local butcher and is a 7lb berkshire/duroc hybrid from a local farm.

    Everyone seemed to really like it. Noticed a few dryer sections, but overall extremely tender and good moisture. Would like to develop more bark in the future, but not sure how too.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Good looking butt!

    The heritage pork is definitely a deeper red than the commodity stuff that I buy at Sam's Club. I'll have to try some at some point.

    As far as bark, time and smoke form the bark. Starting with with cold meat out of the fridge also helps. Not sure what else you can do on a pellet smoker - I get a lot of bark when smoking with charcoal, but have no help to offer when it comes to pellets.

    Comment


    • texastweeter
      texastweeter commented
      Editing a comment
      Go Berkshire

    • SomeguyinNH
      SomeguyinNH commented
      Editing a comment
      I debated really heavily on whether to buy the heritage or the commodity stuff. It was really hard to justify 9.99 a pound for this versus 1.89 a bound for IBP Boneless butt. I think next time I will try the commodity grade, and save myself $40-50, just wanted to go all out on the first one.

    #3
    What was the internal temp when pulled? 12 hours seems awful long for a 7lb butt, even on a pellet grill. Looks great

    Comment


    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Doesn't seem long for me. At 225F, I routinely have 8 pound butts take 12-14 hours.

    • Bobby Q's
      Bobby Q's commented
      Editing a comment
      Well if jfmorris thinks its normal, then it has to be! My bad.

    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Bobby Q's haha thanks for the vote of confidence. Every butt is different, and every cook is different of course. Lately I've been running hotter at 275 to 300 to get it done in 10 hours or less. As others say, life is too fast to smoke at 225!

    #4
    Great job.

    Comment


      #5
      Looks really good to me.
      I don't dry brine or put liquid on a butt, outta the fridge, dry rub and onto the smoker.
      No experience on a pellet smoker either, but I do put more brown sugar in my rub to help with the bark.

      Comment


        #6
        Butt is the longest cook I do. 14 hours is the minimum, often up to 16. More time will give you more bark, though a lot of pellet smokers I’ve seen (don’t have one myself) seem to struggle with bark and smoke flavor. Keep the smoke going, keep a water pan in the cooker, and let that thing go until it looks like a meteorite - that’s the other thing...don’t wrap it unless the bark is where you want it. I usually don’t wrap until it goes to hold after cooking.

        Comment


        • SomeguyinNH
          SomeguyinNH commented
          Editing a comment
          Smoke flavor wasn't an issue. Just lack of NASA approved meteorite bark. Not wrapped until it was done, and put into a false cambro for 1 hour before pulling.

        #7
        Looks great!

        Comment


          #8
          That looks really tasty! I usually go 250 for a pork butt. From my experience, I seem to get better bark with a slightly higher temperature. But I have not used a pellet smoker. Pork butt is very forgiving, so on the next one, try a higher temp, at least to start. Also, you meant ironed wind conditions. Is your smoker sheltered from wind? You might have had some temperature swings from the wind?

          Comment


          • jfmorris
            jfmorris commented
            Editing a comment
            My impression was that pellet rigs give the best smoke at the lower temps, 225 and below...

          • SomeguyinNH
            SomeguyinNH commented
            Editing a comment
            The smoke setting is ~160 on my rig. 225 seemed to be producing a decent bit of smoke. My comment about smoke quantity being diminished was in connection with the cross breeze, not so much the temperature at which I was cooking. This being my first post other than the intro I am amazed at how many responses this is getting, but also how different each response is. Temp range, water pan or no water pan, top or bottom rack, never realized this was going to make me rethink every choice I made lol.

          • Thunder77
            Thunder77 commented
            Editing a comment
            I was thinking of the bark

          #9
          Nice work! Congrats on your first long cook. If you want more bark, cook at 275 F to 300 F. The pork shoulder can take the heat with no problem. Would also loose the water pan, it just creates too much steam in the cooking chamber, which can inhibit bark formation, in my experience. I do not use any water pans in my smokers, except for the KBQ.

          Comment


          • smokin fool
            smokin fool commented
            Editing a comment
            Agreed, I had been smoking butts with a diffuser/water pan, took it out the last smoke to see what happens.
            To many variables for a definitive answer but took 2.5 hours less, was a bit dryer than I'm used too....still dis-appeared in moments....

          • Steve R.
            Steve R. commented
            Editing a comment
            I think the water pan is the issue, if you're going for more bark.

          • SomeguyinNH
            SomeguyinNH commented
            Editing a comment
            Next go around I'll try at a higher temp. Definitely no water pan being used on this cook.

          #10
          Surprised so many people recommend pulling the water pan for things like pork butt. It’s my understanding that water pans are made for things like butts and briskets. Relative points to the subject from page 140 of Meathead’s book;

          3. Water vapor mixes with combustion gases to improve flavor.
          4. Water vapor condenses on the meat and makes it "sticky," encouraging more smoke to adhere.
          5. Condensation wets meat and cools it, which slows cooking. This allows more time for connective tissues and fats to melt.
          6. Water adds a small amount of humidity to the atmosphere in the cooker and helps keep food from drying out. This effect varies significantly depending on the design of the cooker.
          7. Higher humidity in the oven can also help with the development of the smoke ring (see page 15 ).

          Now for things like jerky, turkey, and wings, I’ll pull the water. I can’t hit 325° with it the pan full.

          Comment


          • jfmorris
            jfmorris commented
            Editing a comment
            I always fill the water trough on my SnS in my kettle, and tend to put a small water pan on the grate right above the firebox in my offset. Bark has never been an issue.

          • Spinaker
            Spinaker commented
            Editing a comment
            For me, I get plenty of smoke adhesion without the extra steam in the cooking chamber. And I can always spritz if I need to wet the surface. I have never found that a water pan keeps the meat from drying out, it is much more important to start with higher quality meat. Especially when cooking in a kamado, which is what I usually do, there is very little airflow you simply don't need it. In a cooker with a lot of airflow, like a big offset, pans can be needed. The only pans I use are drip pans.

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