Tips for my 2nd attempt at pulled pork?

[_John_]

We have a fail thread already here, I'm in there a few more times than I'd like.

[scottranda]

I did have a heat deflector.

[scottranda]

Huskee maybe we should start a new topic/thread... our grilling disaster stories!

But, yeah, I mean, this whole thing is trial and error. You learn from your mistakes, and keep trying. With a Forum like this, my learning curve is greatly, greatly, greatly reduced! I'm going to remember the Sourdough posts for when I tackle that mountain!

[Huskee]

scottranda you've got some excellent advice here and an expert thermometer coming, you'll nail it next time! BTW my first butt the same thing happened. I though a loooong time was 3-4 hrs. We ate a delicious dry roast pork. My first ribs essentially the same thing happened. I think we're meant to do these things so we have good stories to tell others one day.

[jholmgren]

I buy mine from Sam's as well. Pretty much the same treatment as Fuzzy, but I don't tie mine. For removal I have a pair of insulated PVC gloves - I just scoop it with both hands, step over the big yellow Lab parked in front of the grill and drop it onto the foil for wrapping and resting. Anything that is left on the grill grates is MINE...well, and the Lab's.

On my Kamado Joe a 7-9 lb shoulder takes roughly 16 hours. I put mine on the night before around 11:00 pm. They are usually done by late afternoon the following day, I don't use the crutch I let it power through on its own. A few hours in the cooler and they are still too hot to handle bare handed when pulling.

[DeusDingo]

it sounds like you are putting the roast on a grill with nothing to block the heat from the butt. 3 hours is WAY too short. you need to put something between the heat and meat. a pan of water is what i would do and then the meat needs to be a bit of a distance from the pan. if that is not the case you seriously need to check your thermometer. check boiling water to see if it is 212*F.

[scottranda]

Good stuff, thank you all!

[fuzzydaddy]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n89486[/ATTACH] My recent butts at 16 hours. Edit: photo rotated upon upload; sorry.

[Steve Vojtek]

Monitoring precise temps is crucial. And fuzzydaddy is the man..A small 2 pound piece of shoulder took me 8 hours and that's with turning up to 325 to overcome the stall.

[CurlingDog]

Are you tying the butt with kite string or butcher twine? Is it necessary?

I tie up the butts if they are boneless. The goal of tying any meat is to make the size/shape uniform, allowing for more even cooking.

[fuzzydaddy]

I've always used butcher's twine to hold them together. When they are done they could fall apart easily and the twine helps. I still have to use both hands when removing from the grill.

I do the following:
(1) Rinse with cold water, dry (with paper towels) and trim fat.
(2) Tie (in both directions) with butcher's twine.
(3) Dry brine with Morton's Kosher salt for 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator.
(4) Dry them again with paper towels. Add a thin coating of vegetable oil, rub and cook.

[scottranda]

Are you tying the butt with kite string or butcher twine? Is it necessary?

[fuzzydaddy]

scottranda, sounds like a plan. I've had plenty of "what was I thinking" cooks (and will have more I'm sure), but without those I wouldn't have learned and developed my technique. Of course I've relied heavily on folks help here and the massive amount of articles and plenty of past posts.

[scottranda]

Some guy named "Meathead" told me to get professional thermometers. He's on to something. I shall do what he says.

[fuzzydaddy]

I've done around 18 butts since last November and all have been in the 16-18 hour range (all from Sam's Club, 7-9 lb, very close to 225, Big Green Egg). See the Amazing Ribs article Perfect Pulled Pork at http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porkn...lled_pork.html. Not every butt will take as long as mine. I used this article to get started - I believe it estimates 8 to 12 hours.