Finishing rub for pulled pork

[_John_]

Looking for some ideas for a seasoning to add to pulled pork once it has all been pulled. Some people say add some rub, but I really don't like that flavor at the end, especially if the rub is a sweet one. Right now I just put on salt, but i'd like to kick it up a notch. I read a few people who swear by fleur de sel salt but I haven't found any locally to try.
So, do you put anything on your pulled pork?

[Dewesq55]

I use a sauce which I make. The recipe is here. But I don't think that's what you are looking for.

DEW

[_John_]

I went from saucing most things and leaving dry on request to leaving it all dry and saucing on request.

[Dewesq55]

I hear you. I just love the combination of the smokey pork and my Lexington-style sauce. There is only one guy who semi-regularly interacts with my cooking who makes a point of saying he would like it without sauce. He is usually disappointed.

[Dr ROK]

I typically use a little rub mixed in apple juice. Adds a nice layer of flavor without overpowering the pork. Also adds a bit of moisture if needed.

[Jon Solberg]

John I dont. I just dont see the need. I spent the past 16+ hour cooking it. I'm really good with how it is.

[Jerod Broussard]

I remember those 16 hour cooks. If I get a pellet smoker, I'll be there again.

[Jon Solberg]

Flagellantism is alive and well here in Michigan just sayin ; )

[Jerod Broussard]

Huskee's rib rub might work. If I am doing dry ribs, I use that rub. I use Modified Memphis if doing them wet/sauced.

Myself, I use the Pit Barrel All-Purpose Rub, which is void of sugar. So I try to remember to put a good amount of my brown and white sugar combo before I wrap. Whether it is crutching, or wrapping to rest.

[smarkley]

Next time I do pulled pork I want to use Meathead's Carolina Mop sauce (modified with more brown sugar I think), adding the sauce when I pull it...

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/BBQ_sauces/east_carolina_BBQ_sauce.html

[_John_]

I have tried it and I like it. I try to stay away from saucing the meat, primarily because I want everybody to have something they like, not just the way I make it. I cooked pulled pork for 50 this weekend, that is enough people that I think going with one sauce would turn off quite a few of them.

[CandySueQ]

Salt if it needs it. I prefer sea salt, but that's just me. As far as commercial "finishing" rubs, there's lots of good ones out there. Big Poppa Smokers' Happy Ending, Smoking Guns Gunpowder, Obie Cue's Gator Breath, just to name 3. One thing though, if you're adding a rub (or even salt) to cooked, pulled pork, there's got to be some wet to melt that down. Whether it's apple juice, defatted pork juice, sauce or glaze.

[_John_]

I will check those out, thanks. This brings up a question I have had a few times recently about the defatted pork juice, how do you go about doing that? I have a fat separator but the way it works the pork is all gone by the time the solids have settled enough to remove them, any advice? This problem occurs a lot with leftovers, I get fatty pockets, usually concentrated at the bottom of the bag.

[_John_]

Said maybe another way, can some of the rub ingredients be separated into 2 steps, one for cooking and one for eating. For example the typical simple rub has

• Sugar
• Salt
• Paprika
• Pepper
• Typically small amounts of things like chili powder, onion or garlic powder, cumin, ginger etc.

We know the sugar and paprika are for the bark so they need to be on from the beginning, as do herbs that need heat and fat to dissolve, but can we move a few things like some salt and pepper out of the base and into the final product? When doing a large butt whole, most of the flavor from the rub and smoke are concentrated on the outside. You wouldn't want that strong of a flavor throughout, but according to MH smoke only penetrates a 1/4 inch. Since a pork shoulder is more rectangular to me than spherical, using my guesstimate of a large butt at 9" long, 9" wide, and 6" high we get a total of 486 cubic inches. If we assume a 1/4" penetration all around then we get 397 cubic inches that get no smoke or rub flavor at all, which is 82% of the whole thing. To me, when mixing it all together that 18% just doesn't provide enough flavor to the remaining 82% so I am thinking of ways to add a bit more. I have played with the idea of a quick smoke after pulling but don't want it dried out or too smokey.

[CandySueQ]

Use the solid strainer that fits in the top of your separator to keep out the big stuff out of the juice! Got a fancy strainer that has a plug in the pour spout that keeps fat out of the spout.

Also, separate fat out of the good stuff before vacuum sealing to freeze. It's always easiler to remove then rather than wait til it hardens up.