Sous and smoke pulled pork

[josht138]

So I did a pulled pork a few weeks ago. 24 hrs @165F and then straight to smoke for about 90 mins to 2 hrs. That time I had very tender meat with not so great bark and little smoke flavor. I read some suggestions to smoke from being cold to get the smoke to stick.

So round 2... I went about 22 hrs @165F, then straight into the fridge where it stayed for about 12 hrs or so. Then I smoked it between 225F and 260F for 4 hrs. When i pulled it the IT was 185. The bark was solid. The smoke flavor was likely not much better than last time. The one down side is that the meat was nowhere near as tender.

I'm thinking that 4 hrs may have been too long for smoke or maybe I should have went into an ice bath when I pulled from the bath or maybe I need to go at a lower water temp.

[DWCowles]

Sous vide-b-que looks awesome

[RonB]

I heard or read somewhere that you can actually just smoke the meat at around 225* for 10 or more hours and it will turn out with great bark and a smokey flavor. I'm not sure though - it could just be an internet rumor.

[josht138]

Good advice

[Breadhead]

I've done that cook twice for no other reason than to experiment. I had no guidance, I didn't copy any recipe, I just combined all of my BBQ experience with what little I had learned about Sous Vide cooking to that point, with the help of the Modernists Cuisine cook book on SV cooking.

When planning the cook... My first thought was what do I do about the stall? Will there be a stall? So... I decided I would SV the butt to 180°. Thinking that's generally past the normal stall temperatures.

Then I thought about how long it was going to take in the smoker for me to get the bark texture that I wanted? Knowing I would put it in the smoker at about 38°.

Then i thought about how am I going to get the smoke flavor I'm used too? So i decided an ice bath would be best after taking it out of the bath tub then putting it in the fridge overnight. That would allow me to put a cold clod of meat in the smoker, which smoke will adhere to best.

Then i thought... Do I cook to temperature (203°), probe softness, or do I cook to the look of the bark? Then I put my Thermapen probe into the meat, while cold, just to see where my starting point was. It had a long way to go.

I fired up my large BGE to 240° and put my pork butt on and put in more wood chunks than normal, all in one bunch right over the small fire. Thinking they will burn off in about one hour, not to be replaced with more chunks. I normally smoke at 225° but I thought the hotter temperature would build the bark faster. There was no stall. It did take a while for the meat temperature to increase because the starting point was 38°.

The end result was I smoked the butt for about 5 hours and got the bark color and texture I wanted and the meat was probe soft at that point and it was 205°. I got plenty of smoke flavor and the meat was moist and tender.

I will repeat that cook when time is an issue, entertaining guests, where I MUST serve it on time. In fact that's the only way I'll do that cook under those circumstances. I like knowing that it's about a 5 hour window so I can accurately plan.👍
On the other hand... A 14 to 16 hour full packer cook is no problem either.

Difference in food taste, texture, moisture? It's about a push. Most people would never be able to tell the difference.

Fire & Water is a perfect marriage... I think Meathead implied.😆

[josht138]

I also had no stall in my cook which makes sense when you see how much it rendered while in the bath. I was considering a lower temperature but hearing that you had success at 180 bath temperature changes my mind.

[EdF]

Breadhead - how long in the bath?

[Breadhead]

It was about 15/18 hours but you can be flexible on time in the bath tub.

[BBQCentralShow]

I heard if you add 2 cups liquid smoke and use a crock pot vs. Sous machine you really get authentic flavor and smoke ring. I think the website was www.crockpotbbq.com.

[josht138]

No bark though... c'est la vie.

[Koy Schoppe]

When I did my sous vide pulled pork, I went 24 hours at 165, just like you did. Then overnight in the fridge. At that point, really the meat is done. It is pull apart tender already. So when it goes into the smoker the next morning, it is all about adding flavor while preventing it from drying out. So it needs to be cold going in (to get the smoke to "stick" as you mentioned), and don't let the IT get above 165ish. I kept my smoker at about 200 for 5 hours or so, and it turned out great with nice smoke ring, and great smoke flavor.

Like Breadhead mentioned, it is great technique for when time is a factor (either lack of enough time, or need to be done at a specific time).

[josht138]

I'll try that next time. Although last time I did this I went directly from the bath to the smoker and went about 90 mins to 2 hrs with smoke and it was super tender edge to edge. I think I even had the temps in the smoker around 275 to 300. I'm not sure what the final IT was though.

[Atalanta]

Now I'm a smoking n00b here, but I thought I read that smoke sticks better when raw than cooked. Or am I confusing "raw" with "cold"?

[Koy Schoppe]

I think cold is the key...

[Ernest]

Cold meat.
I do the SV+BBQ On all tough cuts that would normally take 10 plus hours on smoker.
Will never go back

[josht138]

Ernest I don't know if I'll never go back, but it's been fun experimenting. I am planning a lunch cook for my team at work and their families. I was going to do pulled pork since it's so cheap so I've been testing to find the best method. Cooking in the bag and then leaving it in the fridge after the cook is very convenient. Especially since the morning of the cook I can grab all of the food, smoke it for what I think will need to be around 3 hours, and I got a full nights sleep without worrying about the cook or if my deck is on fire.

[rfeustel]

Anyone do it the other way? Smoke to 170. Fridge. Then sous vide at 185 for 24 hours, finishing with sous vide at 200?

[EdF]

I did it that way once for a lunch for about 25 colleagues on a bike trip. It came out quite nicely, though not much in the way of bark. Here's the note I kept: Smoked 3 hours at ~225, then 18 hours sous vide at 176F. Yielded 53% by weight.

[EdF]

OK, yesterday's experiment: two picnic shoulders that I boned so I could fit them in the SV bags. I wanted to try out Potkettleblack 's method of SV-ing at a lower temp, to go for meat that could be sliced or cubed and added to other dishes (there are only two of us here):

So, into the tub at 145 for 20 hours with small amount of seasoning . I'd have done 140 for 12-18 in retrospect. I'll say why later.



Then ice bath for about 20 minutes, drain a huge amount of purge into a bowl, dry, 2-3 (closer to 3) hours in the KBQ at ~240.

I lost a few pics along the way, but this is one of the two.



So, it was really dry, but tender, with decent bark. I realized this morning that I usually add the purge back in when I pull shoulder, so to be fair, this should have been served in some kind of sauce.

Next time less SV temp and time, lower the KBQ a wee bit to account for its convection effects. Then, see what happens!

In the meantime, we have to figure out what to put all this meat into. Oh, bummer!

[Potkettleblack]

I'd go down to 135*. Maybe 36-48. Then shock and fridge. Then smoke to bark.

[EdF]

Thanks, was looking forward to your comments. I assume the principle is mainly 1) slower raising of heat leads to less moisture shedding, 2) less chance of overcooking after a refrigeration?

[Potkettleblack]

Mostly. The refrigeration also goes with what Meathead and Doc B have said about smoke adherence. Better to colder meats and most smoke flavor in the first hour of smoking from raw.

[Michael Brinton]

Definitely be sure to follow the shock and fridge advice. You don't want to throw hot food in your refrigerator. It will raise the temperature on everything in there.