BBQ'ing pulled pork

Cafe Society
1

Last weekend, I made another attempt at pulled pork. Purchased a 5 lb boneless pork shoulder, brought out my Bible – The Weber Big Book of Grilling – and prepared a wonderful rub. Put it on the grill on indirect, medium (about 300) heat for about 4 hours (with hickory chips providing additional smoky goodness) until the internal temperature was at the designated 185.

It was not very good. It didn’t pull apart, so it wasn’t technically pulled pork…more like sliced, and tough, pork.

My girlfriend salvaged the leftovers, though, by putting them in a crock pot with BBQ sauce for another 7 hours. It fell apart wonderfully and was delicious – but you can’t really called it “BBQ” if it comes from a crock pot.

So what did I do wrong? Is it possible to cook a pork shoulder on a gas grill low & slow enough that it falls apart and is still moist & juicy & wonderful?

2

Not long enough and not low enough would be my guess. Did you let it set for a while before pulling? That is also something that people rush.

3

Yeah…pulled pork is done much lower and much longer. Like all day long. You just ended up with a pork roast, at that rate.

4

You need to get the internal meat temperature to 200F for it to shred easily.

The Weber Big Book of Grilling is aimed squarely at those who are into short attention span grill ops, not serious barbequeing. Nothing wrong with grilling, but that is steak, burgers, chicken, and the like.

If you like the flavor you got, but not the texture, finish it in the oven. Otherwise, try hot smoking, which will take you 6-8 hours on a grill, with 1-2 charcoal changes. I like apple and mesquite personally for smoke. Should you do this, get a starter chimney so the taste of the starter fluid doesn’t get into the meat.

Half the fun is in the experimenting. Good luck, and watch your belt size.

5

Like the others said, you need to be at about 225F for 8-10hrs.

Also, the burning propane produces a lot of moisture. You want a dry heat to properly barbecue, I’d stick with lump charcoal.

6

Interesting distinction between “grilling” and serious bbq. I love the Weber BBoG, but you’re right – it’s worked well for me for everything that cooks relatively quickly. Pulled pork has always been a disappointment.

Seems like lower & slower & much, much longer is the way to go. Try, try again.

(I’m using a gas grill, btw, although I don’t want to get into a holy war on charcoal vs gas. :slight_smile: )

7

Because charcoal would win :wink:

8

I was a charcoal bigot all my life, until I moved into an apartment complex that didn’t allow them, but did allow propane. I felt like a heretic, apostate, heathen…but I made the switch.

I can’t say propane’s better, but it’s sure convenient. Except for the running out of gas in the middle of cooking…that’s not good.

9

key is the temperature of the pork. Must be 190 plus degrees. It plateaus for a while at 180 or so before rising more rapidly after that

10

right -

indirect - 225 -275 - 300 isn’t too high - but its on the upper end - I did a 8# this past saturday and maintained 275 for the cook - it was perfect.

the main thing is to get the shoulder internally to 195 before pulling it off the grill - it should all but fall apart as your trying to take it from the grill (so be prepared) - the meat should be ‘wobbly’.

Once pulled from the grill - wrap in foil tightly and let sit (rest) for an hour - get the sides prepared for dinner.

It should shred with 2 forks at this point.

11

I smoke a 7lb pork butt at 225 for 14 hours, aiming for 190 degrees internal.

12

I won’t get into the propane v. charcoal either, because if you try to back me into a corner, I’ll say “Yes”.

You can’t beat propane for the short attention span stuff. If I’m making a burger or two, or a couple of pieces of chicken, I’d love to have propane because charcoal is a PITA. I fire up the grill on Sunday afternoon to make my lunch for the week, and I’ll do several items at once to make the charcoal hassle worthwhile.

OTOH, when I’m smoking, it’s an all day operation. I don’t mind the work involved with handling charcoal because the results make it worthwhile.

I judged a couple of small time BBQ contests at the local fair. Every one of the contestants used charcoal because of the flavor characteristics, and they were out to win.

BBQ restaurants are about evenly split on charcoal or gas in my sample universe. For them it’s a matter of economics.

13

300 is on the high end of barbecue, but it’s not going to kill you. You generally want to be in the 200-300F range. Some people like doing their pork barbecue really low. 225F is generally a good temperature to aim for. I like mine a little bit higher, more like 250-265. For a 8-10 pound pork shoulder, I finish at about 8 hours at that temp.

Pork will not pull at 185. That’s chopped pork territory. Each cut of meat is slightly different, but I find pork really starts to pull at anywhere from about 192-200F. You really shouldn’t do these things by temperature. Taking the temp will give you an idea of where you’re at, but when you’re finished, you should look for physical cues:

  1. The meat looks slumped in on itself, like it can’t support its own weight
  2. The bone easily pulls away from the meat
  3. A fork inserted in the pork offers very little resistance

I like my pork not-quite-pulled, so I take it off a bit earlier than that. It’s probably in the high 180s, low 190s.

KEY POINT TO UNDERSTAND: When dealing with collagen-heavy cuts of meat like pork shoulder or beef chuck (in a stew), it takes time for the collagen to transform into gelatin. This is what makes the meat “fall off the bone” or meltingly soft. The meat will tighten up and harden as it goes through its well done stage before “relaxing” from the collagen->gelatin conversion. If you make a stew or pot roast, taste the meat throughout the cooking process, and you will understand what’s going on. Before stew gets that “melt in your mouth” texture, it gets pretty rock hard. Same thing happens with barbecued pork shoulder. Just be patient. As mentioned above, there is a plateau with barbecuing pork shoulder, although by 185 it should be out of its plateau. I suspect your pork needed about one more hour to be done.

Now, does this mean you can’t overcook barbecue? Of course you can. But overcooked barbecue has a different texture to it. It’ll pull (unless you REALLY overshoot), but it will feel dry and stringy when you chew on it. If the pork shoulder is still hard to cut and solid, it’s probably just underdone.

So, tips for next time: try to get your temp more in the 225-275 range (though you can make barbecue at 300), be patient, and use your senses to determine doneness.

And, even though you finished it off in the crockpot, I’d give you a pass for calling it barbecue. I’ve finished off barbecue in the oven after hours of smoking due to circumstances, and have had no problem calling it barbecue. I’d be careful of the commercial barbecue sauces, though. Most of them contain liquid smoke-type flavoring, which to me defeats the whole point of you lovingly smoking the meat outside.

14

Oh, yes. I missed simster’s post. Let the thing rest in foil or a cooler for at least 30 minutes (preferably 45 minutes to an hour) before serving.

15

The last 9lb Boston Butt I barbecued took just under 16 hours at 225, and that was according to plan. It was a hit, and well worth the effort.

16

It’s incredible how much time a few degrees difference in temperature makes in finishing time.

17

Yeah, 300 isn’t really that low, and 4 hours isn’t that long. I usually do 225 for 6-12 hours, depending on the size.

If you have trouble controlling the temperature that low (or just want to be more efficient) you can smoke it on the grill for a few hours, then finish it in the oven. You’ll get pretty much the same flavor. I usually just chuck the whole thing in the oven and forget about it, pulled pork is supposed to be easy IMO. There’s certainly no shame in using an oven or even a crock pot as you did.

18

I’ll get crucified for this, but what the heck. There is nothing wrong with finishing meat in the oven or crock pot.

19

Yes, and don’t worry about temperature fluctuations. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just keep it in the ballpark. A typical smoke for me can fluctuate from 225-275, but usually it stays pretty solid around 250. On a homemade cinderblock smoker we use at a friend’s house when making meat in quantity (like 100 pounds or so), the temperature can vary anywhere from 175-350, depending on how diligent and careful we are about feeding the firebox. The barbecue works out well, regardless. Now, you don’t want it sitting at high temps for a long time, but the occasional flare-up that comes back down quickly is no problem.

20

What about the reverse? With both ribs and beer-can chicken, I’ll start them in the oven, then just finish them on the grill with wood chips for the last 20 minutes or so.