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First Pulled Pork - Charred and DRY!

VInyljunkee
VInyljunkee Posts: 20
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I cooked my first Boston Butt (7 lbs) on my new XL Egg last night. I was able to get the grill to a steady 230 degrees, and the pork cooked from about 10 pm last night until 9 am this morning. I followed the recipe on the Big Egg sight in terms of temp and suggested timing. The pork registered about 192 degrees this morning after only 11 hours of cooking The grill was still at about 200 degrees but fading fast. I cooked on indirect using the Big Egg place setter with no foil. The roast simply sat on an aluminum pan.

The pork had a very thick char (bark) on the outside that was essentially black. The meat overall was quite dry compared to what I expected, and I must have had to throw away one third of the roast.....the parts that were black and crusty.

Any ideas from those of you with more experience? What went wrong?

Comments

  • TXTriker
    TXTriker Posts: 1,177
    Good morning, VInyljunkee.

    Did you have your grid on top of your plate setter legs up?
  • Yes, the legs of the place setter were up (per the instructions of my local dealer).
    :unsure:
  • Sounds like you went by internal temperature rather than time, which is the right thing to do. A typical newbie mistake is to follow the time recommendation.

    In terms of the charred exterior and dry meat, the first thing that comes to mind is the actual temperature of the cook - if your Egg was at 230 degrees cooking indirect, it really shouldn't be possible to char the meat like that. Have you calibrated your dome thermometer recently (check it by using boiling water, and adjusting if necessary)? It may be possible that your actual cook temperature was much higher than you thought. That would also account for the Egg 'fading fast' toward the end of your cook. You should be able to smoke at low temps for more than 24 hours on one load of lump.

    I've never tried a butt in a roasting pan as you described. What I usually do is put the plate setter legs up, with a drip pan in the plate setter. I then put the butt directly on the grate over the drip pan. Not sure if that would cause your issues, but it's something to consider. Others may want to chime in here if you've cooked a butt this way...

    If you haven't already looked at it, check out the detailed instructions for cooking pulled pork written out by Elder Ward and posted on the Naked Whiz's site at http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm. This provides a great starting point for how to prepare your fire and cook your butt in the Egg.

    Hope your next cook goes better,

    -John
  • HungryNephew
    HungryNephew Posts: 267
    Did you put a rub on the butt before smoking? The outside is supposed to be a bit crisp.

    At 192, you were closer to slicing temp than pulling temp. I usually go 200 internal. Some go as high as 210.

    Usually, I put the plate setter legs up like you did. Then I put a aluminum pan on the setter (drip pan). Then, the grate on top of the setter and but on the grate fat cap down (some will argue up is better). The way you did it does not allow for air to flow under the butt. If the fat cap was down you might have been ok.

    Hope my rambling helps.
  • Thank you for the tips. I will definitely try it with a drip pan on the place setter the next go round. I'll also attempt to calibrate the thermometer....the Egg is new so I assume its thermometer would be OK. Thanks also for the link. This forum is awesome!
  • Thank you for your response. Yes, I did use a rub that was heavily laden with brown sugar (Food Network recipe by one of the top chefs). However, while I expected some "bark" as they say, this was clearly a case of the meat drying out.

    What meat I did salvage pulled very nicely and is tasty.

    I will definitely go with the drip pan on the place setter the next time.
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Never ASS U ME.. Calibrate the thermometer. Check the calibration of what ever you were checking the meat with too.

    PUlled Pork

    Elder Ward and I differ over the way to cook a pork butt, but they are both good

    My other question is are you absolutely sure you had a pork butt and if so where did you buy it. Most grocery Stores sell enhanced pork. That enhancement is nothing but a brine solution. If you had an Enhanced Butt it will be hammy and somewhat dry.
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    Pretty sure 99.9% of the thermometers are off when new. Sure wish you had posted pictures of this dry pork. It could be the 1st one so far.
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    165-180 is slicing temp. 190-205 is pulling time..
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    All the drip pan does is stop the grease from flowing into the hot lump and making ugly bitter smoke. It will not prevent the bark.

    See my response below. It sounds like you either didn't have a Pork Butt or you had one that was enhanced.
  • Thanks for you responses. I purchased the roast from a very reputable local grocer. I'd be surprised if it is enhanced but I will ask them.

    Have you read the Elder Ward write up? Is it critical to set up the fire the way he suggests?
  • TXTriker
    TXTriker Posts: 1,177
    HEB claims they do not enhance their meat. Kroger,Randall's, and Wal-Mart both do. The label should say if it is enhanced or some other term. The Wolf pointed that out to me some time ago and I always look at the fine print for that statement.
  • TXTriker
    TXTriker Posts: 1,177
    I'm also wondering if that throw away could have been salvaged with a sharp knife to make like chopped brisket with bbq sauce. I'd hate to throw it out if it could be used some way.
  • I'm not sure it's critical to set up EXACTLY the way he suggests, but the principles are good. You want to avoid blocking the air holes, and by using his method, the large pieces of lump at the bottom prevent ash and small bits of lump from clogging the holes. I've more or less followed this method on all my low and slow cooks, and gotten great results. I've been able to cook for more than 24 hours on my large this way.

    -John
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    My problem is you keep calling it a roast. The is a thing called a Butt Loin Roast that is NOT a Pork Butt. While it is close to being a butt, it's leaner. leaner means dryer if cook low and slow like a Pork Butt.

    The whole reason for cook a butt, picnic or shoulder lo and slow is to give the fat and collagen a chance to render out of the meat. That rendering coats the muscle fibers with goodness and makes it moist..

    .o0(I have been watching Alton Brown too much).

    Korgers, Harris Teeters, Food lion, Hannafords, Smart N Save, Winco, Piggy Wiggy, Safeway, Giants and Price Chopper are all reputable grocers but they all sell enhanced meat. Remember a majority of their customers are not BBQ'r. They are silly folks who only cook indoors and that enhancement gives them a better final product.
  • My bad use of terminology ALton (-:

    I asked for a Boston Butt at the meat counter of a local, independant grocer that is highly respected in our area. The person at the counter responded without question and indicated they would do a custom cut for me......she asked someone from the butcher's area/room behind the counter. 10 minutes later I had the Boston Butt (which is really pork shoulder, blade in, as I understand it).

    I am fairly certain I need to calibrate the temperature gauge. Looked at your site for cooking pulled pork and found it to be helpful.
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    ACKKK Custom Cut usually means they trimmed all the fat off.. Next time tell her to leave it on..

    That fat is the key to moist pulled pork, though I am sure Fidel will disagree with me.. You can produce moist pulled pork with all the fat off, but you need to be careful..
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    External fat isn't the key to moist pulled pork, internal intra-muscular fat and gelatin are.

    The collagen does not render out so much as it converts to gelatin during the cook. That fat cap doesn't do much if anything to keep the meat moist.

    But what do I know? I just had to respond since you called me out.
  • Bob V
    Bob V Posts: 195
    Read through the other comments and can only add that most folks wrap the butt in foil and let it rest for an hour or two before pulling, sometimes in a portable cooler (without ice, natch). This resting period allows all the juices that have been flowing out of the meat during the collagen break to redistribute back into the meat. Finally, when you do pull the pork apart most folks chop up the bark and mix it in with the inside non-bark meat. Not only does that add variety and layers of flavor to the pulled pork, but it re-hydrates the bark layer.

    Bob V
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    ---editted
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    yeah
    you can oull at 185. not as easy, but achievable
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • OttawaEgg
    OttawaEgg Posts: 283
    Here's how I cooked my first butt, and it turned out absolutely perfect.

    Followed NakedWhiz instructions for pretty much everything.

    I slathered the butt with mustard (dijon), then applied a rub. While it was sitting, I got the egg going and stable at about 230-240 ish.

    Plate-setter on (legs up), drip pan filled with white wine (recipe said water or apple cider - but hey, I like wine), then the grill on top, then the piggie in a v-rack with my remote temperature dooie.

    Went on at 1240am, cooked steady right up to 200F which was around 5:10pm (16 1/2 hours). Then I wrapped in foil for about 50 minutes (no blanket/cooler as we were ready to eat for 6pm). When I unwrapped it, it practically fell apart. Nice bark, good smoke ring, and nice and juicy.

    Pics here: http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=669186&catid=1
  • Jeffersonian
    Jeffersonian Posts: 4,244
    I'm going to agree with those suggesting you check your dome thermometer. I've done a lot of butts at a fairly broad range of temps. I've had a dark bark before, but the pulled pork itself has never been dry. The only way I could see this happening is if your dome temperature was significantly different from what you thought it was.
  • Thank you Ottawaegg. Your pork looks great, and nothing like mine did. I am convinced that I had a temperature problem and didn't know it due to not calibrating the new egg's thermometer.

    Can you please tell me the weight and cut of pork you used?
  • Felix
    Felix Posts: 12
    Aside from the possible thermometer issue, might the sitting directly in the pan thing be the issue? It sounds like that would cause the bottom of the butt to sear rather than roast. Sure, it's a low temp., but there's got to be a big difference between 12 hours surrounded by 230 deg air and 12 hours in contact with 230 deg. metal.

    If the therm. turns out to be working, try it with the drip pan under the grate next time. I bet you'll be happier with the result.