1st Pulled Pork

Unknown

Hi there, Going to try my first pork shoulder this weekend, and I would love a few tips or suggestions. First, I really can't do an all night cook, so I would like to know what cut of shoulder to buy for a 10-12 hour cook. What should I keep the temperature at? Does the meat need to be wrapped for a time after cooking? And finally, should I use a mop sauce to baste the shoulder? Thank you in advance for your time. Fudge

Mark Backer

Fudge,[p]Dr. BBQ's book has a turbo speed boston butt recipe in it, and it worked great.[p]If someone else doesn't have it handy and can't post it, I'll get it tonight and email it to you.[p](Assuming that that's not illegal. It's not, is it Dr. BBQ? Sharing one of your recipes, I mean?)[p]That said, you have to promise to buy Ray's book if I agree to share with you...LOL)

sprinter

Fudge,[p]A smaller boston butt should be done in plenty of time. If you can find a butt about 5-7 pounds you will be in that timeframe without any problems. Run the temp of the cooker about 250 and you can expect about 1 1/2 hours a pound to get the butt to 190 or so. As far as wrapping, if the butt gets done early, by a few hours, you can wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler wrapped in a towel and it will be fine. I would recommend doing that for an hour before serving anyway to let the juices of the pork redistribute. Not mandatory but my experience says it helps a bit. In regard to the mop or baste etc. I just rub mine well and let it cook. I add sauce to it, or put it out, when I serve it but I cook it dry rubbed only.[p]Hope this helps, good luck with the pork.[p]Troy

Unknown

sprinter,
thank you very much, will try everything and see how it goes. Any tips are very helpful and I appreciate!!!

fishlessman

<p />Fudge,
i pretty much follow elderwards techniques in the recipe section. make sure to read all 4 parts. i did a 9.5 pound picnic shoulder and about a 8 pound flat over night in about 16 hours. but smaller pieces will cook faster. temp ranged between 235-250. for faster cooks i would start at 275 for a few hours, drop the heat to 225 during the platuea stage, and raise the heat back up to 275-300 after the meat reaches about or past 180 degrees. as for all nighters, i dont stay up all night. i typicaly light the grill after work and stabilize it for 2 hours. put the wood chunks in and wait about 20 minutes and put the meat in at 8 that evening. i check it at 10 before bed. wake up around 1 or 2 and use a bent coat hanger thru the bottom grate to loosen any ash that may be clogging the holes and go back to bed until the morning. thats an all nighter with out a guru. 5-10 minutes in the middle of the night to check on things.

Unknown

fishlessman,
Thanks very much, everything should help me out.

Groundfish

Fudge,[p]i did a 4.3 lb butt for my first cook so i could watch it all day. here's what i did:
night before
coat butt with mustard and dry rub, put in ziplock & fridge
clean all old lump out of egg and clear all fire holes
load egg with large lump on the bottom and then a mix of lump with hickory chunks. fill up and into the firebox
morning
take butt out of fridge
light fire and let it burn to about 300, adjust dampers and head back down to 220 - 240 at the grate over the drip pan.
put butt on for 12 hours or so. i pulled my first one at 195 internal and it still had some fat so now i go to 200.
i use the maverick et-73 remote thermometer and love it.[p]now i do bigger butts and do all night cooks while i mostly sleep except for a peek at the remote thermometer when i happen to wake up.[p]start with fresh lump, don't skimp and don't have the wind blowing in your egg and you should be fine for a long stable fire.[p]

sprinter

Groundfish,[p]Sounds like a great plan. One thing I would caution though is to start dampering the fire on the way UP as opposed to shutting it down and cooling it off. Its much easier to let it creep up than to try and cool off a fire that is starting to really get going.[p]Not saying its the RIGHT way, whatever works for you. Just thought I'd put that in there. For newbies on the egg who already have enough temperature control issues to begin with this may help give them a way to stay on top of the fire rather than try and get it back under control after getting hot. Then again, it may not, but it cant hurt. Just my two pennies, this advice and a quarter may get you a cup of coffee somewhere.[p]Troy

Adrian B.

Fudge,
Since opinions are like.....here's mine. :~)[p]Ray Lampe aka Dr BBQ said it best in his Big Time book: "BBQ is done when it is done." So trying to time it exactly won't work. I speak from experience. Here is my suggestion.[p]Use a smaller cut, about 7lbs or so. [p](Assuming you don't grill on your egg the night before) The night before your cook, get your egg ready by following some of the other suggestions regarding cleaning the egg and loading it with lump. That way all you have to do in the morning is light 'er up. After that, get out your pork butt or picnic and rub it down really good (except the fat cap because that is just wasting rub) then put it in a big 2-gallon ziploc bag. Get as much air out of it as possible and zip it up and put it in the fridge. Put some hot water in a bucket, big bowl or whatever you want to use for your wood chunks. Put a few in the water overnight to soak.[p]The morning of your big bbq shindig, get up early - cockadoodledoo early. Take the meat out of the fridge. Bury one of your wood chunks down in the middle of your charcoal. Light up the egg, let it start rising in temp, damper it so it stays at about 250 dome. While the egg is starting up, rub down your meat again with more rub. When it is pretty stable, throw your other chunks on there. Put your plate setter on, then your drip pan, then your grid. [p]Throw the meat on and leave it alone, just checking the temp gauge every now and then to make sure your egg hasn't gone crazy or gone to sleep. In about 10-1/2 to 11 hours your meat should be done. Hopefully you have a remote thermometer to tell you how it's going without opening up the lid. [p]When it's done, wrap it in a couple layers of foil, then put in an empty cooler with towels on top of it. It will stay hot for hours. I pulled a picnic off the other night at 5:30pm, and didn't pull it until midnight - and still burned my fingers a few times![p]I hope it goes OK for you. And don't be scared of overnight cooks. I layed awake for a while the first time I did it, but I've slept like a baby every time since then. You can too, as long as you build your fire the right way. :~)