Pulled pork question

Unknown

I am 13 hrs into my first Elder Ward pulled pork. I am wondering about temp control of hte fire. I layered the charcoal in the large, medium, small format that elder Ward described and started the fire. But I had some dificulties stabilizing the temp at 200F. It would vary between 150 and 300F. Although both the Daisy wheel and the bottom slide vent were almost completely closed the temp remained stubbornly at 300F by the time I was ready for bed at 11pm. I was fearful the fire would go out if I closed them any further. The internal temp of the butt was 175 at that point. When I checked thing this morning the dome temp was 150 and the meat was 145. My question is what to do at this point. If the internal meat temp made it to 200 after I went to bed and then cooled off, would you take the pork off the Egg now or would you raise its temp to 200 after a more normal cooking time of 18 hrs?

Gfw

Arnie, stick it with a fork and you'll quickly know whether it is pullable - my guess is that it isn't - if it were mine I would bring the dome temp back to the 250 range and wait until the internal temp hits 200 or it passes the fork test. [p]I know it will turn out great! Are you passing out samples?

Tim M

Arnie,[p]One problem with posting recipes is that if a better way comes along the next day - too bad because the recipe is in print. That is one huge downfall of the BGE cookbook and a reason they are going to update it someday and why no one should use it now. Same with the forum recipes. GFW and I try to update our websites with any current changes to a recipe (or at least I do). If I post something in a recipe at 375 deg and I do my next one at 400 and its better - I change the webpage to match. I refer to my site as "my" cookbook and notes (everyone should keep their own to refer to). So with that said, some recipes on the forum are not best followed verbatum. EW's Pulled Pork is one. Its a good read and pretty much on target BUT....[p]Don't sort lump. Always use fresh lump in a pulled pork cook because you need 20+ hrs of burn time and having some old lump in there won't help that. Don't worry about layering or cleaning out the egg first either - dump in the lump and stir and dump in more to fill the firebox. Then hold 225 min dome temp and 250 is better. 200 is just too hard to hold and any change in the fire or grease drips can put it out easily at that low temp. Keeping the fire going 20+ hrs is the only hard part of puller pork and its not that hard. Have fun and Welcome!![p]Tim M


[ul][li]-- Tim's world of BGE --[/ul]

Unknown

Gfw,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a pro at the fork test but it sure seemed done to me, with the possible exception of the thickest part of the butt. I think I'll raise the internal temp and removed it after another hour on the Egg and then wrap it in aluminum foil. Only problem is that the guests aren't scheduled to arrive for another 5 hours. Think it will be OK to leave it wrapped in foil for that period of time? And yes, I'd love to share this beauty with you. Thank goodness that Egg is so forgiving!

Tim M

Arnie,
Like Gordon said, take it to 200 internal. If it goes to 205 or 210 its fine too. PP is really easy because you can't hardly go wrong. That rascal will stay hot for a long time!! You won't even want to pull it for 2 hrs until it cools some. [p]Tim

Unknown

Tim m,
Thanks for the tips on the lump and the temps. This first effort at pulled pork reminds me of how I felt when our first child was due for delivery. It real hard to wait when your sense of anticipation is so heightened.

Fireball

Arnie,
In foil, and wrapped in a couple a thick towels, and placed in an ice chest your butt in stay warm for hours. Enjoy and welcome to the forum.
Fireball

Fireball

Arnie,
In foil, and wrapped in a couple a thick towels, and placed in an ice chest your butt in stay warm for hours. Enjoy and welcome to the forum.
Fireball

Gfw

Arnie, the foil method of keeping warm works great. I usually make pulled pork with the intention of having leftovers which I freeze - at a future date we thaw the PP and nuke it in the microwave at 30% for about 5-6 minutes - it tastes like it just came off the BBQ - great for reheating PP or left over ribs.

Unknown

Thanks guys for all your input. At 17 hours I removed the butt from the Egg. Now it's wrapped in foil and towels and resting in a insulated chest until the guests show up. But you know what? On removing it from the v-rack it separated into 3 exquisitely smelling pieces. I can hardly wait.

Gfw

Arnie, sounds like it made the perfect transition from Boston Butt to "Pulled Pork"! Have a great day!