After I got my first Egg, and learned how to maintain a low temperature, I was delighted to be ablle to finally produce good ribs and pulled pork, and even OK brisket. I was very skeptical about "turbo" methods that cooked at higher temperatures. After reading the article over at "Amazing Ribs," that described what the stall/plateau was, and how it could be removed by foiling the meat, I decided I would give it a try. In part, this was because I've found that when some folks come over, they are like, "Where's the ribs? What, no pulled pork!?" and I wanted to offer them some without starting the day before.

This was my third attempt at pulled pork. It was good, and very quick, indeed. But I've got a way to go before the product equals lo-n-slo.

The butt was a little over 6 pounds, without much fat. I put lots of my own rub on. I have to admit, the mixture still needs work, and its less than stellar quality may have reduced the butt's final flavor.

I gave the Egg a good cleaning, and checked the dome thermometer. Put in a load of Cowboy, and some big chunks of apple and cherry. I used my usual set-up. Grill, drip pan, grill extender, and let the fire stabilize at 325.

At 1 hour, I decided I had to check. The thermopen showed very little warming w.most places still at 70F. At about 2 hours I found it mostly in the 140s. I came back a half hour later, and found the dome temperature up to 370,and the internal meat temp above 170.

I double foiled the butt w. a little extra maple syrup. It was slightly softened at that point, and there was some bark. Closed the vents some to bring the temperature back closer to 325. One hour later, the internal temp was around 205.

The first pic shows the butt as I unwrapped it. The bark had melted, as I expected. I placed the butt back on the grill, and shut the vents down to what would produce about 250.  I found there was about a cup of drippings in the foil. Once it had cooled enough to taste, I found much of the rub flavor in it.

The second pic shows the butt after another 1/2 hour. The bark, what there was of it, was dry, and in places crispy. Note how much the meat has pulled back from the bone.

The third pic is the juice that I poured out of the foil. I ended pouring most of it back over the shredded pork. I rested the meast in foil for about 15 minutes. There was a little more juice in the foil, which was also put on the shreds.

And here is where it was a little strange. I was able to pull large chuncks of meat from the bone. The bone came out almost completely clean. Despite this, and the meat having been at 205, it was not really pullable. It was shredable. The shredded meat picture shows that the fibers were not glistening and moist.

There was a decent amount of flavor, but the bark was very inferior. I saved some of the rendered juices, and they are somewhat less gelatinous than I might have expected. There was a good bit of rub sediment at the bottom.

In terms of time, the cook was very fast, about 3 hours, 45 minutes. In terms of product quality, I'd have to say it was no better than average.

I suspect the period where the temperature went to 370 may have driven off too much water. Possibly, the short time even at higher temperature was not enough to fully break down the collagen. I think it might have been good to pour the foil juices back over the butt during the last half hour.