pulling pork question

[PitRow]

Yesterday I smoked up a couple butts (sorry no pics, camera battery was dead). Smoked them to 195 then wrapped in towels and let them set for about 3 hours before pulling.

They were still plenty warm when I went to pull them, so much so that I scorched most of my finger tips when pulling it.

So my question to you all is, how do you pull your pork (or other meats) without burning yourself? What's your technique?

I usually grab hunks of it with tongs and transfer it to a bowl, then I use my hands to pick out all the fat and connective tissues and such off each hunk as I go, which requires me to dig in with my hands, and end up scorching them. After I've removed all the yuckies, then I shred it with forks.

How do you get all the junk out of the meat without burning yourself, yet still have meat warm enough to serve?

[Seboke]

I'll open it up after the cooler rest, give it a good smoosh to break it up, and move the smaller pieces - which cool faster than the large one - to a pan. I just use my hands to "shred" the meat and remove the gunk, and I wear latex gloves. Not a great barrier to something really hot, but just that little bit helps! Did the fork thing when I first started smoking butts, but can do it soooooo much faster with the fingers.

[Texas-Hunter]

Get yourself a pair of Bear Paws... It will be the best $10 you will spend.. Your fingers will thank you..




http://www.bbq-tools.com/store/index...41&ParentCat=2








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[Kingudaroad]

Get yourself a pair of Bear Paws... It will be the best $10 you will spend.. Your fingers will thank you..




http://www.bbq-tools.com/store/index...41&ParentCat=2

Great idea! Damn, I'm running out of room in m.y kitchen for all my gadgets

[Dionysus]

The bear paws work great, but be careful, I was surprised how sharp those plastic things are.

[davidmcg]

Great idea! Damn, I'm running out of room in m.y kitchen for all my gadgets

Build a new smoke room.

[davidmcg]

Oh yea, I have bear paws. Used them once, they worked great. I must like pain and punishment I have gone back to my fingers.

[travcoman45]

I got a pair of insulated pvc gloves from my local farm store, work great, hands don't get burnt an they be textured so stuff don't slip. Use em fer pullin stuff outa the smoker to. Wash em up with hot soap an water afterwards.

[Gunslinger]

Bear paws all the way. I used to do it with bare hands. OUCH!!!
The nice thing about the bear paws is you can use them to lift and move big hunks of meat too.

[Kyote]

Just wondering what the differnce would be between choping and pulling?
I notice on the tube everyone seems to put the pork on a cutting board and use a big knife and chop it. is it just preference? they make some nice bamboo salad servers that look like the bear claws that should do a great job also.

[thepoolguy]

Big difference between pulled and chopped, get yourself some bear claws, they will make life easy for you, have had mine now for many years and still going strong, just like gunslinger said they are great for moving meat around and on and off the smoker.

[Seboke]

Just wondering what the differnce would be between choping and pulling?
I notice on the tube everyone seems to put the pork on a cutting board and use a big knife and chop it. is it just preference? they make some nice bamboo salad servers that look like the bear claws that should do a great job also.

Huge difference between pulling an chopping. When you pull, you get your hands on every piece of the meat, allowing you to fish out the globs of fat and connective tissues. Maybe the fat cap comes off before chopping, but there's plenty of fat marbled inside a butt that will be mixed in with the meat if ya start slingin a cleaver at it. Next time you pull a butt, see for yourself - as you separate the fat from the meat, keep the fat in a bowl. If you have a kitchen scale, I'll wager you'll come up with around one full pound of fat.

[HawgHeaven]

After the towel wrap, I let the roasts sit for a spell unwrapped. I don a pair of powder free nitrile gloves and dig in... no toolage required. BTW, be sure to reserve the juices from the meat, skim off the fat, and add it back into the meat once you have finished pulling it...

[PitRow]

Next time you pull a butt, see for yourself - as you separate the fat from the meat, keep the fat in a bowl. If you have a kitchen scale, I'll wager you'll come up with around one full pound of fat.

Yep, what he said. This set of butts that I did were 13.5 pounds raw, and though I didn't weigh it, I'd swear the fat and tissue and everything else that I deemed inedible probably weighed close to 3 pounds, judging by it's heft carrying it to the garbage can. And that's not including the bones. Though I do tend to cull out probably more than I should.