A Dissertation on Smoking a Lot of Pulled Pork

[Seboke]

pretty much how I do it. With a couple of exceptions.

I leave the pork fat up for the whole cook I figure it melts and keeps the meat moist - cook in pans the whole time - so you don't lose the juices and you don't get crap all over your smoker (have to pour a bunch of liquid out before foiling).
And I rub the meat the night before.

Seems to work :-)

Good idea ther CA with using the pans the whole time, but I don't have the problem of a lot of drip building up with the plate in the reverse flow, with the drain open and a metal bucket to catch all the crap. Lots of different preference on the fat cap up or down. I use it as a insulator that can burn the hell up if the bottom gets too much heat. I just scrape the fat off when I pull and it doesn't matter how burned up the fat is. One flaw I think from panning the whole time with the fat up is you have a good meaty side in the pan that won't get bark formed.

I wish I could rub the night before, and I would if I only had a butt or two to do, but I just don't have the fridge room to hold 80 lbs of butts. Took me forever to "convince" the wife that my garage freezer is my BBQ ONLY freezer. Someday I hope to have a garage fridge just for me. But anyhow, I won't drag that Lang out for only two butts. I'm in the market for a backyard smoker so I can do small family stuff...

[northern greenhorn]

Nice post, and I learned me something today

[Seboke]

Got a 25 pounder finished weight cook coming. Might just try the halving method. Thanks Seb!

Oh...2-3 pounds packs, eh? I was considering 5...too big huh?

I have done some 5 pounders when I cook ahead and I know how much finished I need, but yeah, the 5 pounders are a bit big for the pot, and they take a little longer to get reheated. Most of the time now, I'll pull out the packs and let them thaw a bit on the counter the night before the reheat, then into the fridge overnight so I'm not trying to reheat a solid frozen chunk, especially if they are larger paks.

[Seboke]

That was actually super helpful. I like that you explain it is OK to be a little off with temps and you use the law of averages. I discovered the using of foil pans completely by accident. I think they are an awesome tool. Seboke thanks for all that. My only gripe and it is because I AM A MORON is I wish for the quoted part you had a video, or pics.

I'll photo-document that process next time I fire it up!

[Seboke]

Nice post Seboke - I'll toss ya some points for the effort.

I've cooked large amounts of butt as well so I'm taking some things away from this, and adding comments:

Take Aways:
I'll have to try halving them - I like the idea of more bark, and they gotta be easier to manuvere in the smoker. Question - why don't you just debone them instead of cleavering them? Seems like there would be some little bone fragments left doing it that way.

Great idea on the rub shaker - I don't have one, but know exactly what you're talking about.

Comments:
Try taking them to 195 instead of 200+ - I think it makes a lot of difference on the final bit through give the fact that the reheat also breaks them down a bit too - if you're re-heating 8 butts, the hold time is at least an hour figuring the serving time.

I'm with CA - I leave them fat cap up through the entire process.

You are spot on with the freeze and re-heat. I just ate a package of pulled pork this week that I smoked in Oct of 2010 - tasted like it was straight out of the smoker.

Anyone planning on a re-heat should try panning them - that liquid gold on the reheat is priceless! What I do is pour the liquid from all pans into a large stock pot and stick it in the fridge or outside if temps permit... once it has cooled, the fat layer can be easily scooped or popped off, and you're left with pure jelly goodness!



Tracey

Thanks for the points Tracey, and everyone else...

The only reasons I don't debone is my lack of deboning skills and the time it takes to do it. Again, most of the time I pull out the smoker, I'm doing 8 or 10 butts. I think also that the bone keeps a heck of a lot of flavor. What I hack with the cleaver when I do the split only leaves an inch or two of the pointy end in the other half, and pulling by hand, I never miss it.

One other thing I have done - when I cook a big mess of pork, sometimes I just get sick of messing with it for the day, but still have pans of pork to deal with. I'll stick that whole pan in the freezer, juice and all. Then a week, two weeks later, I'll pop the whole pan in the oven at 300 for 3 hours to reheat it to pull and package.

That is exactly what I do with the retained liquid. I'll add about a quarter cup of the meat jelly per two pounds of the reheated meat when it goes into the pan and mix it in.

Good call on pulling at 195. I have noticed a bit of mushiness on reheating, that should solve it...

[Rocko]

Seboke, thanks a million for giving out your information. I always like to see what people do and like to learn as much as I can. I definitely will use the pan method after they are up to about 160 or so. My next big smoke will be for a large group of friends and family and I am planning on doing about 15 to 20 8# butts and the pan will save me tons of time not wrapping each one! Thanks!

[Gyroman]

I followed this pretty close yesterday on 4 butts. It worked really well. I could only find boneless (deboned) butts at cash and carry so I didn't halve them, but followed everything else pretty close. I rubbed them down the night before and put them in the fridge. Pulled them from the fridge for about an hour before they went on the smoker. Left them alone on the UDS for 4 hours, just as directed then put in the thermometers. Another hour and half and I hit 165. I put them in pans and foiled tight just as directed. At this point I switched my butts from one rack to the other in the UDS. The bottom butts were about 10 degrees ahead at this point. About 2 hours later they finished at 195 in a dead heat. I put them all in the cooler with hot wet towels and let them rest for 2 hours.

It was the easiest pulling I've done in a long time. Incredibly tender and just fell apart. Only took a few minutes to pull each butt and it's probably the best pulled pork I've ever made. It's the first time using the UDS for pulled pork and I love it.

Thanks for the great tutorial Seboke!

[Texas-Hunter]

That's good to read... Seboke can smoke up a ton of meat in his Lang for sure.. Oh...Welcome to Smoked-Meat Gyroman

[Richtee]

Yes, welcome to Smoked-Meat! And I find the method well worth the extra prep too.