Holding No Wrap Pork Shoulder

BradBQ

Well-known member
Messages
183
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Grill(s) owned
  1. Bull
So ive decided to dabble in the world of not wrapping a pork shoulder for pulled pork. I feel comfortable with the process, the only question I have is the hold/rest. What is your guys' method? Are you placing in a pan and putting it into a preheated and then shut off oven at 170 once you pull it from the pit? or do you wrap it once it is pulled? I wouldnt think so as the point of the no wrap is to save bark. Alas, I defer to those with more experience! I appreciate your responses!
 
I just set it in a cold oven until it drops to a temperature that is comfortable to pull. That's a couple hours, IIRC.

Once it's pulled and in a tray, since no-wrap butt tends to be a bit dry, I like to add moisture and flavor by pouring a well seasoned broth over the meat. Don't worry, the bark will hold up to that.

BTW, I've found that very low (225) cooking temps result in dryer meat than higher temps. Too high and the bark is too thin. Too low, dry, but thick bark.
 
I just set it in a cold oven until it drops to a temperature that is comfortable to pull. That's a couple hours, IIRC.

Once it's pulled and in a tray, since no-wrap butt tends to be a bit dry, I like to add moisture and flavor by pouring a well seasoned broth over the meat. Don't worry, the bark will hold up to that.

BTW, I've found that very low (225) cooking temps result in dryer meat than higher temps. Too high and the bark is too thin. Too low, dry, but thick bark.
So are we talking 275 or higher? I plan to catch all my drippings, defat and reintroduce the liquid once pulled.
 
Depending on the time frame, for hours I double foil and wrap with blankets and into a cooler.
 
Just thinking out loud here, but I wonder if a foil boat on the bottom while exposing the top would be a happy medium between the a wrap and no wrap approach. I was planning to do an overnight cook so the higher temps that im not familiar with does cause some slight hesitation.
 
Just thinking out loud here, but I wonder if a foil boat on the bottom while exposing the top would be a happy medium between the a wrap and no wrap approach. I was planning to do an overnight cook so the higher temps that im not familiar with does cause some slight hesitation.
That's something I haven't done, but it might give you that bit of balance between moist and bark. As for the renderings, the juices mostly evaporate off and you end up with pretty much 2 components; fat and rendered collagen (gelatin). Granted, it's flavored gelatin. But I like to eat my pulled pork cold sometimes. When I use the renderings, the meat is a block of gelatin when cold, even if the fat is separated. So, I flavor and re-hydrate with pork broth that has been brought to a boil and some of the rub added to flavor the inner meat that rubs and smoke cannot penetrate to.

If you're going to do the "boat" method, you might consider using a 1/2 size disposable restaurant tray. It will protect from getting a leak much better than foil.

https://www.amazon.com/Minors-Pork-Base-16-Ounce/dp/B00J4B1RLM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3QK4PU6KO7DCW&keywords=pork+broth&qid=1645819876&sprefix=pork+broth,aps,123&sr=8-2
 
While I haven't tried wrapping a shoulder/butt, I did try doing one in an disposable aluminum tray, about an inch tall. I set it up on a small wire broiling rack to keep the meat out of the gunk. The top half of the butt was fine with decent bark, the lower part had none. As mentioned above, when I saw the renderings in the pan I decided against pouring on the pulled pork. I thought I'd get a pan of juice, got a pan of fat.

It does cook so it's worth a try to see if you like it.
 
Just thinking out loud here, but I wonder if a foil boat on the bottom while exposing the top would be a happy medium between the a wrap and no wrap approach. I was planning to do an overnight cook so the higher temps that im not familiar with does cause some slight hesitation.
I use an aluminum pan instead of foil boat. Just easier for me.
 
When I was working full time, I got into a pickle where I wouldn't have enough time to cook some butts for a party the next day unless I cooked during the day. I didn't have a pellet smoker then. Just a komado and an offset.

I probably could have used the komado with the draft controller, but I decided on just putting the butts each in a 1/2 restaurant tray and cooking them in the oven, covered while I went to work. I put them in before going to work and removed them when I returned at the end of the day. They were perfectly cooked. I removed them from the tray, which was full of renderings, pulled them, put the pulled meat in new aluminum trays and smoked it in the komado at around 350F + which created a crust of little smokey, crisp pieces, which I turned in a couple times, then let the crust build again to serve the tray. Since it tended to dry out, that's when I started adding broth with rub mixed in. This put the broth and rub flavors into the meat that had been deep in the butt. I got a lot of positive feedback on the flavor at the parties I catered with this.

DSC_3418.JPG
DSC_3413.JPG
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top