Bull Pulled pork question

[Gvineyard68]

Good day,

I have just gotten my Bull last month and I love it, I do have a question though. We have used electric smokers for years and we found that we could put a pork butt on for 225 degrees for 15 to 16 hours and it pulled perfectly. We tried our first butt last night, used low smoke for half an hour and then 225 for 15 hours but it did not pull well. Great sliced. Any suggestions for good pulled pork? I have not tried wrapping with foil,normally we cook 6 or more butts so wrapping each would be problematic.

 

[Tombo]

At what temp. did you take it off the grill? It should have been 200-205

 

[Gvineyard68]

It was at 180 degrees we I pulled it off, ket it rest about 20 mins.

 

[Gonefishin]

That sounds like the reason it didn't pull. Go by temp and or tenderness, not time. I go by temp but then check it for tender using my instant thermometer probe.

 

[Greg Jones]

I cook mine at 235* until the IT is 205*, then wrap it in a towel and put it in a small cooler for a minimum of 1 hour, preferably 2, or even longer if needed because of when guests arrive. Always pulls great.

 

[Gvineyard68]

My concern was that it was starting to dry out, even with my water bucket.

 

[ccmjr77]

I think the water bucket in the pellet grill does nothing but lower the grill temp. As said above, go by internal temp.

 

[Gonefishin]

If you haven't, you might verify the grill temp with a 3rd party thermometer?

 

[Gvineyard68]

I have checked the temp and it is spot on. So it appears I made the classic error of time over temp and combined with a lean cut of pork butt I ended up with pork roast, good but not what I wanted.
Next time, a fattier piece,cooked till a minimum 200 IT and let rest for at least an hour.

Thanks all for help. I really appreciate it.

George

 

[ifican]

So with your electric smoker you knew it well. You will learn this one well in time but its not going to be same same. I suspect the electric was upright and sealed better so there was also a distinct convective element to your timing. Yes there is one with the pellet grill as well but again, is not same same. You safest best bet is to always cook to temp unless your doing something that is very hard to pull a consistent temp on, then you will have others means to validate doneness. Also even though its more work you will be better off misting than a bowl of water in a pellet setup and thats again because airflow is distinctly different. Its not going to hurt so much as its not going to help as much as one would expect.

 

[Gvineyard68]

So with your electric smoker you knew it well. You will learn this one well in time but its not going to be same same. I suspect the electric was upright and sealed better so there was also a distinct convective element to your timing. Yes there is one with the pellet grill as well but again, is not same same. You safest best bet is to always cook to temp unless your doing something that is very hard to pull a consistent temp on, then you will have others means to validate doneness. Also even though its more work you will be better off misting than a bowl of water in a pellet setup and thats again because airflow is distinctly different. Its not going to hurt so much as its not going to help as much as one would expect.

Thank you for the suggestion about spritzing I had not thought of that I had always used a bucket with water and apple juice.

 

[GH41]

Like most have said... Temp not time. I cook at 225 until it stalls and wrap to finish. 205 to pull after resting.

 

[Beach Bum]

I've been working with my Bull for a few months, after 5 years on an upright electric. It is different. For sure the advice on internal temperature is helpful. It is something I had to learn. My first brisket involved lots of clock and thermometer watching. I just waited it out and was really happy. Water pan was not necessary, which was a big change from my past experience on other smokers.

 

[Gvineyard68]

We have used an electric smoker for probably 20+ years. Loved the ease of it, no wood or charcoal to constantly fuss with, just good meat. This grill is a completely different beast and I foresee a learning curve. We did 5 racks of ribs two weeks ago and they were the best we ever did but we did not do them on the electric so no old habits to break.

 

[mooncusser2k]

I'll say it again: Meat can't tell time.

 

[BretM]

As others have said;

A) Buy the correct cut. When you say you picked up a pork roast, that generally means a pork sirloin. Good meat, but definitely not pulled pork material. Get a good, fatty pork shoulder or Boston butt, preferably bone-in. You can also get a picnic shoulder, but there isn't as much meat and the bone is a little awkward.

B) Temp and tenderness over time. Every shoulder is a little different so time isn't a good arbiter of doneness. Generally, 200-205 is a good pull temp, but always probe it to make sure.

C) For pit temp, I start at 225 and run a smoke tube for the first two hours for additional smoke and bark formation. I spritz with plain apple cider vinegar throughout after the first hour. When it hits 170 internal, I wrap in foil and turn the temp up to 275 until an internal temp of 200. I then leave it in the foil, but expose everything but the bottom and turn the temp up to 325 for 20-30 minutes to crisp up the exterior a bit. Then I pull it, put it on a sheet tray and tent it with foil for a half hour to an hour with a bath towel over the foil. Put on a pair of liner gloves and some nitriles and go to town pickin' pig!!

 

[Gvineyard68]

I did buy the pork butt but not at my normal butcher, they were out and this one was very lean. Thank you for the directions, i will give that a try next time but it makes perfect sense.

 

[metsfan2152]

I did buy the pork butt but not at my normal butcher, they were out and this one was very lean. Thank you for the directions, i will give that a try next time but it makes perfect sense.

Every cut of meat is different. Some just take longer to cook never go by time with pulled pork as others have said. Don’t put a water pan in these. You can also cook at higher temps. I usually cook mine at 250-260 with a smoke tube in. At 165 I usually wrap it up and bump the temp to 280-285. I have yet to dry it out. Make sure temp is 205 when you take it out. Also check out smoking meat forum. They have some really great stuff on there. Specifically smokin al has a good walk through on hot and fast pulled porked.

 

[KahunaRed]

I follow Aaron Franklin’s cook and it comes out perfectly

 

[Beavercreek_smoker]

Good day,

I have just gotten my Bull last month and I love it, I do have a question though. We have used electric smokers for years and we found that we could put a pork butt on for 225 degrees for 15 to 16 hours and it pulled perfectly. We tried our first butt last night, used low smoke for half an hour and then 225 for 15 hours but it did not pull well. Great sliced. Any suggestions for good pulled pork? I have not tried wrapping with foil,normally we cook 6 or more butts so wrapping each would be problematic.

I can take 6 butts all the same weight and they will finish at different times. It’s not like baking a cake.
I go by temp only. I start checking after it after 12 hours. I’ve had 8 pounders go from 14 to 20 hours to finish. I shoot for 200 internal. If I go to 205!its still ok. Don’t worry about drying out, there’s so much fat in butts you would have to work hard to dry it out. When I pull them I wrap in foil and then heavy bath or beach towel. It will stay smoking hot on the counter for over 6 hours like that. Just falls apart when I’m ready to pull it. I think resting for at least an hour is important. Like a steak or roast or a bird, the juices needs time to get sucked back into the meat.