Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Moved down here two years ago, and am looking to improve my pulled pork making. I've got a few bottles of Guy Parker's Easter BBQ sauce and am planning on buying a Pork Butt from BJ's (is that a mistake?).
Was planning on putting the pork in a crockpot for 7-8 hours but am now wondering if it would be better putting it in my Weber gas grill for several hours instead.
do you have any tips in making some great pulled pork?
Thanks in advance!
LAR
There is not such thing as "pulled pork" in ENC. There is just BBQ. ENC BBQ is chopped much finer than pulled pork with a cleaver. Pulled pork is something people in the rest of the US make in the crock pot or oven.
If you want to make BBQ on your gas grill that is fine. Just rub down the pork shoulder with salt and pepper and cook over indirect heat until its done. Cook at 250degF until the meat registers around 195-200degF on an instant read thermometer.
Get some wood chips and wrap up in a foil packet and place over the burner(s) that are on.
When chopping add apple cider vinegar, a little texas pete, and some red pepper flakes. Thats all you need. There are some good ENC sauces sold in stores (George's for example) and that is essentially all they are. Fancied up apple cider vinegar.
FYI, true ENC bbq is made whole hog, not just with the shoulder. Using just the shoulder is Lexington (or western) NC style. If you wanted to make true Lexington style bbq since you are just using the shoulder follow the instructions above but instead of just vinegar, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes, add a little ketchup to your sauce. Lexington sauce (also called dip) should not be sweet. Its still thin and vinegar-y. Serve some extra sauce on the side for dipping your sandwich.
I agree GarnetandBlack that ENC BBQ is chopped, but to be true to NC BBQ, it is also pulled off the pig at a pig pickin'. For those not in the know, a pig pickin' is a big ol' party when the cooks stay up all night with a whole whole and slow cook it all night long. The next day at the event (church social, wedding, 4th of July, what have you) the party goers file past the pig and pick off (pull) some meat and put it on their plate and chow down. Went to a few in my day although I'm almost vegetarian now.
Thanks for all the helpful responses! Bought the pork at Food Lion, got wood chips soaking, and have the grill going at just above 250 degrees (as low as I could). Rubbed the butt down with brown sugar, salt, pepper, and put her in the Weber over indirect heat.
Wasn't planning on chopping it up but am willing to try - any tips for that ? Got Guy Parker's BBQ sauce ready to go.
Thanks for all the helpful responses! Bought the pork at Food Lion, got wood chips soaking, and have the grill going at just above 250 degrees (as low as I could). Rubbed the butt down with brown sugar, salt, pepper, and put her in the Weber over indirect heat.
Wasn't planning on chopping it up but am willing to try - any tips for that ? Got Guy Parker's BBQ sauce ready to go.
Thanks again!
LAR
If its cooked enough, it will practically fall apart into large chunks. Just put them on a large chopping board and use a cleaver or large chefs knife to chop into your desired consistency. Then pour on some sauce and you're ready to go.
I use an offset smoker and hunks of red oak. I also make my own bbq sauce and will coat the butt every hour or a rub I make from spices. I haven't found a bbq joint that can even come close. Did a whole hog for the kid's bday party and there wasn't much left.
LAR, you have a good plan going. Two things that help are 1) a meat thermometer (mentioned above) and 2) a pellet or sawdust burner.
Unlike many cuts of meat, pork butt BBQ gets juicier at a higher finished temperature. You'll find a wide range of suggested temperatures, from 180 to 200°F. I aim for ~200°F. Connective tissue breaks down above 195°F, so you really want to hit that mark.
I smoke in a Masterbilt smoker (which I highly recommend) but use an aftermarket pellet/dust burner for smoke. Specifically, I use this pellet burner (no affiliation with the company). The advantage to this type of smoke generator is long burn time, reliability, and consistency. The Masterbilt has it's own method of generating smoke by burning chips, but I find the pellet/dust burner to be far superior.
Finally, don't neglect the rest period when you remove the butt from the grill. This is a critically important step to minimize juice loss. I wrap in foil immediately after removing from the smoker and wrap in foil. Rest at least half an hour.
I definitely prefer cooking a port butt over charcoal - it just tastes better. I add several chunks of hickory, but you can use other woods as well such as pecan or apple.
Cook to an internal temperature of 200-205 degrees, wrap well in foil, and place it in a cooler with towels for 1 at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. The rest time is important, and by using a cooler with towels to take up the extra space the meat will still be hot when you take it out. Pull the meat (I use a pair of bear claws), and then let folks apply whatever sauce they want.
You can cook low-and-slow at 225 degrees for 8-18hrs (and, yes, I've had a pork butt take that long before). Or you can cook "turbo", which involves cooking at 350 for 5-6 hours. Lately, all I've been cooking turbo.
For turbo, cook to 165 degrees, pull, wrap in foil with some apple juice and/or apple cider vinegar, and put back on the grill. Wrapping in foil will help push through the stall and speed up the cook. The meat will be equally good either way, but the bark on a turbo cook isn't quite as good as a low-and-slow cook. You can also cook at 225 degrees for the first two hours and then raise the temperature, which will improve the smoke ring on the pork butt.
LAR, you have a good plan going. Two things that help are 1) a meat thermometer (mentioned above) and 2) a pellet or sawdust burner.
Unlike many cuts of meat, pork butt BBQ gets juicier at a higher finished temperature. You'll find a wide range of suggested temperatures, from 180 to 200°F. I aim for ~200°F. Connective tissue breaks down above 195°F, so you really want to hit that mark.
I smoke in a Masterbilt smoker (which I highly recommend) but use an aftermarket pellet/dust burner for smoke. Specifically, I use this pellet burner (no affiliation with the company). The advantage to this type of smoke generator is long burn time, reliability, and consistency. The Masterbilt has it's own method of generating smoke by burning chips, but I find the pellet/dust burner to be far superior.
Finally, don't neglect the rest period when you remove the butt from the grill. This is a critically important step to minimize juice loss. I wrap in foil immediately after removing from the smoker and wrap in foil. Rest at least half an hour.
If you have a Weber kettle grill you can throttle the coal up or down. That way you can use lump charcoal. Lump is preburnt hardwood. The easiest to find is Cowboy at Home Depot. When cooking with lump, no wood chips are needed. It will impart a smoky taste. Lump can be good, bad or expensive. See the naked whiz's page: Naked Whiz Ceramic Charcoal Cooking, Kamado Style Cookers and Lump Charcoal)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thank you
