Pulling Question

On pork butts, leave all the bark you can in with the inside meat. As the Team Mom taught us, get as much of the fat and extraneous bits out of the pork but leave the bark in. Plus we will sprinkle a little more rub in with it too.

As Ribdog says,the Team Mom/co-cook/spouse,is often pulling pork for comp boxes and it must be as close to perfect-as you can get it.

Rule of thumb,is usually 50% bark.

That is your flavor.

Now,commercially,folks may try to get as much pork to serve,as they can squeeze out.

Undercook it, to about 170* internal,cut the bone out[because you can't pull it out-at that temp],fine chop it with two cleavers[fat,gristle,and all].

Other areas ,that cook shoulders,or whole hogs,trim out the bones and toss all the meat pieces into a buffalo chopper.

These two methods can yield up to 1/3 more weight.

My guess is that most inexperienced cooks,use so little rub,they could never overpower the mixed meat.

Many good cooks find that bark still can't give enough flavor,so they sprinkle in a little of the finely ground rub,they use on the exterior.

A little fine vinegar sauce,like Smokin's ,can perk up the flavor-without being saucey.

There is no "secret",just learn to use what ACCENTS,the pork,and take good notes-as Smokin' keeps saying.

Hey, bark is flavor. If you don't use all of it, you're throwing away the smoke taste and any rub you put on it.

Key is... there is no ONE rule. You can do it how you want, for your tastes.

Cook it up, try some different things. Some people don't like bark, others only want bark.

Make up two batches one with, one without

Me, I love it in chunks, with bark on one end.

I take mine up to 195 then take it out. Let it rest for 2 hours then pull it, leaving all the bark in there (the bark rules!). I also add a can of beef broth and more rub and it turns out great. I did a 9 pounder last weekend and brought the pulled pork to work and it was a big hit. Smoked it in my smokette for 14 hours overnight with 3 ounces of Apricot wood and 1 ounce of hickory using John Henry's sugar walnut rub.

Walnut rub. Hickory and apricot wood. And beef broth. Wait a minute, what kind of meat is this.....???

Update:

After my test butt, I found that the meat got a little dry when reheated. So next time, the day before a party we were having, I smoked 2 more butts, pulled them, then, as many here suggest, added 2 cups of beef stock, and more rub. When I reheated the meat before serving, I couldn't believe the difference. The meat was moist (it had absorbed every drop of that stock) and as tender as could be, and very flavorful.

Is it just me? Why does pork always seem to taste better the next day?

Chris

We get desensitized being around the smoke for 18 hrs.

Yep,since it only takes a couple mins to pull a butt,most leave them whole as long as possible.

Not sure where you read "most add beef broth",as I've only seen it once,over all the years on the forum.

But, if it works for someone...

I think you would do better to add a little bit of Smokin's Pork Baste and Serving Sauce. Great stuff.

Smokin Okie's Pulled Pork Baste & Serving Sauce

Now,that's good eats.