First timer - pulled pork on a gas grill,

[Ralphie]

Hey everyone,

Tomorrow morning I'm going to my local butcher to pick up a 6-7 lb Boston Butt roast and I'm going to make my first attempt at making pulled pork on the grill.

I have a few questions about how you folks recommend I make it and would appreciate any comments about what to do and what not to do.

Here's a rundown of my concerns/questions:

1. Should I use a brine?

2. I would like to try a rub - should I rub it & let it sit for a few hours or do you recommend overnight? I'm going to search around for a good rub recipe unless someone wishes to chime in with one of their favorites

3. I will be indirect grilling on a Weber Genesis Gold B three burner gas grill - what should be my ideal temperature to look for for cooking? I already have seen to pull the butt off at 190 but not sure about the proper temp of the grill.

4. Do I turn the pork over or rotate it during the cooking time?

5. Should I put the pork directly on the grill or should I place some tinfoil under it?

6. If I add a smoker pouch with some Hickory chips, should I add the chips before/during/or close to the end of the cooking time? Also should the chips be soaked or no?

7. For the Boston Butt roast, do you folks recommend bone in or boneless? I was thinking boneless because I would get more pork per pound? But then again, it's about quality not quantity.....

I know this is a lot of questions but I really want to try to get this down right for my first time.

I have been completely obsessing about making this for the past week or so and I cannot wait to do it this weekend! Seriously! It's ALL I've been thinking about. Mmmmm......bark.....(drools)

I'll make sure to post plenty of before and after pics - thanks for the help everyone!!!

Happy Friday Y'all!!!

Cheers!

[Reggae Q]

Here are my opinions.

1. Should I use a brine? You don’t have to. I personally don’t nor think it's needed. Some do.

2. I would like to try a rub - should I rub it & let it sit for a few hours or do you recommend overnight? I'm going to search around for a good rub recipe unless someone wishes to chime in with one of their favorites Depends. If it has a lot of salt in it, I would not do it overnight. Usually a handful of hours before hitting the smoker.

3. I will be indirect grilling on a Weber Genesis Gold B three burner gas grill - what should be my ideal temperature to look for for cooking? I already have seen to pull the butt off at 190 but not sure about the proper temp of the grill. For most things, 225* but for if you’re doing JUST pulled pork, I’d shoot for 250* I would also recommend taking it to 195*-200* and then foiling and allowing to rest for an hour or so. 190* is only where it begins to break down.

4. Do I turn the pork over or rotate it during the cooking time? You can but no need.

5. Should I put the pork directly on the grill or should I place some tinfoil under it? Might want to put something under there like a aluminum ½ pan to catch the drippings because there will be a lot and you will get a flame up. Also, since in a smaller cooking area I’d go fat cap down for some added protection.

6. If I add a smoker pouch with some Hickory chips, should I add the chips before/during/or close to the end of the cooking time? Also should the chips be soaked or no? Add whenever you want. Somewhere around 140* is when the smoke ring stops but it will always continue to take smoke. I’d add maybe a pouch every hour give or take. I wouldn’t soak chips.

7. For the Boston Butt roast, do you folks recommend bone in or boneless? I was thinking boneless because I would get more pork per pound? But then again, it's about quality not quantity..... The bone in them is usually very small so I don’t really think it matters…I’ve never be able to taste a difference either.


Good Luck! Let us know how it turn out

[SierraScott]

Ive butts on a gaser before. I'll try to answer your questions for you.

1) That's up to you. I don't use a brine I'm mine. I'm afraid it'll turn into a ham.

2) Check here on the site for a rub. I like to put brown sugar in mine. Sweet bark rules.

3) I like 225-235 for butts.

4) For even cooking you can half turn it if you want. No flip for me, Fat Cap Up!

5) On the grill

6) at the begining and thru about 4 hours or more. depending on the flavour you want. On the Gasser may want to do it the whole cook. That'swhat I used to do.

7) Bone in unless you can't get one.
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Scott

Custom Built Upright Smoker
Weber One Touch Silver 22.5"
CharBroil Silver Smoker

[Ralphie]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Man, I love this freakin place.

[Ralphie]

Okay - I rubbed the baby about 5:00 this morning and let it sit until 9:30 when I put it on the grill. It's sat for approximately 10 hours now and has registered about 200 degrees in "certain" parts. Not totally in the center (which is about 170-185) but a littler closer out reaches 200 plus. I just double wrapped it and stuck it in a cooler in a few clean towels. I'm concerned that I might need to cook it a little longer or just let it sit and let the magic happen. Does anyone think I should cook a bit longer in the oven or grill or should I just let her sit and see what happens in about two hours????? HELP!!!!

[BBQonICE]

Did you do this over direct heat or indirect heat?...I do it on indirect and hike the temp up to 225 or so and it seems to work fine.

10 hrs seems a lot.
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[stinkpickle]

If you're registering 200 degrees somewhere in it, you should be just fine letting rest in the cooler for an hour or so. Eat up!

BTW, I like to do all my bone-in butts for 1 1/2 hours per pound at 250 degrees (plus 1 hour in the cooler), and they almost always turn out exactly like I like 'em. It sounds like your formula should be right on the money.

[stinkpickle]

If you're registering 200 degrees somewhere in it, you should be just fine letting rest in the cooler for an hour or so. Eat up!

BTW, I like to do all my bone-in butts for 1 1/2 hours per pound at 250 degrees (plus 1 hour in the cooler), and they almost always turn out exactly like I like 'em. It sounds like your formula should be right on the money.

You're probably already elbow deep in the good stuff anyway...

[Ralphie]

Oh my God.........the pork turned out great! I'll post some pics in the next day or so. I don't have any "pulled" pics as it was too darn tasty and I forgot! However I do have some nice before & after pics. The 12 hours was actually perfect and left a great smoky flavor to the pork. I quit smoking about 2 and a half hours before finishing the butt. I put the butt on about 9:30 in the morning......it was registering at 190 around 9:30 at night. We had some bad storms move through all day and the pilot went out about seven times so I really had to babysit the little thing. Once finished I wrapped her in tinfoil and it sat in the cooler for two hours wrapped in a few towels. By that time I was exhausted (too many brewskies?) and I stunk like a campfire combined with a rib joint. So I took the butt out of the cooler and stuck her in the fridge to pull it in the morning. It was beautiful......When I took it out around 7:30 in the morning it was still nice & warm! Pulled it around 10:30 am since I had to run some errands. Oh man the bark was incredible! I kept pulling the best pieces and saying "You're for daddy!" and saving them on the side. Once done pulling the pork I sprayed it down with a little apple juice and tossed it around a little it in a Ziploc freezer bag for storage. I bought the Bone Suckin' Sauce and it turned out pretty good for dipping my sammiches in. I've been sharing with family and friends all day long. Next time I'm doing two as one was not enough!!! Thanks again to everyone who helped me through the questions I had, and my first time turned out great. Again, I freaking love this place!!!!!!!!

[I Smell Smoke]

Ralphie it sounds like you had a great success, but back up a minute. If you put the butt in the fridge at 9:30 in evening and pulled it out at 7:00 the next morning and it was still warm you are really pushing your luck. You need to get your meat temp down to 70 degrees in the first 4 hours and down to 40 degrees in the next 2 hours to be safe. 41-141 is the danger zone. Thats were the bacteria starts. That is a recipe for food poison .
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Tim

Let's Eat
New Braunfels Offset Smoker
Alveron Cookers /Wood Over Gas /24x36
Alveron Cookers /Wood Over Gas /40x60 on Custom Trailer

[Ralphie]

Thanks for the heads up. Yeah I was suprised it kept like that during the night. I pulled the butt off at 9:30 but I put it in the fridge at 11:00. However it was really good and no problems so far (fingers crossed!). I think next week I'm going to make two of them since it was gobbled up so fast!

[Poppa's PTL Club]

The problem is that most household refrigerators are not built to cool something off this quickly (when you put a lot of hot food into a household fridge, you don't cool down the food as much as you heat up the fridge!)

Next time, try putting your leftover meat in a large ziploc bag and submerging it in ice in a cooler. That's how I go about cooling off leftover product.
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I likes to eat 'da pig!
Acts 11:5-9

[Ralphie]

Here's the pics folks!

Enjoy!!!

http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk83/captaindarkmeat

[BBQonICE]

or put it in the freezer for a quick chill down.
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