Pulled Pork BBQ disaster becomes a roast

[jamojman]

[/b] :cry: I know I can cook in the kitchen and cook on the flat plate outside so at Xmas my wife let me buy a gas, all steel grill with double insulated hood so I could start out door cooking with more variety. I had great success with butterflied lamb (over direct heat) and now tried smoking. I had a 3.25 pound boned shoulder of pork, rubbed it the night before and put it on the indirect heat 225 for 5 hours. I did use a mop for the last 2 hours every 20 minutes and i smoked using a blend of mesquite, chardonnay and apple wood. The darn thing never got above 130 internal. When I sliced it it was white under the fat layer and very soft in the middle. Tasted like ham. With the wife screaming and the kids knawing the table legs I cranked up the heat to 380, put it on direct heat for 20 minutes, turning once and it was a great tasting roast. If I wasn't an optimist i'd be crying. Where did i go wrong????? I did try ribs yesterday and they came out soft and tender and juicy. I used a dry rub as well for them. :cry:

[Bowhnter2]

Welcome jamojman.

You're going to get a lot more and better help here soon. Was it a picnic cut or Boston butt cut of the shoulder? Picnic I think does taste more like ham.

The smallest (boston butt) I have cooked was a little over 5 lbs., but that took 12-14 hours. I thikn you still had a long way to go yet. I don't pull that off until 195-200. I also don't smoke on gas, but I would have set the cooker temp to around 250.
Hang tight, you will get lots of advice in a little while.

[jamojman]

My cooking time came from a internet recipe. It said 225 for 5 to 6 hours and that was for 5 pound. We have a different style of butchery cut in Australia so it's hard to tell what it was exactly. I have been to all the local BBQ stores and they think I am mad to even try BBQ U.S style. I have reduced the size of the BBQ jet's to help control temperature. It was to hot before and impossible to keep below 235. Did I need to cook it longer and just hang in there? The internal temp did not go up.

[Mic]

First, g'day mate and welcome to the forum, jamojman! Glad ta have ya aboard! :wink:
Second, if ya only took the shoulder/butt to 130* internal...it wasn't done! :shock: Needs to be 195*-205* to pull right! You have to render the fat for it to be tender and at 130* it was still pretty raw for pork IMHO! I take mine to 160*, foil it with a little apple juice added and put it back on till it hits 190*. Then pull it off and let it rest in a hot box (insulated cooler) for at least an hour. The internal temp will continue to rise some while it's resting. Should pull easily. Hope this helps and I'm sure others here will offer their advise as well! :wink: Good luck, mate!

Mic

[rstcso]

For the time and temp you cooked a piece of meat at 225*, it seems it should have got above 130*. Maybe the problem is the smoke swirls the other direction down there :roll: . Welcome to the forum.

Where were you taking the temperature when you were reading 225*? Perhaps the thermometer was showing 225*, but the temp at the meat was much lower. Buy a cheap oven thermometer and set it next to the meat as it's cooking and use that as the actual temperature for controling the heat. It's not unknown for thermometers built into the lids or having short stems to be off by as much as 75*-100*. You just have to learn your pit. Another option is to my a remote thermometer such as the Maverick ET-73. If you search this, you'll find lots of info.

I think it's great you're trying a different cooking style. It sounds like the first time I decided to try cooking pork butts to make pulled pork here in Texas (Texans don't usually eat pulled pork, only pork ribs). I took some to work and now get asked all the time when I'm going to bring in some more.

If you're in the middle of something and need help, just post "HELP" and someone will be there to answer your questions. Have fun!

[Bowhnter2]

Yes, just hang in there and let it do it's thing. Also, there will be a point where the brisket or pork butt will seem like the internal temp isn't rising at all. That is when the fat and stuff (not the technical way to put it) is breaking down, then it will take off again. It needed more time.

[jamojman]

I did buy a thermometer today. When i cranked up the heat at the end the internal temp ( meat, not in fat) went up to the 170/180 pretty quickly. My wood chips are in a cast iron box 4x8 and I sit it on the ceramic blocks above the flame. Do I replace them when they have turned black and started glowing red? or do I just keep it on for longer? The sweet smell starts to become a burnt wood smell so I have been replacing the chips. Mix is 2 parts wet to 1 dry. I have 6 mates coming over to watch the Superbowl at 10am (start) Aus time and I was wanting to do a 7 pound pulled pork for the boyz lunch.
Do I leave the lid up while checking the temp? how long do I leave the thermometer in.

[jamojman]

The meat looked a lot like the one at kickassbbq.com and go to boneless pork butt.

[DaHorns]

Once the chips have gone black I think they have run their course for smoking, but I could be mistaken!

Are you planning this ahead? The Super Bowl is Feb. 4th (next sunday).....

I have a quick question for you though, what are the differences between Austrailian BBQ and American BBQ? I'd be interested to compare the two. I look forward to your response......

[jamojman]

Now I am no authority on the subject but feel up to the challenge.of describing the "general" australian bbq 1) lots of sausages 2) meat patties 3) any steak 4) lots of onions with w/s sauce, salt and pepper 5) marinated chicken thighs for the sheila's 6) marinated prawns for the special wow factor. All cooked on a flat plate or side grill.
However, I do all types of marinated steak, butterflied lamb (all time favourite), whole snapper (in or out of foil), split lobster tail.
I also do a lot of asian stir fry to keep the smoke out of the house.
Vegetarian burgers, sausages or tofu steaks are bande from my house.
Grilled peppers, asparagus, mushrooms ect are always a hit.
By US BBQ I mean the long slow cooking. The closest I can come to would be a restaurant chain called The Hogs Breath cafe.

And yes, the smoke does swirl the other way here! LMAO.

[RuiNT BBQ]

Welcome aboard jamojman!
Sounds like you were on the right track. I agree with the others. Sounds like it just wasn't getting done. RSTCSO had a good suggestion with an oven thermometer. Set it close to the meat to check your temps there for more accuracy. You can leave it in there the whole time. You should be able to lift the lid and check the temp quickly when needed.
The ET-73 is helpful too and you don't have to raise the lid then.
As far as the chips it sounds like you're on the right track. If they've turned black and stopped smoking they probably aren't doing you much good. I used to use a cheap Brinkman electric smoker and would have to add chips about every 20 minutes.
If you are cooking the roast to make pulled pork from then the 195-200 internal temp range works really good to get the meat tender and easy to pull. I have cooked a few pork shoulders/butts to approximatly 180 and removed the bone and sliced it like a roast. Not sure which way I like better, pulled or sliced, both are great!
Mic mentioned wrapping the butt in foil at 160. This will help it cook quicker in the finishing rounds plus it will capture the juice coming out of the meat that you can pout over it to reheat, or just use as a gravy or dipping sauce.
Sounds like you had a good practice run to find out how it would do before the Big Game! good luck next weekend and let us know how it turns out.

[jamojman]

Thank you. I'm quite embarressed now having seen all the trailer smokers on the web site. My idea of smoking came from watching a US bbq show on fox called Licenced to Grill.

[DaHorns]

That dude on "Licensed to Grill" does do some amazing stuff with the gasser. I watch that show once in awhile, to get some ideas for marinade and stuff like that. thanks for helping with the concept of an Aussie BBQ. I do love the grilled prawns......

[M38A1]

Welcome.

I'm not sure I can add any new tips or tricks other than to say in the most basic terms, if you apply a heat source against a pc of meat long enough, the meat's internal temperature will also rise. I'm guessing your shoulder wasn't cooked internally which can be remedied by two methods. Either keep it on longer making sure the gasser/pit temperature is higher than what your desired internal temperature is, or really crank up the heat to speed up the process of raising the internal temperature.

Hang in there. The next one will be better!

[PhotoKirk]

Since you are in Australia, it might have been a metric pork shoulder. YOu need to adjust for the Coriolis Effect.

I have a pork butt tutorial here. (http://www.peppersandsmoke.com/bbq/pork_butt/index.html)

[jamojman]

Cheers for the pictures. So you leave the pork skin on?