Pulled Pork - a day early?

We're having guests on the fourth in the afternoon. I'm planning to smoke a pork shoulder to accompany the standard burgers and dogs. Do I pull an all-nighter or can I make it tomorrow and reheat?

my father in law smokes pork shoulder on a fairly regular basis... we've done where he gets up super early for a lunch... he wakes up a reasonable hr in the morning so we have it for dinner... or he does it the day before...

honestly it's good no matter how you do it... and what little left overs you have make the best sandwiches :)

I often reheat it after I pull it. I pull it, mix it in sauce and put it in the crock pot on low. I've yet to have leftovers.

Just got home from the grocery store with two hunks of pork, 5lbs each. Current plan is to rub & 'fridge overnight and smoke for 10 hours tomorrow. If any of y'all smell it cookin' come on over!

I did pulled pork on the fourth - not the day before. We were forecast for rain but it never came.

Two 5lb shoulder butts. I did a rub the evening before, and lit the fire at 5AM. Smoked till 160-165 degrees meat temp, then I put them in a foil pan wrapped up tight until they hit 195-200 degrees. I let 'em rest a bit, then started pullin'. The meat was fall-apart tender. A little carolina style vinegar sauce and we were in business!

Next time I'll skip the foil pan and just wrap them up tight in foil directly to retain as much juice as possible. I also had trouble maintaining heat in my smoker - every 2 hours I had to light another chimney and dump it in. I probably need to add some vents like this guy did: http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm

We had burgers and dogs in addition to the pork. I'm proud of how it turned out. Hope the info & link above helps someone... or at least makes the rest of y'all hungry!

My wife does pulled pork entirely in the slow cooker. Insert slab of meat, fill cooker halfway up the side of the meat with A&W root beer, flip mid afternoon.

Just about the easiest meal in the world to make, add cole slaw and BBQ sauce of your choice and enjoy.

I do pulled pork in my oven, 24 hours, 200 degrees F. Generally the biggest piece of meat I can get from my butcher. My secret, though? After I shred it, I fry it in a pan -- letting all the fat carmelize . . .

The only reason I have leftovers is because I make so much the first time around that not even three teenaged boys can finish it all.

I used to crock pot it all day, and then throw in the oven to crisp up the skin. Oh good lord, was that good.

Crisp it before shredding? Interesting!

What temp?

ENABLERS!

Lesley wrote: I used to crock pot it all day, and then throw in the oven to crisp up the skin. Oh good lord, was that good.

Let's call the carmelizing process the CDN version of pulled pork :)

I am going to have to try crisping up the skin. Right now I get a shoulder, rub it the night before, do two hours in the smoker and then the rest of the day in the crock pot. I started doing it like that so it could cook while I was at work since I can't leave the smoker alone that long but it works good so I do it like that all the time now. It also works well for turkey, though in addition to the rub I brine it in apple cider and honey and inject it with more cider and spices.

i did a 7lb shoulder today.

i smoked it at 200-220 for 10 hours. i brined it overnight in water/salt/brown sugar. rubbed in morning, tossed on at 10am. normally i would let the rub set overnight but i was a day late starting the process. i smoke it heavy the first 2 hours with oak and hickory then very light to no smoke the rest of the way just keeping the temp up in the smoker.

usually i do 190 internal to do pulled pork. this time i went to 170 and chopped it like this hole in the wall place i go to when i'm in north carolina. i think i liked it better.

A coworker smokes a boston butt for 6 hours a day or two before the event. He then pulls out and cooks till done in the oven the day of the event. The last one he did was very good.

So who likes what cut of meat and why? Most people around here cook boston butts, but to me they are so full of fat. I wonder how the shoulders or hams are to BBQ.

mikeatrpi wrote: II also had trouble maintaining heat in my smoker - every 2 hours I had to light another chimney and dump it in. I probably need to add some vents like this guy did: http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm

Cliffs Notes: Just buy the Weber bullet smoker and be done with it.

If you do crock-pot BBQ, this recipe equals awesome.

Pulled pork 3-4 pound pork butt roast 1/4 cup water

Place the roast in a greased crock pot with the water. Cook for 9 to 10 hours. When tender and cool enough to handle, shred pork in a 9x13 pan. Next, make the sauce:

1 cup ketchup 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 Tablespoon vinegar 1.5 Tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Mix ingredients and pour over the pork. Stir it up. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes (uncovered), stir every 15 minutes.

I could probably eat a solid 12" slab of pork fat that's been smoked. As long as it melts like butta.

In reply to spitfirebill:

I use a shoulder, and before I pull it I pull the strip of fat off. My father and father in law need to watch their cholesterol and such so I try to cut back on fat where I can. Once it's been smoked and soaked in sauce no one knows what part of the pig it is anyway.