Shredded Pulled Pork

by Reggie
(Seattle)

I am trying to cook a ~10 lb boneless pork shoulder to make shredded pulled pork for a party (which someone else purchased and gave to me).

I have a ceramic BBQ. Made a dry rub, got the fire going slow. Am pretty sure the temp. stayed fairly constant at ~225 F. After about 10 hrs I discovered that the fire went out. I am not sure when it went out exactly, and didn't get a good reading on my thermometer for an internal meat temp.

There was a smaller piece of meat (~.75 lb?) that came with the larger shoulder piece. I had tried to place it in the cavity where the bone had been when cooking, but it fell out. I cut it open; it is brown all the way through, but not "pull-apart".

What do you recommend I do? Should I put it back on the BBQ, or wrap it and put in the oven? Or, should I put it in a dutch oven and add water and slow cook it that way?

I am quite concerned that it will be dry and not "pull-apart".

Answer

If you've cooked it for 10 hours then the first thing to say is that it should be cooked through but if you didn't manage to get a good internal temperature reading then I wouldn't risk it. Especially not if you're cooking for a party.

If you truly want to make pulled pork then I would start again, don't try to re hash the current shoulder. Remember though that pulled pork can also be served chopped and many BBQ joints do indeed serve it this way.

I would chop it and fry it (to ensure that it was cooked) and serve as normal with lashings of BBQ sauce and a slaw on the side.

See Also:-
Reheating Pulled Pork