On Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:11:40 -0700, Grant Erwin wrote:

> Tim wrote:
>> My first attempt at pulled pork was disappointing - tasty, but
>> disappointing because the pork was not very tender. Thanks to you, I
>> tried again today with the following changes:
>>
>> - One 8# Boston butt ( instead of 2 6 1/2# )
>> - Sand instead of water in the water pan, pan covered with foil ( I
>> have to admit, I still don't understand why sand - but it worked )
>> - Final internal temp of 188 instead of 165
>>
>> It only took me about 10 minutes to pull it apart using two forks.
>> The only bad thing - it's not being served until tomorrow dinner, but
>> I had a few samples pulling it ...
>>
>> One question: what should the smoker temp be if I I want ~190 for the
>> final internal temp? I didn't let it go above 225 or 230 for the
>> first 10 hours and the internal temp wouldn't go past 175. Then I let
>> it go up to about 280 for the last hour and a half, and I finally got
>> to 188.
>
> I suspect your temp measurements. Possibly you are measuring temps up high but
> the meat is down low where it's cooler. Or maybe your thermometer is out of
> calibration. You can test this latter by sticking it in a cup of ice water,
> where it should read close to 32, then in a pan of boiling water, where it
> should read close to 212.
>
> Most guys use a real cooker temp of 225-250.
>
> I take pork shoulders (butts) to 195 minimum.

I never go past 190F. I don't like the texture of anything past
195. It still shreds just fine and has better texture. I shred by
taking large chunks of meat and smashing it down on the cutting
board with a pan or large bladed knife. No waiting for it to cool.

-sw