Took me 3 whole months to figure out why my pork shoulder kept coming out dry

Honestly I thought I was just bad at cooking but I kept ending up with dry pulled pork even after following every temp guide I could find. I was using a local farm's pork from the farmers market near my shop in Portland and it was way leaner than the commodity stuff I used to get. Took me about 12 tries across 3 months before I realized I needed to add way more fat back in. Started wrapping it in caul fat before smoking and it came out perfect the first time. Nobody tells you different cuts of meat need totally different cook times even if they look the same. Has anyone else run into this where the meat quality itself messes with your standard recipe timing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_shane1mo ago

Bought my buddy a heritage breed pork shoulder for his birthday and he texted me three weeks later cussing me out because it took him seven tries to get it right. Guess the fat content threw off all his usual temps and times.

hall.emma1mo ago

The shane's buddy probably wanted to toss that heritage shoulder out the window by try number 5. It's wild how much the fat cap and marbling changes everything, you basically have to unlearn all the normal timing tricks and start over with those fancy pigs.