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Pulled Pork & Sliced Pork Medallions
Pulled Pork & Sliced Pork Medallions
Ingredients:
2 bone-in pork butts
1 cup favorite pork rub
2 batches of Basic BBQ Pork Injection
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.
1) Start off with a couple of bone-in pork butts. I picked these up at Sams.
2) Rinse the pork butts off and pat dry with paper towels. OPTIONAL: Since I'm wanting some sliced pork to serve, I partially separate the "money muscle" from the rest of the butt so more seasoning comes in contact with that meat and more bark is produced. The "money muscle" is a favorite part of the pork butt among BBQ competitors and judges. It is located on the end opposite the bone (see the red arrows in the pictures below).
If you're not concerned with the amount of bark or seasoning, you can separate it for slicing after the butt is cooked.
For home cooking, you can separate the muscle entirely and cook it separately. In contests the butt has to be cooked whole and I need the practice so I'm leaving it partially attached.
3) Flip the butt over so the fat cap is showing. Trim any fat greater than 1/4" thick.
4) Thoroughly inject the pork butts using the Basic BBQ Pork Injection. Don't take any shortcuts here. I start on one side, insert the injection needle and apply pressure to the plunger as I withdraw the needle. Don't pull the needle out of the injection site completely, but rather change the angle and repeat the process 4 or 5 times for each injection site. Make a new injection site about every 1" along the sides and then do the same for the top and bottom. It's going to be a little messy and occasionally, your injection in one hole will shoot out of another hole like a geyser.
Once the butts are injected, place them in a large Zip-Loc and add any leftover injection mix. Let them marinade in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 hours.
5) Remove the butts from the Zip-Loc, rinse and pat dry. Apply your pork rub liberally, massaging it into the meat as you go. I used Squeal of Approval's pork rub today. Make sure and rub all sides and the top and bottom.
6) Place the seasoned butts on your cooker and cook at 225F. Add wood for seasoning. I used a combination of hickory and cherry for this cook. Plan on smoking the butts for 90 minutes per pound.
The butts will be done somewhere between the 190F-200F range. But only use the internal temperature as a guideline. The key is to feel for doneness. The bone should easily separate and your thermometer should not meet any resistance when probing the meat.
Put the butts in a foil pan for the last couple of hours to collect the juice to mix with BBQ sauce (see below).
Once the butts are done, wrap them in foil and let them rest. They'll stay hot for up to 4 hours if placed in a dry cooler.
7) If slicing the money muscle, remove and set aside. Use your fingers to pull the pork into big chunks. If the meat is too hot to handle, consider wearing gloves. Aluminum pans work well for this purpose. I try and keep my chunks in the same area of the pan from which they were pulled. This makes selecting my favorite pieces easier.
8) Mix 1 cup of the juice from the pans with 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. I used Lotta Bull's UnBULLeivable for these butts.
9) I'm going to serve some of the best pulled pieces and sliced medallions for a meal and save the rest of my pork for use later on. I choose my pulled pieces carefully, hand testing each one for tenderness and making sure it has some of the great tasting bark on it. I also slice the money muscle into pieces a little thicker than 1/4".
I then dunk each piece in my sauce and plate it before serving.
10) Pull the rest of the pork into bite sized pieces. Mix with all of the remaining sauce. You can serve as is, shred it, or freeze it for later use.
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Originally Posted by The Big Pig 
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