Everyone keeps pulling pork too early and it drives me crazy

I was at a competition in Kansas City last month and watched three teams pull their pork shoulders at 195 degrees internal. They all bragged about how juicy it was but the meat was tough and chewy. I let mine go to 203 and rested it in a cooler for 2 hours, and the texture was night and day different. Why does everyone follow those old temp charts instead of just feeling when the bone wiggles free? Has anyone else noticed this trend getting worse at cookoffs?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_rivera631mo ago

Man that KC competition scene has gotten wild with those low temps. I watched a team at a local cookoff pull at 192 thinking they'd nailed it and the whole table was just fighting through chewy bites. Letting it ride to 203 and resting properly makes all the difference, the bone should practically fall out. People get scared of drying it out but they end up with worse results playing it safe.

james921mo ago

Huh, they actually pulled at 192? That’s insane.

butler.mark1mo ago

Honestly I gotta push back a little on that @xena_rivera63. I've pulled brisket at 190-192 plenty of times and had it come out perfectly tender with a nice clean slice. The whole "203 or bust" thing feels like a trend that people latch onto without thinking. If your meat is well marbled and you let it rest long enough in a cooler, you don't need to push it that high. I've had more dry crumbly results at 203 than I ever did pulling earlier.