Revealed: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Top-Secret Pulled Pork Recipe And Smoking Process - Food Republic (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to pulled pork? ›

Pulled pork is made with pork shoulder, also called pork butt for whatever reason, and has lots of collagen which when cooked low and slow melts into gelatin which makes for tons of flavor and moist meat. Best to cook at about 200–225°F and get the internal temperature up to 190°F.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's menus are firmly rooted in the traditions of southern barbecue and influenced by flavors that give Dino BBQ's dishes their own distinctive character. “That's one of the secrets of great barbecue,” says Stage, “staying committed to tradition, but finding your own stamp and signature.”

Check out our full line of award-winning bar-b-que sauces and rubs handcrafted by our founder, John Stage himself. All of our spice rubs & sauces are Gluten-free and all-natural. Voted Best Sauce by Men's Health & Women's Health Magazine.

Shoulder Cut

The pork shoulder is the most popular cut used to make pulled pork. The entire hog's front leg and shoulder make up the pork shoulder. This is often separated into two pieces at your local grocery store: the picnic roast and the Boston butt (also known as the Boston roast).

Transfer everything to a large slow cooker and add a splash of liquid — water is great, but so is broth, apple juice, or beer if you have them handy. Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily.

Additionally, spray chicken broth or apple juice on the meat to prevent it from losing more moisture in the crockpot. To add a strong flavor during the process, white wine can also be sprayed. You can shred the pork during smoking or in the crockpot.

It's being replaced by a larger version -- but one that still works on the same principles: Heated only by wood (mostly hickory) to around 200 degrees, with a small electric motor that keeps the shelves holding the meat constantly rotating.

Arkansas. Arkansas barbecue draws on the traditions of both Texas and the Memphis, combining beef and pork along with red sauce.

Memphis style BBQ uses a sauce that is thinner in consistency, less sweet, and spicier than Kansas City style. Most true lovers of Memphis BBQ either dip the meat in the sauce or pour it over the meat after serving. If you order Memphis style ribs, you'll find no sauce at all on the ribs.

“That's one of the secrets of great barbecue,” says Stage, “staying committed to tradition, but finding your own stamp and signature.” John Stage has built Dinosaur Bar-B-Que into a nationally known brand that includes a catering division complete with mobile barbeque rigs.

Who bought dinosaur BBQ? ›

and his hedge fund, Soros Strategic Partners II LP, own about 58 percent of the Dinosaur brand, which they bought in 2008. Founder John Stage and others started the biz in 1983 in Syracuse. In 1998, they opened the Rochester store; in 2004, they opened the Dinosaur in Harlem. Stage still owns about 22 percent, he said.

Owner Jurassic Alive put the business up for sale with a guide price of £1.3m last October. The company has been approached by the BBC for comment. The business was founded in 2019 by Josef Mordawaska and Natalie Matts, who established their first dinosaur-themed restaurant in Kettering's Market Place.

Pork shoulder: Pork shoulder is perfect for pulled pork because it's inexpensive, forgiving to work with, and tends to have a lot of marbling (which means it'll result in tender meat).

With your smoker running steady at 225 degrees F, you can typically plan about 2 hours of cook time per pound of pork. For example, an 8-pound pork shoulder will take about 16 hours from start to finish.

The most popular pork cuts to smoke are pork shoulder, pork loin, pork chops, pork belly and pork ribs. There are three methods of smoking meat: cold smoking, smoke roasting or hot smoking. Hot smoking is the most used and exposes the meat to both heat and smoke, cooking it and giving it flavor at the same time.

We use brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, a good amount of salt & pepper, and a pinch of cayenne! Make sure you use all of the seasoning! Also, really rub it into the pulled pork, get all of the nooks and crannies!

Why add apple cider vinegar to pulled pork? Pulled pork relies on both the vinegar's acidity and the low-and-slow cooking process to tenderize the meat, breaking down the protein to give the dish its signature moist, fall-apart texture. Cider vinegar also provides a tangy counterpoint to the fatty pork.

After you've pulled your pork butt, drizzle over the meat and combine. The vinegar adds contrast to the smoky flavor and cuts through the fat in the meat. It also helps mellow out the darker, gamier-tasting parts of the butt. This makes enough for a 8 pound pork butt/shoulder.

The kind of meat you're smoking will influence the texture of your shreds. Pork shoulder and butt contain tons of fat that keeps the meat juicy and soft when cooking. Your meat could not shred properly if you attempted to smoke a leaner cut, such as tenderloin. The issue of the meat bark is another issue.