A look at the upcoming issue: Evergreen Pulled Pork – It's all about that juice!

David Pietralla, who was born in Lower Saxony, studied chemistry for just a few semesters. After completing his training as an event manager, he switched to the catering trade. As a self-employed restaurateur, he discovered his passion for fire and meat. A development that has influenced him to this day and has opened many new doors for him. This includes teaching at the butcher's college in Augsburg, where he trains future meat sommeliers and grill masters. In the new edition of FIRE&FOOD, he shares his thoughts, ideas and recipes for real pulled pork. Here you can read part of his extensive report exclusively in advance!

An incredible amount has been written about pulled pork. There are countless instructions on what you have to do, what you should do or what you can do. I am writing here about my experiences in daily business from the perspective of a restaurateur. I try to concentrate on the essentials and at the same time examine the scientific aspects of this topic in detail. Pulled pork is nothing more than pork that has been overcooked to perfection. The trick is not to overcook it completely, but to stop the cooking process just before it falls apart completely. The fibers should be loose and juicy without losing their texture. By cooking for a long time at low temperatures, we achieve that the connective tissue in the meat (collagen) dissolves without the meat drying out completely. To do this, we have to reach very high core temperatures in the meat, because the breakdown of collagen into gelatin is very dependent on the temperature. For the quick version we prefer (keyword: Texas crutch), the food should reach a temperature of at least 94°C in the core. This ensures that the collagen is sufficiently broken down, despite the short cooking time. Of course, the meat loses a considerable amount of liquid when cooked at such high core temperatures. The higher the temperature in the cooking chamber, the greater the loss of liquid. Unfortunately, simply putting the meat in the grill at 100°C does not work, as the wet bulb temperature phenomenon means that the desired temperature in the core is never reached. We prefer a temperature of 120°C for our pulled pork. If a piece of meat is in the cooking chamber at this temperature, the temperature of the food increases fairly linearly in the first phase. The amount of energy absorbed through the surface of the meat depends directly on the temperature difference between the food and the cooking chamber and is also particularly influenced by the humidity. The linear increase ends at a core temperature of around 65–70°C. At this point, the first phase is complete and we now decide either to take the purist route without the Texas crutch or we wrap the food and thereby accelerate and optimize the cooking process... Would you like to read on? Then buy the current FIRE&FOOD now! You can find the entire report on pulled pork in issue 02/2021, available from April 30, 2021!

Various pulled pork variations on a classic offset smoker.

Buy a meat fork for pulled pork! The Rumo Barbeque Bear Paws Grizzly Edition is available in the shop in 6 colors.

Pulled pork can also be prepared well on a ceramic grill.


Buy pulled pork accessories: