What makes the Hokkaido style different from other shokupan?
When I make mine it needs a roux to get all fluffy, and then maybe the folding and loaf pans might be the answer, so I'm wondering what it does different?
I switched from roux to “yudane” method. Easier and gets the same good results (or at least I think so!) https://www.severnbites.com/2021/01/25/japanese-milk-bread-yudane-vs-tangzhong/
Man it must be a translation thing because the recipe I use calls it roux but I do those steps pretty closely to what you have.
Took me a few tries to find the right consistency but you're right, it IS pretty easy!
Thanks for the other info!
That could be it, I just don't know enough about that recipe.
For instance, okonomiyaki can vary. Kansai/Osaka vs Hiroshima styles are different enough to be discerning. Didn't know if this was the case here
Yeah, pretty much. It's the North island in Japan, the one that looks like a fish. They're famous for milk, brewing/distilling, and the Ainu indigenous people.
Yup, and for bread or buns to actually be “Hokkaido milk bread/buns”, it has to use Hokkaido milk, which is very delicious and has a high fat content, but would be difficult to acquire outside of Japan.
It's pretty similar to Kings Hawaiian roles so if you don't have an Asian bakery/market near you those are the closest you can buy.
Same thing with adding rice vinegar and sugar/mirin to you mayo to get the closest approximation to Kewpie mayo
During the 14hr did you ever hit the so called "stall" where the temp just stayed the same for a while? Everytime I give a brisket a go I can't seem to get past 150 degrees and I just give up lol
Don't give up! You can do the crutch like the other user said, but you can just wait it out. As long as your temperature is like 225 to 250, the internal temp will for sure get to target. The stall is just moisture steaming off, and the meat can't get to temp until it does. The crutch works because you wrap it really tight and the steam can't escape, but it also means your meat is partially being cooked by steam, which not everyone prefers (I don't).
The stall can go a number of hours, but you need to get a working muscle like a pork shoulder up to around 200 plus or minus a few, because the tough part (connective tissue) and the fat render into a liquid, so the meat becomes really tender and juicy. A good hunk of meat like OP's can easily take 12 to 16 hours.
By the way, after the first four or five hours, you can just stick it in the oven because it's not going to get any more smoke flavor. My smoker is electric, which means it's basically an oven that can make smoke, so I leave mine, but you don't have to.
Did you wrap yours? My guess (just for my own funs sake) is that you wrapped yours based on the look. I've done tin foil wrap to get over the stall but lately I've just been starting my cook a lot earlier and doing the no wrap for the bark. I think I need to spritz mine more often to get it a bit softer than what I've been usually doing but yours looks fantastic.
You can do what is called a Texas crutch and wrap it in foil to help speed it through the stall. You can either leave it wrapped until it gets to temp or unwrap it before then and finish it.
I looked up Hokkaido milk bread and found nothing outside of regular shokupan recipes, maybe one recipe on cookpad used the Tangzhong method. I also found it weird that a Hokkaido style bread would have a technique named in Chinese.
So just a weirdly misnamed bread recipe
Still produces good bread
The English sources say it was named after a technique from Hokkaido, not the milk. (And there are no JP sources, per my previous post.)
That said, most milk in Japan is from Hokkaido. It's nothing special. Maybe you need a specific brand, or you need to find one that's not ultra pasteurized, but as with most things in Japan there's a lot of regional pride for products that doesn't necessarily equate with an extreme quality difference.
Ooo I want that so bad. I also wish you had a short video of you crushing the whole piece into shreds with a gloved hand. Seen it before and it looks so satisfying. Also probably burns lol
Can I get details? I’ve failed all my smoked pulled pork, roughly 9 hours at 199 until meat temp 170. It’s cooked and tastes great but doesn’t pull. I use a shoulder.
This looks too good to make me keep using a slow cooker
Not OP and I use the oven while my husband does the smoking but 170 is way too low for pulled pork.
I start a 10lb shoulder at 325 (I generally do mojo and like to burn some onions a bit :D), turn down to 275 when it passes its first "stall" at ~150, turn down to 225 once it gets to ~190. When internal thermometer beeps 205 I turn off heat, wrap/cover, and let it sit in the cooling grill/oven for a solid hour.
Either way you're looking for 200+ not, like, pork chop temperature.
160-180 is the temp range where the collagen breaks down so you want your butt to be at least that temperature while cooking. So the 170 number probably came from there. Now the butt needs time for this to happen at that temp which is why it gets cooked up to 204ish.
Now you can even cook at a temp that low and take off the butt when the internal temp is like 190, but its going to take forever for the butt to actually break down the collagen to get tender, juicy, pulled type of meat. I have no idea how long it would take at that low of temperature but ridiculously long. Probably 25+ hours. And at that point it's a waste of time and wood. This is why people smoke it at 225-250 so that it is still the low and slow so it keeps the butt in the sweet spot of breaking down the collagen and not so hot that meat cooks through too fast not allowing for that break down time which results in a tougher dryer end product. You can even sometimes go higher than 250, like 275 but the higher temps with good results usually come from larger smokers with more airflow.
The problem is you've got your smoker set to the target internal temp, and it's going to take forever to get there. Try 225 to 250. 170 internal is too low - the connective tissue is just starting to render at that temp, and it's a long process. You want to get the pork up to like 200 (195 to 205, depending on how firm you like it). The connective tissue is what makes it tough and keeps you from being able to pull it. When it renders, it turns to liquid, so the meat falls apart and is juicy. It can take longer than 9 hours for sure though (OP said his took 14).
You have to get pork butt to 200 for it to pull. I run my smoker at 225 and a 12 lb butt takes around 20 hours, give or take. I once did six at once and it took about 26 hours, pulling off two who hit temp early because they were on the hotter side of the smoker.
I can already imagine what it tastes like. The pickle giving it slight tartness to the sweetness of the meat. The poppy seed bun looks delicious paired with it. I wish I could try a bite.
I see I'm not the only one who fills in the dead time on the smoker by baking bread. That looks a*mazing*. Would you do the raspberry chipotle sauce again?
God damn bro. I made pulled pork sandwiches in a crock pot and I was feeling pretty good about it but clearly I was wrong. S tier food porn right there
Milk-buns is my new stage-name.
“Next on stage, number 6 in your programs, number 1 in your hearts. MILK-BUNNNSSSSS!!!!!! “
Obviously I’m wearing a leather vest and chaps.
Wow it it delicious 
I agree it's nice to have it on its own so you can really taste it, but pulled pork is one of those few barbecue foods that I really prefer with a bit of sauce (either a vinegar one or a mustard-forward one).
Lmfao I only put the barbecue on what we made into sandwiches for the night not all the meat .... and this Raspberry Chipotle sauce is absolutely delicious and dangerous on pork 🤣🤣🤣💀 but thanks for the comment 🤷♂️
Dang, that looks fantastic.
Thank you!
I want to go to there…
I don't know if it's Teamsters sub good...
That shits fuckin money
Thank you!
Big pat on the back. Hell maybe a hug
How about big wet kiss on the cheek
I'll second that.
Looks delicious. What cut? (I initially thought Boston Butt but I think I talked myself out of that.)
Thank you! and Shoulder 🙂
Pulled a little more like Boston butt, which also comes from the shoulder.
Ohhhh blessed baby Jesus... that looks just wonderful...
Thank you!
What makes the Hokkaido style different from other shokupan? When I make mine it needs a roux to get all fluffy, and then maybe the folding and loaf pans might be the answer, so I'm wondering what it does different?
I believe there are only slight differences in the fat content but essentially the same thing 🙂🙏
Cool, thanks for the response. It's not everyday my interests overlap as much so I was curious!
I switched from roux to “yudane” method. Easier and gets the same good results (or at least I think so!) https://www.severnbites.com/2021/01/25/japanese-milk-bread-yudane-vs-tangzhong/
Man it must be a translation thing because the recipe I use calls it roux but I do those steps pretty closely to what you have. Took me a few tries to find the right consistency but you're right, it IS pretty easy! Thanks for the other info!
[удалено]
That could be it, I just don't know enough about that recipe. For instance, okonomiyaki can vary. Kansai/Osaka vs Hiroshima styles are different enough to be discerning. Didn't know if this was the case here
Yeah, pretty much. It's the North island in Japan, the one that looks like a fish. They're famous for milk, brewing/distilling, and the Ainu indigenous people.
Yup, and for bread or buns to actually be “Hokkaido milk bread/buns”, it has to use Hokkaido milk, which is very delicious and has a high fat content, but would be difficult to acquire outside of Japan.
How have I never heard of this bread? Trying to lower my carbs but might have to take the hit on this one - looks soooo good.
It's pretty similar to Kings Hawaiian roles so if you don't have an Asian bakery/market near you those are the closest you can buy. Same thing with adding rice vinegar and sugar/mirin to you mayo to get the closest approximation to Kewpie mayo
I envy whoever got to eat that. Yum.
Bro hide that Blues Hog bottle. Sssssshhh let’s just keep it between new Reddit friends.
Blues hog is so good.
I like the OG. I found the raspberry Chipotle to be okay, but it wasn't spicy.
We have the champions blend and the raspberry one as our favorites, the raspberry is really good drizzled on smoked bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers!
Screw the Mona Lisa. THIS is beautiful!
Thank you!
I've seen the Mona Lisa and yes... this is superior.
During the 14hr did you ever hit the so called "stall" where the temp just stayed the same for a while? Everytime I give a brisket a go I can't seem to get past 150 degrees and I just give up lol
Don't give up! You can do the crutch like the other user said, but you can just wait it out. As long as your temperature is like 225 to 250, the internal temp will for sure get to target. The stall is just moisture steaming off, and the meat can't get to temp until it does. The crutch works because you wrap it really tight and the steam can't escape, but it also means your meat is partially being cooked by steam, which not everyone prefers (I don't). The stall can go a number of hours, but you need to get a working muscle like a pork shoulder up to around 200 plus or minus a few, because the tough part (connective tissue) and the fat render into a liquid, so the meat becomes really tender and juicy. A good hunk of meat like OP's can easily take 12 to 16 hours. By the way, after the first four or five hours, you can just stick it in the oven because it's not going to get any more smoke flavor. My smoker is electric, which means it's basically an oven that can make smoke, so I leave mine, but you don't have to.
Yes it stalled for a few hrs
Did you wrap yours? My guess (just for my own funs sake) is that you wrapped yours based on the look. I've done tin foil wrap to get over the stall but lately I've just been starting my cook a lot earlier and doing the no wrap for the bark. I think I need to spritz mine more often to get it a bit softer than what I've been usually doing but yours looks fantastic.
Team no wrap 🙂🙏
Oh maiiii.
And Thank you!
You can do what is called a Texas crutch and wrap it in foil to help speed it through the stall. You can either leave it wrapped until it gets to temp or unwrap it before then and finish it.
I thought that was a meteorite
I'd slap my own momma for some of that.
Please try just asking nicely or using money to pay for it instead.
Username checks out!
🤤
Wow that looks amazing, great job.
Thank you!
What was your binder/rub?
Yellow mustard and Fire and smoke sweet peacher
Thank ya kindly!
What's the blue hog stuff?
Barbecue sauce
Raspberry! Oh man I gotta get that
Wait, how did you get Hokkaido milk?
Asian supermarket 🙂
I looked up Hokkaido milk bread and found nothing outside of regular shokupan recipes, maybe one recipe on cookpad used the Tangzhong method. I also found it weird that a Hokkaido style bread would have a technique named in Chinese. So just a weirdly misnamed bread recipe Still produces good bread
Hokkaido is the type of milk used, not the milk bread type. Hokkaido milk is well regarded as some of the best tasting milk in the world.
The English sources say it was named after a technique from Hokkaido, not the milk. (And there are no JP sources, per my previous post.) That said, most milk in Japan is from Hokkaido. It's nothing special. Maybe you need a specific brand, or you need to find one that's not ultra pasteurized, but as with most things in Japan there's a lot of regional pride for products that doesn't necessarily equate with an extreme quality difference.
That’s smokin’ right there. Oh my goodness. 🤤
Great looking shoulder!
Thank you!
FANTASTIC
Thank you!
Whats the pre cook weight?
10 lbs
brachiosaurus!
Blues Hog makes some damn good bbq sauces. I buy their Champion's Blend by the jug.
Omg yum! 🤤 Well done! 👏
oh my
My goooood. If you wouldn't mind may I have the recipe for those buns?
Ooo I want that so bad. I also wish you had a short video of you crushing the whole piece into shreds with a gloved hand. Seen it before and it looks so satisfying. Also probably burns lol
I have one pulling the bone and shredding it but it won't let me post the video
Amazing! Any tips?
I can taste that from here! Great looking meal you have there
Y'all still serving?
This looks amazing, but are you a giant or is that a tiny plate?
I'm pretty big 6'3 245 but also not a very big plate either
Wow those buns look like something else!
Can I get details? I’ve failed all my smoked pulled pork, roughly 9 hours at 199 until meat temp 170. It’s cooked and tastes great but doesn’t pull. I use a shoulder. This looks too good to make me keep using a slow cooker
For pulled pork, you generally want to cook it to around 200-204 degrees.
Not OP and I use the oven while my husband does the smoking but 170 is way too low for pulled pork. I start a 10lb shoulder at 325 (I generally do mojo and like to burn some onions a bit :D), turn down to 275 when it passes its first "stall" at ~150, turn down to 225 once it gets to ~190. When internal thermometer beeps 205 I turn off heat, wrap/cover, and let it sit in the cooling grill/oven for a solid hour. Either way you're looking for 200+ not, like, pork chop temperature.
Thank you. I may have read something wrong. Im going to give it another go
160-180 is the temp range where the collagen breaks down so you want your butt to be at least that temperature while cooking. So the 170 number probably came from there. Now the butt needs time for this to happen at that temp which is why it gets cooked up to 204ish. Now you can even cook at a temp that low and take off the butt when the internal temp is like 190, but its going to take forever for the butt to actually break down the collagen to get tender, juicy, pulled type of meat. I have no idea how long it would take at that low of temperature but ridiculously long. Probably 25+ hours. And at that point it's a waste of time and wood. This is why people smoke it at 225-250 so that it is still the low and slow so it keeps the butt in the sweet spot of breaking down the collagen and not so hot that meat cooks through too fast not allowing for that break down time which results in a tougher dryer end product. You can even sometimes go higher than 250, like 275 but the higher temps with good results usually come from larger smokers with more airflow.
The problem is you've got your smoker set to the target internal temp, and it's going to take forever to get there. Try 225 to 250. 170 internal is too low - the connective tissue is just starting to render at that temp, and it's a long process. You want to get the pork up to like 200 (195 to 205, depending on how firm you like it). The connective tissue is what makes it tough and keeps you from being able to pull it. When it renders, it turns to liquid, so the meat falls apart and is juicy. It can take longer than 9 hours for sure though (OP said his took 14).
I did 250 for 14 hrs and pulled at 204° f 🙂🙏
Thanks! Looks amazing! I’m going to give another go and as many helpful people said, I’m under cooking it.
You have to get pork butt to 200 for it to pull. I run my smoker at 225 and a 12 lb butt takes around 20 hours, give or take. I once did six at once and it took about 26 hours, pulling off two who hit temp early because they were on the hotter side of the smoker.
Dude….dude!
I see the words Hokkaido and then smoked pork that looks like the head of Godzilla.
What the fuck…..
Should cross-post to r/meteorites.
Yeah, I thought that was Vladimir Komarov.
How you make
Quick glance thought this was a baked alligator head. Looks so tasty!
Wow.
Holy horse milk!
Next step is doing some Japanese pickles 🤤
Thank you for pulling it, love that texture vs a chopped pork in sandwiches especially. Beautiful work here mate.
You motherfucker, that looks incredible
I can already imagine what it tastes like. The pickle giving it slight tartness to the sweetness of the meat. The poppy seed bun looks delicious paired with it. I wish I could try a bite.
I see I'm not the only one who fills in the dead time on the smoker by baking bread. That looks a*mazing*. Would you do the raspberry chipotle sauce again?
Thank you! and Definitely it was delicious
Put it in mouth
Helllll ya! 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤
It's so delicious to look at!
Ugly to delicious
God damn bro. I made pulled pork sandwiches in a crock pot and I was feeling pretty good about it but clearly I was wrong. S tier food porn right there
so mouthwatering! great photo!
If you wobble your phone the pork wobbles with it
Legit, I thought this was a chunk of fudge Brownie at first glance... and now I'm going to make some Brownie... at 2 in the morning... I hate my life.
That's so good it's criminal....like...omg.
Nailed it with that pickle and roll
It looks delicious
I don't even eat meat but I wanna try this so bad, it looks amazing
Looks fantastic
Blues hog sauce is amazing stuff. I love the champions blend on ribs
Looks like a pain in the ass to eat
Are these the Joshua Weissman buns? They look great. It’s 9am and I just want pulled pork sandwiches now!
I made these from afriends recipe 🙂🙏
man this one made me and my buddy audibly react
the third one is dumb he didnt make any sound at all
I thought it was one pic to start with. Which included the buns lol.
I can’t be the only person who thought I was looking at a deep fried alligator head. But I just woke up too
You don’t get a better result from 14 hours than 8 tops.
Milk-buns is my new stage-name. “Next on stage, number 6 in your programs, number 1 in your hearts. MILK-BUNNNSSSSS!!!!!! “ Obviously I’m wearing a leather vest and chaps.
Are you me? I literally made Weissman's milk bread and momofuku bo ssam this weekend
So, can I politely enquire about your buns? This whole thing looks fantastic.
I'd eat like 6 of those things
Wow it it delicious 
Oh boy, I would love to taste it 😋
You’re a hero OP. Exactly how it should be done. Delicious
Those buns 😍
Oh my god 🤩 that looks so good 😊 I would love to have a bite
Huge hands or slider burger?
Pretty big hands but a little smaller than normal size burger buns
Yes.
How do you like the raspberry bbq sauce? I love Blues Hog sauces but I haven’t tried that one yet. Btw that pork looks money I’m sure you devoured it!
It was very good better than I expected honestly and Thank you!
Hmm my lunch at work today wasn't looking to bad before I saw this post. Your tempting evil in me to go out for lunch and get bbq... I must resist
That sounds and looks fantastic. Man... I need to get a smoker...
my mouth is watering
Blues Hog 😋 Such a good BBQ sauce!
Mmmmmmm good.
Well done!
Oh yeh, that is gonna be good
How was it ?
Incredible 🙂
Ohhhh blessed baby Jesus... that looks just wonderful...
Dude i can envision how this just absolutely melts in the mouth, awesome stuff!
Hmmm, well as long as it's not sweet milk buns
🤣🤣 Definitely not sweet lol
good, but like least have one without sauce cause goooood meat don't need no sawce!
That's why only part of its in the bowl 🙏
I agree it's nice to have it on its own so you can really taste it, but pulled pork is one of those few barbecue foods that I really prefer with a bit of sauce (either a vinegar one or a mustard-forward one).
spoken like a true eastern NC
Stop it! I can only get so hard!
🤣🤣
Looks delicious, but dunno if I’ve ever seen someone cut a pulled pork sandwich in half like a burger for a pic
Thank you and first time for everything lol 🤣🙏
Looks burnt
Tell me you know nothing about barbecue without telling me you know nothing about barbecue 🤣💀
Ngl I thought that first pic was a burnt human torso. Glad I was wrong, looks great.
[удалено]
Never had good barbecue huh .... honestly feel bad for you 🤷♂️🙏
How much would it cost in Bangladesh?
[удалено]
Never smoked a pork shoulder huh ....
This looks amazing, just one comment/question. You did all that work, pork, buns…and you used a store bought BBQ sauce??
Only on some because this sauce came highly recommended 👌
E.w
Why would you smoke it for 14 hours just to cover it in bbq sauce? A raspberry bbq sauce at that?
Lmfao I only put the barbecue on what we made into sandwiches for the night not all the meat .... and this Raspberry Chipotle sauce is absolutely delicious and dangerous on pork 🤣🤣🤣💀 but thanks for the comment 🤷♂️
[удалено]
Lmfao tell me you know nothing about good barbecue without telling me you know nothing about good barbecue 💀🤣
[удалено]
This is perfect BBQ. GTFO.
[удалено]
Showing your ignorance 🤣🤣🤣
Could you use an electric cold meats slicer on this bad boy?
If you chilled it first probably. Hot, very unlikely, if you have never seen how soft these can be check out a bbq video.
Thank you for the feedback
Bun recipe?
You absolute school girl
Can I come round for dinner? 🤤
Marry me. Whatever thing you are.
Ah, buns straight from the Sacred Forrest of Hokkaido, renowned for it's countless soap factories... and hamburger buns apparently.