I need a little help with my first picnic's, please.

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forktender

Master of the Pit
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Jun 10, 2008
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I am doing two picnic's later this week for the first time.
I have done many Boston butt's they all turnned out great.
I have tried fat cap up and fat cap down and can't really say I have a favorite way.
Ok so the picnic's that I bought still have the hairless skin over the fat cap.
should I remove the skin or just smoke them as is ?

Thank you for your help !
Dan
 
I've only smoked 1 picnic and I removed the skin for better smoke penetration and formation of the bark. I trimmed most of the fat, but left enough to let it self baste. Also, I saved the skin, bagged it up and tossed in the freezer so I can make fried pork skins.

Smoke @ 225-240*...I put mine into a steam pan and foil tent after hitting 170* or so, then took it to 205*. It fell apart quite nicely and I was able to pull the entire thing...no chopping needed.

Taste was comparable to a fairly nice store bought ham, in case you're wondering.

Hmm...I still haven't done the fried skins yet! Thanks for reminding me in the round-about way!
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Good luck! I be watching for your progress.

Eric
 
Thanks Eric, That's pretty much what I was thinking of doing.
I just wanted to make sure before I made a big mistake.

I will take pictures for sure.
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Thank you.
Dan
 
You got good infor there^^^^

Definitely trim off the skin, and keep the pieces as big as you can for now~ you can trim them later.

Keep about 1/4 inch fat on theat puppy and you are good to go! Smoke on for a great barbecue.

ZIploc the skin in a bag and as Eric said make some awesome pork rinds or as I've been planning on doing until I get my next picnic, smoke them for a while before either making rinds, or slicing a few pieces up for some flavor in "from-scratch" black eyed peas. If you like collard greens, they'd be right tasty there too.

Good smokes to you and don't forget the Q-View!
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