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Whole Shoulder (Butt/Picnic) Smoke.......questions

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xxsmokin foolxx

xxsmokin foolxx

Fire Starter
Original poster
Aug 31, 2012
47
11
Waynesboro, PA USA
Hey everyone, so I have an AMAZING butcher in town.  I stopped by a little earlier t pick up a couple racks of baby backs, and inquired about a butt and picnic.  They went to the walk-in and grabbed the whole shoulder, neckbones and all.  It is 20.5 #'s with skin on.  My question is since this is one piece of meat, do I just treat it like a regular butt smoke??  
 
Yes, except you have to allow longer, because of its mass, to warm up into cooking range.  Taking it out and letting it set to room temp first is not a good idea as it is exposed and has the ability to form excess bacteria on the outside of the meat.  Take it from fridge to smoker and let it come up to temp that way; much faster and much safer.  
 
Yes. What Pops has said. I would also not inject it. If you inject it you need to follow the 40-140 in 4hr guideline. That is a big piece of meat and would be hard to do that with.
 
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Ok smoking fool do exactly what Pops says cause he knows what he talking about when it comes to smoking and meat.
 
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XxSmokin FooLxX said:
Thanks for the tips, Im gonna inject it with sweet apple cider, should be purty good!!
Click to expand...

If your set on injecting it make sure for food safety side you are over 140 in less than 4 hours. After that you can pull back a bit. The short answer on why is by injecting you run a possibility of introducing bacteria to the interior of the whole muscle. If you don't inject you still need to keep an eye on your IT, but you don't have the tight time restraint.

I would start with the smoker at 300ish and shoot to maintain a temp around 275 till you get the 140 IT, then cut it back to 225-250 till you get the desired IT for either slicing or pulling. If you inject.

I have not posted it yet, planning on it tonight. But I did a foil sauce with a couple shoulders I did yesterday. I cooked without foiling, but for the resting period I placed them in a pan with beer, apple juice concentrate and apple cider vinegar. I must say it was very good. Nice sweet flavor with the tartness of the vinegar and nice finish of the beer flavor.
 
Hey smokinfool, yeah, don't get in a hurry and jack the heat up , it's gonna go into a stall and could take a while to get through it ; leaving the lid closed will help some and keeping the smoker close to 225° until you get to 190° to 200° internal meat temp . Butts are almost foolproof , just be patient...

Betty 004 - Copy.JPG

Betty 004 - Copy.JPG


P.S.-I never wrap
drool.gif
,better Bark and look at that sheen ; sweet sweat , I loves my Butt
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Have fun and...
 
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Wow, thank you all for the tips, its greatly appreciated.  I have to say I wussed out and had them just trim them up nice for me.  Never cooked anything that size, so I figured 18 lbs dressed and split would be a better way to go for now atleast.  

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As you can see, I'm definitely not worried bout time  
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The Rub.......brown sugar based with kosher salt, some essence, granulated garlic, dark chili powder, and paprika

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005.JPG


My not quite midnight snack, fresh cut angus filet mignon

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Got these bad boys rubbed down while steaks are on the grill

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These, were INCREDIBLE

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And into the smoker with these bad boys......smoker's set right about 230, we'll see how long that lasts!

So the plan was to inject, but I just simply rubbed 'em down and didnt worry bout the injection.  I'll spray them after 3 hrs with some cider and then every cpl hrs there after.  Thanks for looking everyone!
 
Ok, its been 3 hrs into the smoke and overall I think we're doing pretty good.  Smoker is hangin in there pretty steady at 225.  I used hardwood to get a nice coal base and am now using Cowbys Hardwood Lump Charcoal with peach wood for flavor.  I opened the smoker up and the Butts are at 130, so hopefully they come up a good bit in the next hr.  Anyhow this is how they look 3 hrs in

002.JPG

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I just got done spraying them down with some Sweet Apple Cider.  I dont plan on foiling them but that could all change as its supposed to get pretty cold here tonite.
 
Ok, so its 230 am and these have been on for 5 hrs.  All I gotta say is that Cowboy Lump Charcoal saved me.  I cant believe the consistent heat it puts out.  I never used it before and put a little too much in, spiking the smoker to 325.  But after an hr or so, it came back down.  So at the 5 hr mark, they have an IT of 145, I'll check in an hr to see where we're at and if they hit the stall.  I went to turn them, and the bark is already pulling away

004.JPG

004.JPG

 
330 am now, and we have an IT of 160.  Not gonna foil it and I have a feeling that I have yet to hit the stall.  Eager for some Q at this point  
icon_eek.gif
 
I just started cooking.posted picks im starving also only 12 more hours or so..im ready for a drink though..even though its befor 6am
 
Ok now that I've had about a 4 hr nap while the Butts were finishing up, I can give an update without having to think too much.  This cook took right on 10.5 hrs, temps varying between 225-250.  I pulled them off at 170 and into the cooler they went.  I couldnt be more happier with this smoke.  I learned alot, got a nice buzz on in the process (Jager Bombs) and ended up with an incredible result.  Here's some Qview for ya

pulledpork 1.jpg

pulledpork 1.jpg


It just fell apart, little to no effort in pulling by hand

pulledpork 2.jpg

pulledpork 2.jpg


Good smoke ring, of course I had to sample some  :)

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Thats alot of "Q"

Thank you for staying with me through this smoke, and hope you enjoy the view!
 
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