Currently puzzled

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forbey

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 16, 2013
17
10
illinois
Sorry, it's 1:30 am, I'm beat and trying to write this on my phone.

We marinated our picnics with apple juice, let them set overnight, brought them to room temperature, rub them with yellow mustard dry rub.


They went into the smoker at 250 degrees,time set for 8 hours.


We planned on pulling them at 6 hours; however, at 6 hours they were to temperature.



When we took them out they were 170 degrees but they were still kind of tight (we just couldn't pull them).

So, we wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them back in the smoker for another hour and a half.


At present, the picnics are resting in the cooler. They have been there for almost 2 hours.

How long should we let them rest? I plan on getting up as soon as I post office this to try to pull one apart. I will have to finish this tomorrow or the next day because I'm exhausted.
 
They taste great, we'll just have to figure out why it won't "fall off the bone".
 
As others have already said, you need an IT of 195-205 which  causes the connective tissues in the meat to break down. It is that breakdown which allows you to pull the meat apart.  I have never done a picnic but have done a lot of butts and have found that while 195 is a good starting point to pull I now wait until 200 or above before I pull.  I find that those few degrees make quite a difference.
 

I ended up hitting the sack at 0230 with the shoulders resting nicely in the cooler. I got up at 0700 and they were still hot (almost too hot to handle). We did some chores and then tore them apart. They pulled much better this morning. Still very moist.


Will remember to shoot for 195 to 205.

The first batch never made it to the aluminum foil stage and they were awesome.


At this point, it is all bagged and resting nicely in the fridge.
 
Looking good forbey. Glad it came out alright for ya
 
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