Preparing pork shoulder

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

justinkp

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 5, 2013
53
14
Western Pennsylvania
This is my first attempt at pulled pork. I got a nice 12 lb pork shoulder/butt at SAMs club but I can't cook all 12 pounds at once. Is it ok to cut in half? Can I split it up even more? I'm gonna use maybe 2lb at a time right now. Other than cutting apart is there anything else I need to do or remove before seasoning and loading into the smoker? Thanks in advance.
 
Can you take a picture of it? Is it a whole shoulder? Sometimes those come cryovac'd in packs of two. Kind of hard to tell until you unwrap it. Is there a reason you don't want to just do the whole thing? It freezes exceptionally well you know. I would not cut it up into a bunch of little 2 pound pieces if I were you but that is just me. You could cut it in half. But that's all the further I would go myself.

 
Me personally, I'd put your rub on (sometimes I rub mine down with peanut oil or EVOO prior to the rub if I'am smoking round 250* ish) & smoke it whole... Eat what ya want & then vac pac the rest for future use....
 
I think I'll just make it whole and then freeze it.   Sounds like the best bet.    So just unwrap, put on the rub and smoke away?    No trimming or anything I need to get rid of?
 
I think I'll just make it whole and then freeze it.   Sounds like the best bet.    So just unwrap, put on the rub and smoke away?    No trimming or anything I need to get rid of?

If there's anything ya wanna trim off, ya can.... Generally though I just rub & toss it on the smoker !
 

If it is a big shoulder, this is what I do. Pretty self explanatory. I like to score the fat cap like this to get more smoke and seasoning to the meat. You want the fat. That stuff all renders down through the meat and leaves flavor in it's wake. Don't forget to catch all those drippings. They are great. Not a thing to waste. If you want the seasoning to really stick to the shoulder you can brush it with mustard or mayo for some stickum. It doesn't affect the flavor or anything. It just gives the rub something to stick to.
 
Wow, thanks for all the awesome tips and help guys!  I can't wait to get this underway!   Those pics have my mouth watering!
 
Don't forget about us. We love to see pictures. I have one going on here in a minute when the smoker gets up to temp. It's only a little over 3 pounds though. Just a little guy.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Clicky