Pulled pork picnic roast

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trundle888

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Apr 21, 2016
116
48
Calgary Alberta Canada
So I just picked this up planning to attemp pulled photo for the family this weekend.
I've never cooked pulled pork or picnic before.
So My plan right now is to remove all skin. Should I remove all or leave skin on the bottom to protect from heat?
Rub and inject with Chris Lilly's pork shoulder recipe. Is this good rub and injection for this or anyone have any other recommendations?
Smoke at about 250° over hickory, or cherry, or hickory cherry mix.
I've read to expect around 1 hour per pound smoke time. Is this accurate?
I plan on spritzing with apple juice every 2 hours. Good idea?
What IT should I take it off and wrap in foil?
I plan on glazing it with BBQ sauce near the end of the cook. What IT should I unwrap it and put it back on the smoker? Is glazing it a good idea or don't bother?
Pull from smoker once it hits 190° or 195°, which you recommend?
Then wrap in foil, beach towel and cooler in for at least an hour before pulling and serving.
Thanks for any input, I really want this to be a success!!
Trundle
 
Lets bump this up.  3 days without an answer means it's been missed. 

I've never smoked a pork shoulder, only pork butts, which is from the same cut of meat.  I know they are smoked the same way, but I'm not certain about the skin, so I'll let those with experience answer. 

Guys and Gals?
 
Skin that sucker! You could probably leave it on there but you don't need it for anything. Honestly I approach thing for the first time with a less is more philosophy. I've smoked picnics for a long time. The first one I didn't even rub, just threw it in the smoker and it came out excellent. For your first I recommend skipping the injection. Trim off as much external fat as you can, don't worry there's plenty inside. Rub it down with simple salt and pepper or any type of pork rub put it on the smoker. When it gets to the color you want (I like a nice dark mahogany) wrap it in foil and put it back on till it hits 205. If you still have a lot of time before dinner wrap it in a towel and put it in a cooler. Other wise just let it cool down a bit, 30 min or so, and pull. You can also skip the spritz if you want. Most important, more than any rub, spritz or unicorn tears is patience. Just let it do its thing.

Lance
 
No problem, hope it helps. Picnics and whole shoulders are my jam. I like em cause you can usually pick them up super cheap a few times a year. Boneless picnics are good short smokes for the family as well. But make sure you take the net off. Otherwise it's like a tree growing around barn wire and you lose the whole outer layer. What are you smoking on?
 
My new, well new ish Masterbuilt propane wide body smoker.


I made a batch of Chris Lilly's championship pork shoulder rub tonight, looks good.


So there's no real temp for wrapping it, just when I like the colour/bark? Is there a difference in actually foil wrapping it and putting it in a foil tray and covering/sealing the top with foil?
It weighs about 10lb now so after trimming skin I'm thinking about 8 1/2lb. Roughly 1h per lb at 250° so maybe around the 5/6 hour mark wrap it. Once wrapped and hit 200° unwrap glaze with BBQ sauce and keep it on till 205° then pull?
 
Some folks will wrap when it stalls others at a certain temp, I started doing these long before I had any type of therm so I just did it like I was taught to do brisket. You'll probably look to wrap around the 6-8 hour mark. This is one of the easiest hunks of meat you can put on a smoker. You can rub a light coat of olive oil or mustard on, I don't, and then put your rub on. And then just let it ride. If you want to you can sauce it when you wrap or just serve the sauce on the side. Patience is the key. Give your self plenty of time and pull it around 205, heck 210 if you Want. Personally, I wouldn't unwrap it until it's ready to pull. Also no difference between a foil covered pan and aluminum foil. Just kick back, sip some good beer, coffee, ice tea and let it do its thing.
 
I'm hoping to serve it around 6pm. So I'm thinking if I put it on at 7am I have 11 hours to get it done. If it's done sooner we can eat earlier and still can rest wrapped in towels for an hour or two and if it takes longer a quick 30 minute rest and we should be good to go.

Should the bone pull out of this like I've seen it pull out of butts? This bone is a lot bigger, isn't it?
 
When it's done that bone will slide out nice and clean. But I would throw it on by 5am. Once you have your temp dialed in you can snooze a little. Probably why they invented hammocks.
 
Wow, you really think put it on at 5, it shouldn't take more than 10,11 hours to cook an 8lb picnic should it?
My 8 month old kid means snoozing is not an option!! Lol
 
My 8 month old kid means snoozing is not an option!! Lol

I hear that!

But yeah, I have actually cooked an 8lb picnic for 16 hours @225 many times. I figure @250 you should be good for 12 hrs leaving an hour cushion till dinner. If it gets done in 8 you can cooler it till you're ready to pull.
 
Ok, so I normally smoke stuff at 225.
The difference of smoking this picnic at 225 to 250 could be up to 4 hours!? So if I'm aiming around the 10 hour mark I should stay as close as I can to 250?
 
I'm saying just give yourself time. 12 hrs @250 wrapped halfway through will render tender juicy delicious pulled pork that your family will love. If it gets done early so sweat. If it takes a few more minutes you still have a cushion.
 
So getting ready to trim the skin off. Once ots all removed does the picnic have a top and underside? The way it is vacuum packed now I'd say the skin side us the top and the underside has little fat. Should I keep it up the same way when I put it on the smoker, does it matter?
Thanks
 
Some people talk about the fat "basting" the meat and keeping it moist. I don't think it actually penetrates the meat at all, but it does keep the surface moist which allows more smoke to "adhere". For that reason, I prefer fat up. Other people make fantastic smoked pork despite having different opinions, so who's to say?
 
Here's how I do mine and everyone loves them

I brine with half pound pickling salt and half pound brown sugar you want to heat those on a stove till they dissolve i usually brine for at least 12 hours but a day is best for me. After they dissolve you can throw in a small ice chest with ice for the night or if you have a big enough container in the fridge.

I then use apple wood but I may also use hickory or pecan if set the smoker to 250 since you are trying to get it done fast.

I do not cut the skin off but I do trim any major fat areas. I leave the fat cap on and cook fat down.

Rub recipe

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 tablespoons white pepper

2 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika

Once rubbed well put it in and cook without opening until IT is 165 then foil tightly till 205 wait at least 30 minutes but an hour is best before pulling. 
 
Last edited:
So getting ready to trim the skin off. Once ots all removed does the picnic have a top and underside? The way it is vacuum packed now I'd say the skin side us the top and the underside has little fat. Should I keep it up the same way when I put it on the smoker, does it matter?
Thanks

The picnic is the upper front leg part of the shoulder. So there's really no up or down like a brisket. Just rub it and put it on the smoker. A few hrs into the cook you can flip it if you want but I never have. It really doesn't matter. You got this! Just put it on and let it ride...... and take pics so we can see.....
 
So it's 9.45 and I'm finally all prepped and ready to go.
It weighed 10 1/2lb before trimming.
I removed all skin, almost 2lb worth and I was actually very surprised how much solid fat and nasty looking veins there was. I trimmed 1lb of fat so after trimming my 10lb picnic is now 7 1/2lb.
I gave a light mustard rub.
Good coating of rub.
Managed to get about 7oz of injection into it then gave another dusting of rub.
Then wrapped and put in fridge.
Final weight after injecting is 8lb.




 
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