Food for thought...

i guess the shoulder don't know it's supposed to take 1.5 hours per pound! ;)

seriously, the 1.5 hrs/lb. is a guideline, and like all guidelines, subject to gray areas at each end ~ temperatures, weather conditions, airflow and even the meat itself all play significant factors.

mine take about 2 hours per pound, could be fat content, or alot of other variables. I inject mine as well.

It it a whole shoulder? Or is it the butt or the picnic? What temp are you cooking at? Are you sure your thermometers are accurate?

I usually do butts (the butt and the picnic are seperated from the whole shoulder as I understand it) and in most cases running my smoker from 220-230 it usually takes pretty darned close to the 1.5 hours per lb.

What temp you cooking them at and are your thermos accurate?
If it's done sooner then you expect I would wrap it and cooler it, then keep an eye on it - if it starts to creep down around 140 throw her in an oven of if you are done really early, in the fridge then reheat in the oven.

>>>I need to just invest in a food saver and start smoking the day before.<<<

you want to vacuum-pack it overnight?

well yeah, i'll agree with that, doing it ahead of time is a good idea. i'm just saying that a couple of big ziplock bags overnight in the fridge should be fine. some folks even just use tupperware.

i am all for use of a vacuum sealer, but i tend to think of vacuum-sealing as a long-term storage technique, usually in a freezer.

by all means, do get a food saver, it is a great and useful tool. but for overnight, you will be just fine in ziplocks or tupeprware.

shoot, all nighters are alot of fun imho. Love em', drinking some beer and shots, and making a cooks snack for the wee hours as well.
(typically smoked crab legs for me)

I have on a few instances vacume packed a couple pulled butts one day for a reheat the next, Dribble the juice in there, seal then the next day reheat in hot water then dump into serving pans. It is easier than hitting the mark exactly. I like all nighters. What I don't like is being worn out for the party. I usually get everyone squard away and by beer 3 I am falling asleep at 5 in the evening :)

i see where yuo're going now, and that's not a bad idea. you can certainly do that if you want and i think it will work just fine. here's an alternative:

what i do when i prepare pulled pork ahead of time (for an office party etc). is to cook the meat, shred the pork and put it in a ziplock bag (or two, depending on how much there is) along with the pan juices that i've saved (see below) equally distributed depending on the number of bags. you can also use apple juice or a finishing sauce (if you're interested in a carolina finishing sauce that will really go well with pulled pork, let me know). OR you can just put it in the fridge in the bags and add any necessary liquids when you reheat the next day.

the next day, i re-heat in a tightly-covered crock pot on low (a tightly covered roasting pan in a slow oven works just as well). if you didn't add any liquids last night, you can do so now, but in my experience it is not absolutely necessary as there should be plenty of juicyness. myself, i prefer to add the pan juices, the finishing sauce or both.

when it is all good and hot, it is eady to serve right out of the crock pot or roasting pan, but it will stll have all that good, old-timey wood-smoked barbecue flavor. all you need is some lain, white buns or paper plates and napkins!

* if you want to save the pan juices, catch them in a foil pan while smoking. take all the jucies when finished, put them in sme sort of container and put it in the fridge or freezer for the fat to rise and harden. then simply remove and discard the fat, and voila! you've got some real goodness to add back into your pulled pork.