Doing a couple of Pork Shoulders

[puckinggoalie]

Hi gang,

I'm planning on smoking a couple of pork shoulders for the Browns game, and had a few questions.

I have a rub and a finishing sauce, but I wanted to know about some timing issues.

First, should I get a bone in or a bone out roast?  I can get either one from the Market, but I didn't know if it would make a difference in flavor.

I'm expecting this to take about 10 hours, so I'm prepared for that.  I was hoping to start it early Saturday and have it finish near midnight.  However, will this effect the product?

I know that I can hold it in a cooler wrapped in cloth for about 8 hours, which would be about the time the tail gating would start.  But that wouldn't give me a chance to shred it or put the sauce on it.

Can I pull it when its done, and then put it into the chaffing dishes?  I was planning on reheating it once we get to the lot.  If I pull it then, would I put the finishing sauce on then, or the next morning?  My finishing sauce that I found here has a lot of vinegar in it, which I know can effect the meat long term.

I could probably time it to the point that it would be done in the morning, but then I'll be without sleep, which will not be the best for the game!

My plan currently is:

Rub the roasts when I get home and start the fire

Once it gets to temp, start the smoke

I wasn't planning on wrapping at any point.  This seems to be a matter of preference, so I'll try it this way first

Once finished cooking, let it rest about an hour in a cooler

The pull it apart and place into chaffing dishes

I have no idea when to put the finishing sauce on the meat.  I expect to be done pulling at midnight, which is 8 hours away from serving time.  I can keep it in the cooler until the morning and finish it then too.

Any help would be appreciated.  

Thanks!

Frank

 

[s2k9k]

How big are these butts going to be? You should figure 1.5 - 2 hours per pound with a couple more hours for a cushion. 

I've never done a boneless butt so I can't really comment on that but it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

If they are going to finish 8 hours before serving time and you have time to reheat, I would go ahead and shred them then refrigerate and then give an hour or two to reheat and add the finishing sauce after they are reheated. I wouldn't want to leave them in a cooler for 8 hours, they will could drop below 140* in that long of time, better to be safe since you will have time to reheat.

That would be my plan, I'm sure others would do it different.

 

[kryinggame]

Frank, here's a couple of things to think about:

1- Assuming you smoke btwn 225 - 235 degrees and you purchase (for example) an 8lb butt, the smoke time is averaged to go btwn 12 - 16 hours. This is based upon the theory of 1.5 hours - 2 hours per pound.  You want to give yourself as much time as possible. 

2 - Personally, I rub the night before my smoke and then I'll let the meat sit out for an hour or 2, with the goal of getting it to room temperature. I don't smoke cold meat (meat taken directly out of the fridge).

3. I'm not sure what type of smoker you have but I use a Masterbuilt smoker, I'll get it up to 275*F degrees and then once it reaches 275*F, I'll then reduce the temperature to 230*F . Based upon the weather outside and if the wind is blowing, this could take up to an hour.

4. Once your meat is in the smoker (also, I use an AMNPS to generate the smoke. This is a pellet smoking contraption that's able to generate 11 - 12 hours of smoke. Most here who use an electric smoker use one. Here's a link (http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12)

5. The type of wood to use is a personal preference. I use either hickory or Pitmaster's choice).

6. Make sure that you have a good thermometer to determine the temperature of your meat (you can also use one to determine the temperature of the inside of your oven). You don't want to smoke based upon time, rather temperature.

7. When is it done?  You have a choice (I) smoke until the meat gets to 165*F and then foil (temp I use) then back in the smoker and pull out when it reaches 200*F. The benefits are, it holds moisture and speed the cook time some, but soft bark or (II) Smoke the entire  time with all the way to 200*F. This will increase your smoking time but you will get a lot of crisp bark--make sure you love bark!!!

8. Once I pull the finished meat out the smoker, I'll wrap it for a couple of hours in a aluminum foil; a couple of towels and leave it in a cooler for a few hours. This helps settle the meat.

9. When I'm ready, I'll start pulling it apart. After it's pulled apart, I'll have the pulled meat in a large dutch oven pot and then I'll add my finishing sauce.  I give credit and use the SoFlaQuer finishing sauce. Based upon the size of the meat, I may add up to 2 - 3 servings of the sauce. Trust me, you will love the sauce.  Here's a link (http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/49892/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork)

10. If I'm going to serve on Sunday, I'll make sure that the pork is done on Saturday. Trust me, you don't want to be sweating on the day of serving. Anything can go wrong.  And in my opinion, the meat taste better 1 day after because it was able to marinate. So Saturday, I'll have all the work done. Then on Sunday, right before I serve, I'll reheat the meat in a dutch oven using some apple juice.

These are a lot of instructions but I think you'll find it beneficial.

Thank you!

 

[sqwib]

Hi gang,

I'm planning on smoking a couple of pork shoulders for the Browns game, and had a few questions.

I have a rub and a finishing sauce, but I wanted to know about some timing issues.

First, should I get a bone in or a bone out roast?  I can get either one from the Market, but I didn't know if it would make a difference in flavor. Some will argue that bone in will produce a better product, I used to remove the bone for the simple fact of decreasing cooking time, I now leave the bone intact because for me it's not worth it to remove it and to be honest, when I'm doing pulled pork I'm not in a rush and also its fun to pull the bone out... look at it as an indicator of doneness. So that is your choice, however I do trim the fat, no sense in cooking something that will be trashed anyway, some folks leave the fat intact as a barrier against flareups on certain smokers cooking fat side down.

I'm expecting this to take about 10 hours, so I'm prepared for that.  I was hoping to start it early Saturday and have it finish near midnight.  However, will this effect the product? Most folks here agree 2 hours per pound and you are safe, I always add an extra hour on top I do not include the pit warm up in this time I start once the meat hits the grates. I don't understand what you mean by will this affect the product.

I know that I can hold it in a cooler wrapped in cloth for about 8 hours, which would be about the time the tail gating would start.  But that wouldn't give me a chance to shred it or put the sauce on it. I would not hold it for 8 hours I think that is too long, I probably would go 3 maybe 4 hours max, but that is me.

Can I pull it when its done, and then put it into the chaffing dishes?  I was planning on reheating it once we get to the lot.  If I pull it then, would I put the finishing sauce on then, or the next morning?  My finishing sauce that I found here has a lot of vinegar in it, which I know can effect the meat long term.

I would catch your drippings and spice it up a bit, place drippings in the refrigerator while your pork is resting wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler, finger pull (chunk the pork) don't shred it, defat your drippings add your drippings place the pork in a chauffing dish place plastic wrap on the meat, don't just cover the pan, then cover with foil place in the fridge with your finishing sauce to be added later.

A few hours before the tailgating event remove from fridge pull back foil remove plastic wrap, sprits with apple juice recover with foil place in preheated oven at 275° for near an hour, you want to stick your finger in the middle and have the meat warm not hot.

At the event setup your chauffing dish with hot water pull the foil back, lightly toss in your (vinegary based) finishing sauce recover in foil and place the lid on top.

When you serve pop off the lid pull back the foil keeping the rest of the pork completely covered.

You would be amazed at how fresh it will stay doing this.place keep the pork.

I could probably time it to the point that it would be done in the morning, but then I'll be without sleep, which will not be the best for the game! Read above statement

My plan currently is:

Rub the roasts when I get home and start the fire (more sugar more bark)

Once it gets to temp, start the smoke (not sure of your smoker but I always go up to 400° then work down from there, just make sure to have your pit higher when adding the meat and dial it down from there.

I wasn't planning on wrapping at any point.  This seems to be a matter of preference, so I'll try it this way first You can wrap to help through the stall and if your bark is where you like it, wrap but make sure to unwrap the last 5 degrees or so.

Once finished cooking, let it rest about an hour in a cooler,I remove from the pit at 200-205° then I shoot for 2 hours wrapped.

The pull it apart and place into chaffing dishes

I have no idea when to put the finishing sauce on the meat.  I expect to be done pulling at midnight, which is 8 hours away from serving time.  I can keep it in the cooler until the morning and finish it then too.

Add your finishing sauce at the event (read above post)

Any help would be appreciated.  

Thanks!

Frank

Now with all that said Fred, I am requesting some great photos of the event.

 

[sqwib]

Damn you guys are quick there were no posts when I started my rant.

 

[sqwib]

Forgive me for this next post, I thought I posted this here before and was going to link to it, sorry guys...

Basic Pulled Pork according to SQWIB

Its done when its done, throw away your watch.

There are many variables to consider when cooking Butts/Picnics such as, variations in cuts of meats, fat content of meat, foiling, humidity in the cooking chamber, type of cooker, how you position items in the cooker, type of wood, quality of wood, size of wood, fire management, airflow and weather conditions, to name a few. Many of these conditions will effect your cook and finished product in some way.

This is based on a Reverse Flow Offset Pit and individual results will vary, for example when doing butts on my GOSM "Vertical Cabinet Water Smoker", my cooking times are much greater than on the Reverse Flow.

So please experiment a bit and find what works best for you.


Be Prepared

One thing I have learned over the years is to be prepared and organized. I strongly suggest making a checklist.
So before you start make sure you have everything you will need for the cook, Wood splits, Propane, Thermometers, HD foil, pans, Tongs, Lighters, Gloves etc...

Same goes with the Ingredients to a recipe, get everything out the day before you plan on starting, you just may realize you are missing an important ingredient that the neighbor most likely will not have.
If using things like Digital Thermometers or Insta Read, make sure to have fresh batteries and check probes prior to the cook.


Documentation

Make sure to document your cook including cooking times and temps as well as weather conditions and take plenty of pictures if possible, this is a great tool when reviewing successes and failures. Keep your documentation organized. I transfer my photos and notes to this website for future reference and sharing.


Mother Nature

• Prepare for the predicted weather... Examples,
• Wind, try blocking the wind as this may have an adverse effect on the performance of your smoker.
• Rain, prepare a shelter to keep you and your equipment dry.
• Cold very cold temps may have an adverse effect on your smoker.
• Heat, extreme heat can make a possible enjoyable smoke a nightmare, grab some fans or reschedule your smoke for the evening.
• Bugs/Mosquito's, place a fan in your cooking area and have citronella and bug spray if needed.
• Animals, make sure not to leave food out unattended, you may end up with unwanted dinner guests.

Equipment

• Make sure your equipment is clean and ready to go, examples...
• Remove excessive grease (Potential FIRE HAZZARD)
• Clean Grates
• Clean out Fire box
• re season
• Work area, make sure that your work area is adequate and you have adequate lighting.
• Comfortable chair

Brining:

• Some folks like to brine the meat before cooking, I honestly feel this type of meat does not benefit from a brine, however it should not have a negative impact on the final product.

Trimming / Not trimming:

• The day before the cook, trim the fat and skin from the pork for more bark formation, don't forget the false cap on the Butts, (Some do not trim, I do)

Reasons why I trim the fat:

• Smoke and rub will not penetrate the fat.
• Cooking with the fat intact increases cook time, which will be tossed after the cook anyway
• Some folks subscribe to the fact that leaving the fat on self bastes the meat however the pork butt contains a good amount of intramuscular fat, so the roast will actually "self baste" from the inside out.
• Trimming the external fat increases the surface area for more bark formation and smoke penetration.

[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Remove the nasties:[/font]

• [font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Trim off any unsightly things like veins, bloody spots and Lymph Nodes[/font]

• If you plan on keeping the fat on, score in a cross hatch pattern

Injecting / Rub

• Some folks like to inject their meat before cooking, I have tried this but do not prefer this method my only suggestion when injecting, is to stay away from acidic ingredients, again the choice is yours.

Below are a few of my recent rubs.

• My Basic Rub

 

• Philly Style Rub

• Porchetta Italian Marketplace Rub/Slather

• Montreal or Canadian Steak Rub

• Rub the pork with your favorite rub, naked is fine too. Start by lining steamer pan with an extra long piece of plastic wrap, coat the plastic wrap heavily with your choice of rub, place the meat on the rub, fat side down if you left the fat on, coat sides and the top of the meat liberally with your rub. I like to apply the rub 18-24 hours before the cook.

 

• Fold over the plastic wrap and secure snugly.

• Some folks use mustard to help the rub stick better, I see no need to do this because the salt and sugar will draw out moisture making a nice slather. If you leave the fat intact, you will not pull out as much moisture on the fat so the rub will be drier and some will fall off during the cook, so mustard will help the rub stick to the fat. This is your choice.

Time:

• Use time wisely.

• Clear your Schedule, make sure everyone knows that you will be unavailable.

• The night before figure out what time you want the food to be ready by and set your alarm accordingly, give yourself at least one hour extra for firing up the cooker.

• Make sure to allow enough time for your cook including, rest, pulling and cleanup. As a general rule of thumb I usually give 2 hours per pound plus 1, so a 9 pound butt once on the smoker will be ready to eat in 19 hours, this is only an estimate but has worked out great for me. On my stickburner, I have never gone past this time allotment.

• Remember (Different cookers will vary, for example my GOSM takes longer than my Stick burner per/LB.) I am averaging 80 minutes a pound on my stick burner.

Supplies:

• Ready all your supplies. (refer to the list as mentioned earlier)

• Have your starter wood ready to go.

• Make sure to have an accurate way to monitor the chamber temperature. I currently use the Redi Check Maverick ET732 and a Thermapen. I also use Taylor digital thermos and will use these as a timer.

The next morning:

• Give yourself about an hour for this step, Using starter wood or your junk wood, knots, small and large cuts, uneven cuts, anything to get a good coal bed going.

• Now there's two different ways I do this, Propane or Charcoal

• With Propane I start by opening my cooking chamber, all the vents and the fire door then I place all my starter wood in a basket , place the basket on the grates over top of the log lighter, turn on the propane and ignite the log lighter then I shut the firebox door leaving ajar about an inch. After 20 minutes or so I'll shut down the propane and add a few more splits.

• Charcoal, sometimes I will start the fire with charcoal or Lump, I will usually light a 3/4 full chimney, as that is igniting I will add some smallish splits and junk wood to the basket and place some junk wood to the side. After 20 minutes or so I will dump the charcoal into the basket and place the wood on top. *Tip for starting a chimney, use 3 pieces of newspaper, crumble each piece loosely, place in bottom of the chimney starter, drizzle a little oil on the paper and ignite.

Fire Management:

I will quickly go into fire management here. This is where you should start to take accurate notes and understand your Pit. Learning how to control your fire for your particular smoker is a key component in a successful cook. Wood will have different requirements than charcoal. 

I primarily use wood on my cooks and will only use charcoal when starting a fire. I would love to give more specific advice on this subject but there are too many variable to give specific instructions, however I will provide the following tips.

• Split size matters: Use smaller splits and add more often as opposed to larger splits less often, this will reduce the amount of the nasty white smoke that you do not want. Adding large splits will make the wood smolder longer before it ignites. Place the wood that is to be added inside the firebox to the side where it will not ignite, my fires usually get too hot to place the splits inside the firebox so I place my next few splits on top of the firebox.
• Choking: Do not choke your fire, make sure you have proper draft. You can see the flame going towards the cooking chamber if you have proper draft, you can also feel the heat coming out of the top of the exhaust stack.
• Ventilation: Make sure your wood does not choke itself in it's own ashes, make sure to build the fire in a basket with holes and/or build the fire on grates. The air should flow underneath the fire through the fire and toward the cooking chamber. Make sure these vents are not blocked. If there is ash in the basket or in the vents clear the ashes.
• Stoking: Every now and then you may need to stoke the fire, however do this gently as you do not want ash traveling through the Pit and resting on the meat.
• Backing Up: If you are getting smoke pouring out of the firebox, check your intakes and vents and stoke the fire. Make sure the exhaust vent is wide open.
• Wood is Fuel: Do not focus on imparting smoke flavor in the food, focus on the cleanest burn possible, you will still get a smoke flavor. You do not need to see smoke to get smoke flavor.
• Adding Wood: When adding wood to the existing fire, leave the firebox door open a little bit, if a white billowing smoke starts pouring out of the exhaust vent, open the cooking chamber lid for a few seconds allowing the smoke to escape quickly.

Prepare The Pit:

• As your fire is burning, ready your Pit, place a drip pan underneath the grates and add a quart or so of water. Place your next few splits on the firebox. Adding a water pan underneath will impede the airflow slightly, I think the benefits of catching the drippings outweigh the minor impeding of airflow. This is optional.

• Get out your cleaning supplies, rags, cooking gloves, HD Foil, thermometers, etc... if you have not done so earlier.

• Remove the meat from the refrigerator and unwrap the meat carefully. I highly recommend placing the meat into the Pit directly from the refrigerator. Some folks say to leave it out to come up to room temperature, I think this is bad advice. Think about the danger zone here, if you have 4 hours to get from 40° - 140° and you leave the meat out to come up to room temperature for just say an hour... you just reduced your time to get past the danger zone by 25%.

• Once the temperature is 300° +, Place the meat into the Pit with the pan underneath to catch drippings. Slowly bring the Pit temps down to about 240° -250°. If you lay the pork directly in a pan, make sure to use a rack so the pork does not sit directly in the drippings.

• Don't sweat the temperature fluctuations, if it drops down to 230° and back up to 260°., don't panic, butts and Picnics are very forgiving, but try to maintain a constant temp hovering around 250°.

• Placement of the meat, make sure the meat is not touching anything, and be careful of any "Cold spots" or "Hot spots".
• Do not probe the meat at this point!  I will explain why, later.

• Place a large can of water, tea pot or coffee pot on top of the fire box, this will be used to add to the dripping pan if it is to get too low. I also place a large can of water on the firebox and will place my cooking utensils inside during the cook, works great when doing stuff like beans or chili, or if you are using tongs. It also reduces the chance of food borne illness when smoking chicken.

• About three hours into the cook I usually, insert a digital thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat. The reason I wait three hours before inserting the probe is that it reduces the chance of pushing surface bacteria into the meat. Some folks don't probe, others use insta-read type thermometers and Thermapens, some folks just go by feel! I currently use the Redi Check Maverick ET732 and a Thermapen.

Clean your work area:

• Now that the fire is going, the meat is safely on the Pit, now is the time to clean up.

• Get out your Clorox cleanup, wipe down the work area, wash all your utensils and pans. Put away everything you will not be using and keep a few rags handy. I keep a few dry and one wet.

• Get out your towels and cooler and keep them handy for the rest.

Now that everything is cleaned up, you have a clean work area and the Pit is chugging along, it's time to relax.
Sit back and enjoy!

If you have a ET732 or any wireless unit that monitors the cooking chamber temperature, you have a bit more freedom to move around, my last cook I went upstairs while Frank was chugging along and hopped in the jacuzzi tub for near an hour, came downstairs and made a cup of coffee then headed back outside.

Mopping (Optional) The term mopping comes from actually mopping the meat with a little mop, many folks use spritzing, mopping and basting interchangeably.

• Leave the meat undisturbed until an internal temp above 145°is achieved, at this point feel free to mop. Sometimes I mop sometimes I don't. If mopping I use a 3-2-1 mix, Apple Cider (3 parts), Apple Cider Vinegar (2 parts) Captain Morgan or Southern Comfort (1 part). Mops are limited only to your imagination, just remember, more sugar will give more bark and sugar can burn. Note, make sure to get the Butt through the Danger Zone 40° - 140° within 4 hours.

• Some folks keep a mop bucket in the smoker, so when they mop they are using hot liquid and not ambient temperature liquid, I don't sweat this.

• Make sure to keep an eye on the drip pan, you do not want the accumulated drippings to burn up, make sure there is liquid inside the pan at all times, check this when you are mopping.

Heat Recovery:

Don't get hung up on the old saying, "If you're looking your not cooking". Do not sweat opening the cooker every now and then especially if your cooker has a quick heat recovery time, the more thermal mass you have the better the heat recovery will be, just don't get carried away. Peeking constantly will increase the cook time.

Here's a tip, if you want to check the drippings in the pan or want to mop the meat, time it when adding your splits, once the splits start to smoke, right before combustion, open the cooking chamber door and mop at this time and add liquid if needed.


Flipping:

Although not usually necessary sometimes a flip or moving the meat will give a more even bark formation I do not find this necessary on my Pit when doing butts or picnics, but it may help some that experience hot spots or cold spots on their smoker, where one butt of similar size may take much longer to cook.


The stall:

You may encounter what folks call the "Stall", (Plateau) from my experience.this usually is around 165° to 180° this can last several hours, don't sweat it, this is normal and will pass
If you experience the Stall you can move things along by wrapping the butt in foil and bumping the temps up to 275° until the temps start to rise again, at this point I would lower the temps and unfoil the but.



The "Danger Zone"

What is the danger zone?
The below statement, was taking from a frequently visited forum. Bear in mind this is not a specific safety rule by the FDA and is a general rule adopted by extensive research and experienced chefs.

It is important for your Safety, that any Meats that have been Punctured, Probed, Injected or Ground, be cooked or smoked at a temperature, typically 225*F or greater, that gets the Internal Temperature of the meat from 40*F to 140*F in 4 Hours or less...Frequently called the 40 to 140 in 4 Rule. (This does not include meats containing Cure #1, Cure #2 and Morton's Tender Quick.)      A Guideline like 40-140 in 4...aka the Rule (less letters than Guideline) is, Easy to remember, Provides a margin of Error, Has been gleaned from information provided by Multiple sources, including but not limited to, Professional Food service organizations, The American Culinary Federation, The ServSafe program, the USDA and Food Service Professionals with Years of Experience... Is, " 40 to 140*F in 4 " written down in any Government Food Service Law Manual, or Word for Word on any fore mentioned Website or Charter?...NO...But it Has been adopted by This Site and others to protect our members...


Foiling / not foiling.

There are times when I foil and there are times when I do not foil. I have a few recipes such as my "Philly Style Pulled Pork" and my "Porchetta Italian Marketplace Pulled Pork", that I do not want the bark so I foil at a certain temperature.

• FOR MORE INTENSE BARK FORMATION; cook at 250° (un foiled) until an internal temp of 200-205° (my average is 82 minutes per lb.)

• FOR LESS INTENSE BARK FORMATION ; cook at 250°° until an internal temp of 165° then foil and continue cooking until internal temp of 200-205° (smoke will not penetrate while foiled).

• Plateau, You may hit a stall around 165° - 180° that can last several hours, "don't worry", the temperature will eventually start to climb. If you foil at around 155°, there is a chance you may not hit a stall, and if you do, it will be short lived. READ THIS.

• If you foiled, you can bump the temperature up to 260° -275°, some will go up as high as 300°, (I rarely increase the temp during a cook but have had no ill effects by doing so.)

 

Resting for slicing:
 

If you choose to slice the pork remove from the Pit at an internal temperature of 185° - 190°, wrap tightly in Foil then wrap in heavy towels and place into a cooler for 1 hour.

Resting for Pulling/Shredding:
If you choose to pull/shred the pork, remove from the Pit at an internal temperature of  200°- 205°, wrap tightly in Foil then wrap in heavy towels and place into a cooler for 1 - 2 hours. (1 hour minimum, however I shoot for two hours, patience pays off here). Some Butts can be kept 4 hours or more in a good cooler but keep an eye on the internal temperature, do not let it drop below 140°, better yet 150°.



 


 





Pulling and Finishing:

While the pork is resting, remove the pan with the drippings and refrigerate. if the drippings are black and charred I do not use them, however, this is your call.
 

• Right before pulling the pork remove the drippings from the refrigerator and remove the grease (white waxy stuff on top). Make your preferred finishing sauce using the drippings, keep the finishing sauce hot until you are ready to add to the pork).

• Remove the pork from the cooler, tent the foil to leave the steam out very slowly, the longer the initial rest, the less steam will escape, remember that steam is moisture, you do not want to loose too much moisture, the goal here is to have as much moisture as possible reabsorb into the pork.

• Shred the pork with some forks or bear claws, hence the name shredded pork (some like to pull it by using their fingers, hence the name pulled pork), and add some rub or finishing sauce, at the least add your drippings. Make sure to remove all the bones and nasty bits.

• If you plan on slicing, just slice the pork and serve with your finishing sauce.

Finger pulled (chunkier texture)





Some other Thoughts:

• I like to shoot for 250° cooking chamber temperature.

• Foiling will help reduce the stall.

• Temperature fluctuations do not make or break the final product, however trying to maintain a given temperature such as 250° is preferred.

• Outside temps don't seem to interfere with my Pit and although wind is a concern, I have done cooks on fairly windy days with no ill effect.

• I have been "Q" -ing picnics paired up with butts with better results than either butts or picnics alone.

• Cooking time, I am averaging about 80 minutes a pound on my pork cooks, but have noticed that my cooks are lengthened slightly by using water in the smoker. I have experimented with water pans in the reverse flow and noticed longer cook times per/lb.

• When doing large cuts of meat on my GOSM (Vertical water smoker) my smoke are longer than on the reverse flow, I attribute this to the amount of moisture in the smoker assisting in "evaporative cooling" of the meat which increases the cook time.

• Fat side up or fat side down?, that depends on your type of cooker and your desired results, a lot of folks will go fat side down to protect the meat from direct heat, some say fat side up to self baste the meat and some folks flip the meat at some point, I trim all the fat off.

• Placement of items in your Pit can have a negative impact on airflow creating longer cooking times.

• Straight from Refrigerator to cooker, some folks like to bring the meat up to Room temperature before placing in the cooker. I think this is unwise, think about it, leaving the meat out at room temperature for just one hour reduces the danger zone window by 25%.

 

[uga fan]

I am not a fan of letting meat sit for hours before serving.. if u have an 8 hour cushion, try backing the start time up maybe 6 hours. After reaching temp,the meat needs to sit for about an hour anyway which will still leave u an extra hour. I don't usually sauce my meat once pulled and let the "consumer" sauce accordingly so reheating tends to dry the meat out some. Good luck with the smoke, and remember, staying up all night with smoking meat is half the fun!!

 

[jarjarchef]

SQWIB has you pretty much covered.

I would caution you on the safe food temps.

If you plan to keep in a cooler with towels. If possible leave the meat whole and the temp prob in it so you can monitor the holding temps. You want to stay above 140 degrees while holding.

If you plan to reheat later. I would pull it and place in zipper bags. I put about 2# in a gallon bag. Chill it to below 40 degrees in less than 4hrs. Then reheat to >165 in less than 2hrs. Each bag will make approx 8 sandwiches.

If you have access to a burner that you can use a sauté pan on it and you can reheat the pork in it adding some of the drippings/finishing sauce to it to keep moist. Just a thought.......

 

[kryinggame]

Damn you guys are quick there were no posts when I started my rant.

Because Professor SQWIB, your rants goes on forever. You always pull out graphs, charts, Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations...Feels like I'm back in Business school again...lol.

Just kidding, we're all very passionate about this and we (at least I) have asked these same questions.

 

[sqwib]

Because Professor SQWIB, your rants goes on forever. You always pull out graphs, charts, Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations...Feels like I'm back in Business school again...lol.

Just kidding, we're all very passionate about this and we (at least I) have asked these same questions.

lol, Yeah I need to either type faster or get speech to text, Hell I think some guys on here have a prewritten post for almost every situation out there.

I can just see it now "Oh smokingjoe1234 from Arkansas has a question about brining buffalo tongue in "2004 Block 42" wine and smoking with banana leaves in a clay pot smoker, let me look through my files hmmm ok here it is.

 

[jarjarchef]

lol, Yeah I need to either type faster or get speech to text, Hell I think some guys on here have a prewritten post for almost every situation out there.

I can just see it now "Oh smokingjoe1234 from Arkansas has a question about brining buffalo tongue in "2004 Block 42" wine and smoking with banana leaves in a clay pot smoker, let me look through my files hmmm ok here it is.

LOL!!!!!

I have often wondered the same thing.

 

[puckinggoalie]

Wow!  This has been quite the response!

A few quick notes that I'm taking here...

I think I'll go and pick up the meat today.  I could do it today or tomorrow, really, but letting the rub sit on it for the night couldn't hurt.

I do have a question about using a pan to catch the drippings.  I have limited space for that, given that I was planning on using the lower rack in my Weber Smokey Mountain and the water bowl is directly beneath it, taking up all the available space.  I'm trying to think if I can fashion some sort of catch pan in the water pan.  Or, I could conceivable put the pork in a pan with a rack, but I worry that will reduce the amount of smoke this will take in.  That could just be newbie fear though, and having reread the "preparing the pit" portion, is it that the water pan is the catch?

I was planning on trimming the fat off, for the most part.

Its supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow, so it looks like I'll be smoking in the garage.  Its not supposed to be windy at least, so I have that going for me.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[coronaca92879]

Can u not use the top rack cause you're putting something else on it? If u have to use bottom a roasting pan works good. I got a pretty nice one with a flat rack for Christmas.

 

[sound1]

Sqwib has the details down for sure. Let us know how the rainy day project comes out.

 

[sqwib]

Wow!  This has been quite the response!

A few quick notes that I'm taking here...

I think I'll go and pick up the meat today.  I could do it today or tomorrow, really, but letting the rub sit on it for the night couldn't hurt.

I do have a question about using a pan to catch the drippings.  I have limited space for that, given that I was planning on using the lower rack in my Weber Smokey Mountain and the water bowl is directly beneath it, taking up all the available space.  I'm trying to think if I can fashion some sort of catch pan in the water pan.  Or, I could conceivable put the pork in a pan with a rack, but I worry that will reduce the amount of smoke this will take in.  That could just be newbie fear though, and having reread the "preparing the pit" portion, is it that the water pan is the catch?

I was planning on trimming the fat off, for the most part.

Its supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow, so it looks like I'll be smoking in the garage.  Its not supposed to be windy at least, so I have that going for me.

Thanks again for all the help!

Can u not use the top rack cause you're putting something else on it? If u have to use bottom a roasting pan works good. I got a pretty nice one with a flat rack for Christmas.

Never used your smoker but top rack sounds like a viable option and a drip pan underneath, make sure to keep water in the drip pan or your drippings will burn up.

If you place the pork in a pan make sure the pork is elevated from the bottom of the pan a few inches, you don't want roasted pork and you will get smoke I have done this before, you could just place a grate on top of the drip pan and place the meat on that

 

[puckinggoalie]

Well, the shoulders turned out great.  It took a little longer than I expected, but the results were great.

I started the fire at about 3:30 in the morning on Friday.  I got home from hockey at about 1:30, and took the pork out then to let it come up to room temp, or at least close to it.

It was pouring rain the entire time I was trying to get things going, so I had to more the cooker from the porch into the garage.  

I checked the temp about every hour after I got it rolling.  It hit about 150 at about 7am, and then hit 165 at about 9, where it stayed until about 3.  I did finally wrap them in foil at about 3, as it seemed to be getting too "barky", from what I could see at least, and I didn't want it to overpower everything else.  

From there, it finally started climbing, and hit 205 at about 6:45, at which point I pulled them out, wrapped them in towels and put them into coolers for about 3 hours.

Pulling the meat ended up taking a little longer than I expected, and the centers of the meat were still quite hot.  I was able to pull the bones out clean, which I knew was a good sign.  I let them cool in the fridge in ziplock bags and prepped up the finishing sauce from SoFlaQuer's recipe.

The next day, we reheated the meat in a chaffing dish and added the finishing sauce, and it was a big hit.  The finishing sauce was very tasty, but I think I preferred it with a little BBQ sauce on it.  The people we were with made a vinegar based slaw for the sandwiches, which brought it all together.

We're still eating the left overs now, and the sauce is picking up a little heat as its in the fridge.  

All in all, a great end result that was the hit of the party.  I have some pics on my phone, and I'm hoping I can start pulling them off.  Once I do, I'll try and add them here.

Thanks for the help everyone !

Frank

 

[sqwib]

Awesome Frank, glad it all worked out!

One thing though I am not a big fan of leaving my butts or picnics come up to room temperature, I only do this when grilling I do not recommend this for low and slow

I will let the other folks chime in about the danger zone and how it has been adopted here on SMF.

Chef Jimmy splains it best!

4 hours from 40 - 140

1:30 - 3:30 on the counter (this cut your chance to get through the danger zone in half)

3:30 - 7:00 reaches 150° (you would have to reach 140° by 5:30)

total 5-1/2 hours from fridge to 150°

Don't want to be a Debbie Downer but really want you to be safe.

 

[puckinggoalie]

Thanks for that.  I wasn't planning on letting it out that long, although I did want it out some.  The torrential downpours that forced me to first cover then move everything into the garage held me up some.  I was hoping to have it all going sooner, although I know that my fridge is pretty cold.  

I know that my next project, making some jerky, is a whole different story though.

A couple other notes, is that I was surprised at the amount of meat that I got out of the shoulders.  I bought one that was just over 7 and one just under 7 pounds (once I trimmed them up), and ended up with 7 pounds 12 ounces of meat at the end.  That's quite a lot of fat rendering out!

Lastly, there was almost nothing in the drip pan for me to take out and add back.  Was I supposed to have water in the drip pan?  I did have water in the water pan, but the drippings were basically vaporized.  I don't think it really mattered to the end product, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something.

Thanks!

 

[sqwib]

Thanks for that.  I wasn't planning on letting it out that long, although I did want it out some.  The torrential downpours that forced me to first cover then move everything into the garage held me up some.  I was hoping to have it all going sooner, although I know that my fridge is pretty cold.  

I know that my next project, making some jerky, is a whole different story though.

A couple other notes, is that I was surprised at the amount of meat that I got out of the shoulders.  I bought one that was just over 7 and one just under 7 pounds (once I trimmed them up), and ended up with 7 pounds 12 ounces of meat at the end.  That's quite a lot of fat rendering out! Butts I average around 50-55% yield, Picnics 40-45% yield

Lastly, there was almost nothing in the drip pan for me to take out and add back.  Was I supposed to have water in the drip pan?  I did have water in the water pan, but the drippings were basically vaporized.  I don't think it really mattered to the end product, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something. You don't have to save the drippings but I suggest it, I feel it makes for a better finished product, yes you need water in the drip pan so they don't burn up.

Thanks!