Haven't done a pork shoulder in about a year or so! Raw material was a 13 pound package of Swift's boneless pork shoulder (I like Swift's meat products.) 13 pounds @ 90 minutes a pound = about 19.5 hours so the plan was to start smoking about 3 PM to finish late morning on day two. Start the MES (205*) and unpackage the pork and oh wow, there are two pieces of shoulder in the package
. Smoking plans have already gone wrong since two smaller pieces won't take nearly as long. Oh well.
I had some rub leftover from something else and added more salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and lots of garlic. Lathered down the pork with mustard and sprinkled on the rub. After the MES was at 205* I put the larger piece near the bottom with the temperature probe buried into the biggest part and placed the smaller piece on a top rack and used apple wood chips for smoke. I did not foil the meat at any time.
By bedtime I think the probe was reading ~164* so I knew I would have to wake up at least once to check on the meat. Up at 1 AM and I think it read 175* so I knew it was only going to be another two or three hours before we hit 185* which was my target internal temperature.
Woke up at 2:45 AM and we were at 184*, so time for them to come out of the MES. I foiled them and wrapped in towels and when I started pulling it apart at 9AM, it was at a comfortable temperature to handle.
I got a great crust and 98% of all of the pork was nice and moist. Oh my, there's going to be some good eatin' around our place tonight
John
Texas Hill Country
Out of the MES at 2:45AM
The pulling has begun!
Looking yummy!
I was very pleased with the crust!
The bag man ;-)
I had some rub leftover from something else and added more salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and lots of garlic. Lathered down the pork with mustard and sprinkled on the rub. After the MES was at 205* I put the larger piece near the bottom with the temperature probe buried into the biggest part and placed the smaller piece on a top rack and used apple wood chips for smoke. I did not foil the meat at any time.
By bedtime I think the probe was reading ~164* so I knew I would have to wake up at least once to check on the meat. Up at 1 AM and I think it read 175* so I knew it was only going to be another two or three hours before we hit 185* which was my target internal temperature.
Woke up at 2:45 AM and we were at 184*, so time for them to come out of the MES. I foiled them and wrapped in towels and when I started pulling it apart at 9AM, it was at a comfortable temperature to handle.
I got a great crust and 98% of all of the pork was nice and moist. Oh my, there's going to be some good eatin' around our place tonight
John
Texas Hill Country
Out of the MES at 2:45AM
The pulling has begun!
Looking yummy!
I was very pleased with the crust!
The bag man ;-)
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