Smoking pork shoulder for first time...a few questions.

[amills1210]

Hey All,

I tried searching for answers in specific posts, but really didnt get the answers I was looking for so hoping you all can help me out.

I just started smoking a few months ago. I have the 7-in-1 Masterbuilt vertical propane smoker...similar to the cabela's 7-in-1. Im not a huge fan of it, but it was a gift from work. It has produced good salmon and chicken thus far. I want to attempt my first pork shoulder this week.

The pork shoulder I have is 4 pounds. If I smoke at 225...should I expect it to be done in about 4-5 hours? It looks like the general guideline is 1 hour per pound.

For the prep - Ive seen some sites say rub yellow mustard on it and wrap it in plastic the night before...others have more detailed dry rubs. What is best and what have you all done thats turned out well?

Should I use a mop?

Should I add a fruit juice along with water in the water pan?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[cornman]

Still relatively new myself (not quite a year into smoking), but I would plan on extra time, like almost 2 hours a pound. Some pieces go fast, some take forever. I've learned that much already. At 225, my guess is it will take longer than an hour a pound. Do you have a reliable thermometer?

Are you planning to wrap? That can help speed up the time, but your bark won't be as crisp.

As far as rubs, my limited advice is play around and see what you like. Sometimes I use a pre-made rub such as McCormicks. If I'm feeling adventurous, I try mixing some things up at home. The important thing seems to be find something you like. You are correct about the mustard and wrapping ahead of time.

Most suggestions I've used say use water in the pan or nothing at all. I have used water every time in my WSM and have had no issues. I have yet to spray while smoking, but by reading the posts on this site, many people do and seem happy with the results.

Pork is easy and forgiving as others have said. Don't stress and enjoy. Again, following the advice of some of the smoking sages on this site, getting up to a IT of 205 seems to be a great spot to reach to pull pork. Hope this helps...good look and enjoy!

 

[robin h]

I just recently did a 9lb butt on my 22.5" WSM. I cooked it for roughly 12 hours. Sprayed it down with apple juice and apple cider vinegar every hour roughly ( i forgot some times). I also injected it with Italian dressing (strain out the spices) and 3 little pigs rub. Mixed together the spices from the Italian dressing some mustard & a bit of apple juice to make a wet bounding agent. Rubbed it down with 3 little pigs. 

As for cooking pork i was constant at the 250 range. My WSM is new so very hard to keep the temp down. Even with water and all the vents closed she plugged along at 250 for 10 hours no issues. LOVE the WSM. I only wrapped to let rest for about an hour. I couldn't wait any longer the smell was so god I had to pull and eat some. 

I have been smoking for a few years with a bradley electric. Now that I am serious and got a WSM I am now producing some good BBQ. Love BBQing. I hope your cook turns out great for you. SMOKE ON.

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• robin h
• Jun 1, 2017

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• robin h
• Jun 1, 2017

 

[indaswamp]

Are you going for pulled pork or sliced pork?

I cooked 2 boston butts yesterday to bring to a family get together. I pushed the INT to 203* then put the butts in a 170* warm oven for 1.5 hours. I left the temp probe in to monitor the meat. It held 203 for a over an hour. When I pulled them out, the bone puled out clean-ready to pull, and so moist!

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• indaswamp
• Jun 6, 2017

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• indaswamp
• Jun 6, 2017

All that juice from the foil came from the meat. 95% of the fat rendered down, which when mixed back into the meat made very succulent pulled pork! Should be a big hit at the gathering!

 

[lemans]

Inject with apple juice and 1/3 cup vinegar.. apply thin coat of mustard and then rub. On the smoker with fruit wood apple, cherry. 225-250 til the stall .. 160 ish wrap in foil til it is 195 It. Let it sit in the cooler wrapped in a towel 2 hours ..

 

[amills1210]

Thank you all for the feedback.

 

[sauced]

Inject with apple juice and 1/3 cup vinegar.. apply thin coat of mustard and then rub. On the smoker with fruit wood apple, cherry. 225-250 til the stall .. 160 ish wrap in foil til it is 195 It. Let it sit in the cooler wrapped in a towel 2 hours ..

That's how you do it!!

 

[stealthchef]

I know others have chimed in, but I will too, just because I used to really pine over the details myself. 

225F is on the low end of where you'd want to cook, so that will work fine, but you're barely nudging the internal temp up (which is great if you've got the time). With mine,  try to start around there and gently work it up to ~250F once the stall period happens (where you would wrap with foil if you want to) to prevent the stall from being a stop. I think a 4lb would take longer than 4-5hrs, but not the 12-14 a normal 10lb-er would take.

As far as rubbing with mustard and all the other prep work goes, this is where BBQ becomes an art. There's no wrong answer. Personally, I rub mine with mustard if I'm doing things Carolina style, but otherwise no. I love making my own rubs and tailoring them to the situation (or my mood for that matter). Same goes for making your own sauce. Why not? There's very little that you can do "wrong" there.

Same with mops. That's purely a matter of preference. I've had plenty of good BBQ that people mopped all afternoon. I just don't because I think the bark comes out better.

I wouldn't put anything but water in the water plan. Here's why: I've tried apple juice, beer, vinegar and probably a bunch of other stuff I can't even remember. Don't think it makes a bit of difference.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.