So, Food Lion had Picnics on sale for $0.79/lbs. Considering I had never done a Picnic before I went to Food Lion to see what they had. It just so happened there were three left. A 10 pounder, a 9 1/2 pounder, and wee little 8 pounder. I felt someone staring at me so I wheeled around to discover an impatient woman who apparently was looking for the same deal. Rather than be a complete ass, I took the 10 and 9 1/2 pounder and left her the wee little 8 pounder. :D
Once home, I decided I would cook it immediately rather than freeze it for another time. To be honest, I was more than curious about the taste as I have heard Picnics have a bit of a ham flavor compared to Boston Butts. I slathered my two prizes with mustard and coated it with a rub I made and have been experimenting with. Then on to the UDS they went. It was about 8pm when they went on. I reasoned that I would check on them hourly for the next 4 hours to make sure the UDS was holding 250* and then call it a night and get back up at 4am and 8am to check on progress.
Here is where my confusion kicks in. After putting them on, I asked some folks about whether Picnics cook at about the same rate as Boston Butts. The unanimous answer was yes. Ok, I thought, they should be done around 4pm as similar sized Boston Butts would take me around 20 hours. Imagine my surprise to find the 9 1/2 pounder at 175* and the 10 pounder at 170* at 4am. They were cooking much faster than any Boston Butt I have done in the past. I foiled them both and went back to bed.
Forgetting to set my alarm, I didn't wake up again until 9am. I immediately had an oh ****! moment and threw on some clothes to run outside where much to my surprise the 9 1/2 pounder was at 207* and the 10 pounder was at 195*. I took the 9 1/2 pounder off, wrapped it in another layer foil to rest for two hours and let the 10 pounder keep cooking. An hour later, it too was done and got the double foil treatment and is just about done resting.
Thanks to the simple addition and subtraction I learned in 3rd grade I have come up with the following:
9 1/2# Picnic - 13 hours @ 250*
10# Picnic - 14 hours @ 250*
What is blowing my mind is that similar sized Boston Butts take me 6 more hours than my 10 pound Picnic. Why is that?
The only thing I can think of is that the Boston Butt is much meatier and far less bone in comparison. I know a debate rages on about whether or not bones help conduct heat or not but I am not venturing there. I am thinking it is just simply the Boston Butts have more meat and therefor take longer to cook. Thoughts? Opinions?
And for those wondering, the pulled pork from the Picnic is excellent. I do indeed taste a little ham flavor and will definitely be doing more Picnics in the future.
Once home, I decided I would cook it immediately rather than freeze it for another time. To be honest, I was more than curious about the taste as I have heard Picnics have a bit of a ham flavor compared to Boston Butts. I slathered my two prizes with mustard and coated it with a rub I made and have been experimenting with. Then on to the UDS they went. It was about 8pm when they went on. I reasoned that I would check on them hourly for the next 4 hours to make sure the UDS was holding 250* and then call it a night and get back up at 4am and 8am to check on progress.
Here is where my confusion kicks in. After putting them on, I asked some folks about whether Picnics cook at about the same rate as Boston Butts. The unanimous answer was yes. Ok, I thought, they should be done around 4pm as similar sized Boston Butts would take me around 20 hours. Imagine my surprise to find the 9 1/2 pounder at 175* and the 10 pounder at 170* at 4am. They were cooking much faster than any Boston Butt I have done in the past. I foiled them both and went back to bed.
Forgetting to set my alarm, I didn't wake up again until 9am. I immediately had an oh ****! moment and threw on some clothes to run outside where much to my surprise the 9 1/2 pounder was at 207* and the 10 pounder was at 195*. I took the 9 1/2 pounder off, wrapped it in another layer foil to rest for two hours and let the 10 pounder keep cooking. An hour later, it too was done and got the double foil treatment and is just about done resting.
Thanks to the simple addition and subtraction I learned in 3rd grade I have come up with the following:
9 1/2# Picnic - 13 hours @ 250*
10# Picnic - 14 hours @ 250*
What is blowing my mind is that similar sized Boston Butts take me 6 more hours than my 10 pound Picnic. Why is that?
The only thing I can think of is that the Boston Butt is much meatier and far less bone in comparison. I know a debate rages on about whether or not bones help conduct heat or not but I am not venturing there. I am thinking it is just simply the Boston Butts have more meat and therefor take longer to cook. Thoughts? Opinions?
And for those wondering, the pulled pork from the Picnic is excellent. I do indeed taste a little ham flavor and will definitely be doing more Picnics in the future.