Twenty-seven-pound pork shoulder

[Sowsage]

We are at 14.5 hours now, and it is just starting to come out of the stall. I also had problems (in the middle of the night, of course) with Jealous Devil lump charcoal getting caught in the hopper of the Masterbuilt 560. I lost a little time there, but not really much. I've bumped the temperature up to 275 now so I can finish and share it out before supper time tonight.

So, I'm learning a lot about big pieces of meat and about my new smoker/grill.

Cant wait to see that bad boy!

 

[rmcrob]

It took 18 hours and that's with turning the temp up to 250 and 275 this morning. Pitmaster's privilege tells me it tastes good, but the pit master's wife got the first bite.

 

[smokerjim]

Sure does look good, nice job. As long as the wife likes it your golden

 

[Sowsage]

That looks beautiful! Nice job man! Great color and bark on it!

 

[thirdeye]

Those are huge. I would have liked to see the hoof weight of that hog! That could be the the nicest money muscles I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor, separate the MM before you shred the rest, it deserves to be enjoyed on it's own. It will be too tender to slice, but will gently fall apart.

 

[bill1]

Here's my theory on the large size of those cuts...pigs (and I'm a City Boy so take this with a grain of salt) can become huge, like 1200#, given time and enough feed. But I think about ~600# is where the added cost of feeding/caring quits paying off at the slaughterhouse. In other words, if it takes more than twice as much financial investment to get just 2X the amount of meat, you'll slaughter your pigs sooner.
With the CoV, every market was topsy-turvy (still is) so I think ranchers were more likely to keep their cows "on the hoof" a bit longer and hope the price would get better. Meaning pigs got fattened beyond their "normal" optimum.
If I'm right, others will post of record size cuts showing up at their markets.
On the other hand, perhaps some farmers who had the foresight to see trouble coming in the market, sold their pigs before their optimal weight, thinking the price per pound might drop fast.
In northern California, I can't say I've noticed either effect.

 

[thirdeye]

I'd like to see a 1200# hog, not up very close.

 

[rmcrob]

This is a fun group. I'm glad I found it and joined up. Thanks, new friends.

 

[bill1]

I'd like to see a 1200# hog, not up very close.

Sorry Folks, I really need to read more, guess less. It appears I was 2x off on both numbers. So I should have said hogs tend to go to market at 300# but could be fattened up to 600#, just not economically. Surely there are some farm folk here who can give corrections as needed. Unless you're all still rolling on the floor laughing.

 

[smokerjim]

oh Bill who's laughing

 

[bill1]

So yeah I was pretty far out in left field but at least wasn't totally in the stands. See this news item from central NY state a mere 16 years ago.

 

[smokerjim]

Imagine the butts you would get off that.

 

[schlotz]

Nothing like a good BUTT smoke. I'll bet it tasted great!

 

[chilerelleno]

This is a fun group. I'm glad I found it and joined up. Thanks, new friends.

You got that right, and we're happy you did too... Welcome to SMF.com!
Folks here are very friendly and laid back.

Great looking Butt you turned out there, like the color, looks tasty.
Enjoyed the thread and all the guessing/commentary.