2nd try at pork shoulder

[roched11]

    Hey all, I've been mostly a lurker than a participator for the last 2 years. I started out with an ECB which was hit or miss with anything besides Tri-Tip, I finally broke down and got an 18.5" WSM which so far has resulted in excellent results, This will be my first photo log I'm sharing with you.. Please remember I'm a newbie so the photos might not be  the most desirable.

To start off, It is a smallish bone in pork shoulder--a tad over 4 lbs. That was the largest my Vons had today.  

So, to Prep I rinsed it under cold water, patted it dry with some paper towels then I slathered on yellow mustard and for rub, I used a product my buddy gave me called Special Sh!t.    Never used it with pork shoulder before so I'm interested on how it will taste.

My wife got a little ahead of my camera , so this is all I can show at the moment.   I'll have more detail in the morning.  

Porl_shoulder[1].png

• roched11
• May 13, 2016

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like a plan.

Al

 

[roched11]

Things started out smoothly for a relaxing day of smoking. No real plans so it  will be done when it's done. BTW, here it is after I unwrapped it before the coals were ready.

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• roched11
• May 13, 2016

 

[roched11]

Here it is after I put it on the smoker, Things were fine up to this point. Maybe a little smokey. It really increased

when I removed the lid 

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• roched11
• May 13, 2016

 

[roched11]

Then things got a little crazy, While inserting a temp probe in the grommet, I pushed too hard and the grommet popped out. Luckily it was still attacked to the probe and didn't fall into the coals.  After about 5 minutes of trying to replace it to no avail-I gave up on that idea. I ended up doing an easy fix. Wadded up aluminum foil.

20160513_095639[1].jpg

• roched11
• May 13, 2016

 

[roched11]

Right now thing seem to be on track. After getting my temp to stabilize from about 248-252, My internal temp is at 152 after about 4 hours. My bottom vents are darn near closed with the top vent completely open.

 

[roched11]

I'm still waiting, 8.5 hours for a 4# pork shoulder- Temp held steady until I cracked some lower vents.   WSM temp 308 and Maverick temp is 188.     Glad I have plenty of time.   Only a little before 6PM at the moment.

 

[roched11]

    I decided on doing a power finish opening my vents a quarter and the temp rose to 306.  I think I got a little impatient and took it off at 201 internal temp.  The texture was a bit inconsistent or mottled as far a tenderness.   Parts were absolutely tender and succulent while other parts were a bit firm.

    Overall the taste was fantastic as I used apple wood chunks.  I will do it the same but let it go to 205.   The bone was a little stiff pulling out. I let it rest in towels for 2 hours before pulling.   

    This is definitely a learning process as my first try was fall off the bone tender but way too smokey flavor-I believe I used a bunch of Mesquite.    

    Here are some more pics to finish it off

Thanks for taking time to read,,    Terry

Here is the f

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• roched11
• May 14, 2016

Finished product

And after  I pulled the bone

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• roched11
• May 14, 2016