Advice on 1st-time pork shoulder cook

[rdetexas]

Hello everyone, this weekend I will be doing my first pork should smoke on my new 1150 pro series V3. This model has the sear plate. My plan is to cook the shoulder uncovered directly on the grill grates at 250 degrees. My main question is, since this is a pretty fatty piece of meat, how do I prevent a flare-up from the grease dripping on the diffuser, or from grease dripping into the fire pot during the cook? I thought about putting a single piece of foil to cover the sear plate area during this cook to prevent any dripping from going into the fire pot, but I'm not sure if that is recommended, safe, or even necessary. Is 250 degrees even hot enough to worry about a flare-up? I will be cleaning my smoker before I cook to get rid of any extra old drippings.

Is there any other advice you all could recommend for this cook, especially to prevent a flare-up? Should I cook it on the top rack and place a foil pan underneath the meat the catch the drippings? I will also be using a smoke tube for more smoke flavor.

If I do place a foil pan under the meat, it will be pretty much directly over the burn pot area. Is there a danger of the foil pan getting too hot in that area, or any chance that the foil pan could prevent the grill from maintaining temperature?

Thank you all for any help you can offer!

 

[02ebz06]

Are you planning to make pulled pork out of it?
Is so you would want to close off the sear section.
You can cut a lot of the fat off to minimize the amount on the the shoulder.
Don't take it all off though.
The diffuser plate is there for the grease.
Most fat dripping on in should hit it and just sizzle.
If there is a lot of fat, the diffuser is on a slope so it will run off into the grease bucket.

If you have the sear zone closed off, and you want to collect the grease, you should be able to a pan under the port shoulder without worrying about it melting at 250.

Should not have to worry about flareups at 250.

 

[WaterRat]

This is a PitBoss pellet smoker? The heat diffuser plate should direct drippings toward the grease bucket. There should not be a way to get into the burn pot. The sear area should be closed. You can elevate above a pan if you desire but it should not be necessary.

Lol, looks like 02ebz06 beat me to it

 

[JLeonard]

Agree with 02ebz06 . Additionally, I do cook butts with a aluminum pan under them to catch drippings. Those defatted and added back into the meat after pulling is great. I use a cooling rack on top of the pan and the meat on that. It doesnt affect the cook at all. Smoke and heat still gets to all sides.

Jim

 

[BigW.]

I would cook fat side down to protect the meat from direct heat underneath. I would also place the meat to the left or right of the firebox. Then you can have your tube on the opposite side. Wrapping in foil or a pan will save some drippings for later. There are several ways to do a pork butt. Write down a few notes, try something a bit different next time. You'll figure out what works best for YOU.

 

[rdetexas]

Thank you for your response! Yes, I plan on using this for pulled pork. After the temp reaches about 155, I was going to pull it, place it in a foil pan anyways, and wrap it with foil. I just figured the foil pan underneath would help with something lol. Im sure I will collect plenty of juices during that final stage while it's wrapped in the foil pan.

 

[WaterRat]

Thank you for your response! Yes, I plan on using this for pulled pork. After the temp reaches about 155, I was going to pull it, place it in a foil pan anyways, and wrap it with foil. I just figured the foil pan underneath would help with something lol. Im sure I will collect plenty of juices during that final stage while it's wrapped in the foil pan.

I often do it this way if Iwant to shorten up the cook time. Just make the bark is good and set before wrapping or it will soften up and get kinda mushy. After the wrap go ahead and bump the temp to 300.

 

[rdetexas]

Is there any way to keep that bark there after wrapping? I know that the seasoning is the bark, so after the initial 2-4 hours uncovered, the bark should pretty much be set. I will spritz any super dry spots so they don't dry out too much. I know after wrapping, that moisture will soften the bark a little. Also, during the rest phase, I should leave it covered with the foil to rest correct?

 

[jcam222]

Agree with 02ebz06 . Additionally, I do cook butts with a aluminum pan under them to catch drippings. Those defatted and added back into the meat after pulling is great. I use a cooling rack on top of the pan and the meat on that. It doesnt affect the cook at all. Smoke and heat still gets to all sides.

Jim

 

[jcam222]

Is there any way to keep that bark there after wrapping? I know that the seasoning is the bark, so after the initial 2-4 hours uncovered, the bark should pretty much be set. I will spritz any super dry spots so they don't dry out too much. I know after wrapping, that moisture will soften the bark a little. Also, during the rest phase, I should leave it covered with the foil to rest correct?

For me bark is a non issue with a piece of meat I'll be pulling.

 

[WaterRat]

Is there any way to keep that bark there after wrapping? I know that the seasoning is the bark, so after the initial 2-4 hours uncovered, the bark should pretty much be set. I will spritz any super dry spots so they don't dry out too much. I know after wrapping, that moisture will soften the bark a little. Also, during the rest phase, I should leave it covered with the foil to rest correct?

The bark should not be a problem, just something to be aware of, I’ve messed it up once before. For the rest, after the pork probes tender everywhere, you want to uncover it and let it cool fown a few minutes so it stops cooking. While thats happening get the rendered liquid out of the pan (easiest to put the pork into another pan) into a measuring cup or gravy separator and put that in the fridge to separate. Once the pork had cooled a bit cover it back up for the rest either in a cooler (my favorite) or a warm oven - be careful cuz “warm” on an oven can get back to cooking temps depending on your oven.

Btw, I have an old cookie sheet to carry those flimsy disposable pans on, they crumple way too easy.

 

[tallbm]

Is there any way to keep that bark there after wrapping? I know that the seasoning is the bark, so after the initial 2-4 hours uncovered, the bark should pretty much be set. I will spritz any super dry spots so they don't dry out too much. I know after wrapping, that moisture will soften the bark a little. Also, during the rest phase, I should leave it covered with the foil to rest correct?

Hi there and welcome!

I'm a fan of doing over a foil pan. I have a rack I can even set IN the foil pan to elevate the pork butt.

As for bark and wrapping. I think 155F Internal Temp (IT) of the meat is quite a bit early. If you wrap a piece of meat too early you will end up with a roast flavor instead of a BBQ meat flavor.
I always recommend waiting to about 180F (I go longer if I have to wrap). Waiting longer to wrap also gives you more bark.

It really sucks to spend all the time to smoke a big hunk of meat and it just come out tasting like an oven roast.
Just plan more time because to me, flavor is the purpose, not speed running a cook :D

Oh yeah, also IMPORANT. A pork butt is only done when it probes tender ALL OVER, not by time or temp. Only when it tells you it is tender :)

I hope this info helps!