ECB Electric Trying To Improve My Shoulder Method

[chipster]

Hi All. Going to do a 10 lb. Shoulder Butt Saturday. I've been doing these for 15 years (yeah, I do want to upgrade to a better unit eventually :)) but it's what I have. Anyway, my shoulders always come out pretty decent. However, they're not exactly what I'm shooting for. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and of course when it comes to Q, finding lots of differing opinions. I thought I'd pick some brains here and see what you folks think. I've identified a couple main areas of concern:

- I'm not getting a good bark

- I may be oversmoking

As to the bark, after some research, I have read some theories. First the rub, and specifically using sugar. My homemade rub is paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, s&p and brown sugar (not a ton). I know the sugar should help a bit. I was initially concerned about it burning but since it's cooking at low temp, I think that's not a problem. I have also read that many do not mop or spritz shoulders at all. I was mopping but I always had a suspicion that the liquid was wrecking the bark. And along those lines, with the ECB, I was also concerned that the steam from the water pan was also inhibiting bark formation. I have read some people do not put any water in the pan. Is that an idea to try? I wonder though if that will affect the temp.

A side note with the rub, occasionally the shoulders have a slightly bitter taste on the outside. I was attributing that to possibly too  much smoke (more on that next). But I have noticed that when I taste the rub before applying it, it does have a slight bitter taste. The only thing I can think that generates that is the paprika (I use Tones from GFS). I always thought it would cook out but I wonder if it does. It is the main part of the rub. I could cut it but I like the balance of the flavors. Ideas?

Smoke. Well, when I started, I thought more was better. I used soaked chips and chunks (hickory and apple). I eventually reached a point where I only added wood for the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the time, then no more. But, I was putting a lot on at a time (lots of white smoke). Then I recently discovered the revelation that is TBS. So, I'm going to try for that. But there seems to be disagreements about weather to soak the wood or use it dry. Supposedly wet wood smolders first which creates the strong white smoke. Also, I think I'm going to just use a couple chunks at a time vs. also using chips (to cut down on the amount of smoke)

So, those are basically the issues I want to tackle this time. I'm really wanting to up my game with the shoulder, even with the ECB. So, anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Hmm.. not much help from me.. but I'm watching. [emoji]128077[/emoji] how much fat cap you leave on ? The butts are so nicely packed full of fat that I don't worry about leaving much on the outside. It gets all nasty looking and splits.. lol

 

[chipster]

I usually trim most of it. I always thought it blocked the rub and smoke from flavoring the meat. But I have also read that it's good to leave it on but to always put the meat on fat side down. Supposed to protect it from heat spikes. But I haven't read a lot about that.

 

[Rings Я Us]

You just don't leave so much on that your trying to get rid of it later.. lol .It's sure got a bunch of marbeling all through it. Also if ya leave an 1/8 inch on or so, you can score it in a diamond pattern to render better and let in more smoke and rub.

I do them for pulled pork in a slow cooker . Then I remove most all of the fat on the outside.. don't need it.

 

[lancep]

First there's so much fat in a pork shoulder, you could trim it all off on the outside and still not need to mop or spritz. It's not going to dry out. Second, there's no need to soak wood. Just throw a couple chunks on there and wait until the smoke cleans up before you put your meat on. If you wrap your butt in foil, that will also give you soft bark.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Don't know about chunks in electric ECB.. I don't think he cares about soft bark either. He wants more of it.. good taste.

 

[cksteele]

the bitter taste  on the bark is incomplete  combustion of  wood its creosote  buildup its bitter and acrid you can  help get rid of that by burning a clean fire keeping good airflow through the smoker 

 

[Rings Я Us]

He said the rub has a bitter taste before he applied it to the meat.. and it might be to much of the paprika that is the culprit there.

 

[chipster]

As to foiling, I've never done the Texas Crutch. However, when it's done, I do wrap it in foil and stick it in a cooler for about 30-45 mins to let the juices recover. Does a great job of keeping it tender, but I do wonder if that affects the bark that did form. But being as I've had issues even getting it to form in the first place, it's hard to figure where the problem is.