First Time Pork Shoulder

[mbogo]

Thanks guys, good to know & 1 less thing to worry about!!

 

[onebdgti]

I am using Billbo's famous rub that i got from the site.  Its been a success on my ribs so I might as well try it on here.  Time is no biggie to me, I have all the time in the world to get these done, lol.  That's why I am gonna start these in the next few hours.  I figure it will take them about 20+ hours to smoke these.  With a mixture of charcoal and some cherry wood these are gonna be awesome.

 

[smokeusum]

So, basically you have about two 8 pounders.  At 200* you are gonna be smokin that for a good long time!

Crank it up to 225 and you will still be at around 2 hours per pound.

What rub did you decide on?  Looks like some garlic in there.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Bill

Bone in? My experience is with Bill's suggestion, you need bump your temp to 225; at that temp your looking at atleast 1.5 - 2 hours per lb (of the largest butt, not combined weight) provided your smoker is wide enough to accommodate enough airflow between the two or you could actually need 2.5 hours per lb... And that's at 225!

Resist the urge to bump your temp up when you stall, and while the "Texas Crutch" is what many do when they start freaking at the stall, I urge you not to use it in its traditional form, as you end up with basically a butt that tastes liked its been cooked in a crockpot (I just gagged a bit)

 

[onebdgti]

Wow that was some good stuff to read. Let me see how these do this time then next time I will try the foil method.

Thanks for the info.

 

[onebdgti]

5 1/2 hours in and the meat is at 120* inside temp. Keeping the cookkng temp around 215-225*. Thanks for the tips everybody.

I love using my smoker.

 

[smokeusum]

5 1/2 hours in and the meat is at 120* inside temp. Keeping the cookkng temp around 215-225*. Thanks for the tips everybody.

I love using my smoker.

I love mine, too! Just picked up my butt and I'm about to trim it up and rub it down for tomorrow!

 

[onebdgti]

By the way my temps are looking i will hit the 160* mark rite before bed so hopefully i sleep through the stall.

 

[flash]

Shoulder 1010098.jpg

• flash
• Aug 10, 2013

This one was almost 8 lbs. Took 9 1/2 hours. Most at 245º, after wrapping in foil, around 295º,

 

[onebdgti]

Look good.

 

[smokeusum]

Onebdgti, how's it goin? Temps holdin? Meat temp?

How'd your smoker do overnight? I'm terrified to leave mine unmonitored over night; I've had wind blow out my flame, the tank run out of gas, and much like electricity, I'm terrified of propane fires! Obviously, I do not use a high-tech temp monitoring system; I know the manufacturer's gauge is off by about 25 degrees and I just hang an old-school oven temp gauge on the rack above my meat. I know once I have in IT monitor with a remote receiver I'll feel like I've won the lottery!

 

[onebdgti]

I stayed up most of the nite checking everything.  I have found out that when I made this smoker I made the hot box to big.  This thing is eating up the fuel, charcoal and cherry wood.  its having a hard time keeping a steady temp of 225.  Last nit when I dozzed off for a few hours the temp dropped very bad.  So at 7:30 this morning I put some more fuel to it and the meat was at the 160* point.  By noon I did the big no no of putting them in the oven to finish them off.  As of rite now they are not totally done.  I am at a temp of 180* rite now and they smell awesome.  

After I make my hot box smaller I will go all out on trying it again.  I did not know about the pit calculator till after I had this one made. Its like I have been told you live and learn.

Mike

 

[smokeusum]

image.jpg

• smokeusum
• Aug 11, 2013

I hear ya, this is how I handle temp! And I have a rule about only opening my smoker up only once in a 1-1.5hr time frame... I feel ya!

So, are u in the oven at 225 or did you bump it up? Are they foiled in the oven? Good temp now, if they are in the oven foiled, know you are almost through the stall... pull the foil at 190-195, and if you bumped up your oven over 225, take it down to 225 and hang on... It'll sail to 205.

I'm tellin ya, if you leave it foiled all the way to pulling temp you absolutely will be disappointed. It will taste like it is straight up out of a crockpot... Hang in there, you'll almost there!!!

 

[treknogeek]

I understand the hesitation to finish in the oven but have found myself in need of doing so a few times. This is a point of disagreement between my father and I, who has been smoking longer than I have. However, I think that there are more factors involved than whether or not the oven is used and if it is covered. First, how long it was on the smoke. Second, how much smoke was being used. I keep my butts on the smoke for 4 hours at 275 with a lot of smoke (3 parts apple and 1 part cherry with more woods chunks being added every 30 minutes) and them finish in the oven (covered) at the same temp. I end up with a nice smoke ring and bark and no crock pot taste. So, if you used enough smoke I think will be OK. As evidence for my claims here are pics from the last butt I made. Note: no liquid was added at the oven stage and a probe thermo was used. The pork was like butter.

After 4 hours:

image.jpg

• treknogeek
• Aug 11, 2013

After finishing in the oven and being pulled:

image.jpg

• treknogeek
• Aug 11, 2013

 

[onebdgti]

Shew this is finally done for my first time doing this.  This will be a lot better once I get my hot box sized down like a lot. 

Final temp on them was 205* and boy did it fall apart.  I grabbed the bone and it came out so clean not a piece of meat on them at all.

IMG_6494_zpsef28bbaf.jpg

• onebdgti
• Aug 11, 2013

So far the family is in love with the dark bark.

Here it is all pulled apart and ready to eat.  Added some sauce to it and it was consumed very very fast. 

IMG_8540_zps2491c5a3.jpg

• onebdgti
• Aug 11, 2013

Can't wait to do the next one.   Thanks for all the help everybody.

Mike

 

[pc farmer]

Awesome. I can't keep enough pp in the house.

 

[flash]

I understand the hesitation to finish in the oven but have found myself in need of doing so a few times. This is a point of disagreement between my father and I, who has been smoking longer than I have. However, I think that there are more factors involved than whether or not the oven is used and if it is covered. First, how long it was on the smoke. Second, how much smoke was being used. I keep my butts on the smoke for 4 hours at 275 with a lot of smoke (3 parts apple and 1 part cherry with more woods chunks being added every 30 minutes) and them finish in the oven (covered) at the same temp. I end up with a nice smoke ring and bark and no crock pot taste. So, if you used enough smoke I think will be OK. As evidence for my claims here are pics from the last butt I made. Note: no liquid was added at the oven stage and a probe thermo was used. The pork was like butter.

After 4 hours:

image.jpg

• treknogeek
• Aug 11, 2013

After finishing in the oven and being pulled:

image.jpg

• treknogeek
• Aug 11, 2013

Just don't use too much smoke.

smokegoodvsevil.jpg

• flash
• Mar 19, 2013

Good smoke on right.

 

[flash]

I'm tellin ya, if you leave it foiled all the way to pulling temp you absolutely will be disappointed. It will taste like it is straight up out of a crockpot... Hang in there, you'll almost there!!!

Can't say I can agree with that. Of course I never use a crockpot either.

 

[smokeusum]

Can't say I can agree with that. Of course I never use a crockpot either.

Me either, but I've been subjected to ingest some in the past... Ewww

 

[onebdgti]

Yeah, I have tried crockpot pulled pork at my sisters house and I wasn't a big fan of it.  She asked me while I was building my smoker why not use a grill or even the oven. 

 

[tonybel]