Help on timing 11lb Pork Picnic Roast

[timberjet]

I think the reason you may have not gotten much smoke and rub flavor is the skin. Try this next time.

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• timberjet
• Jul 26, 2014

You can also stick cloves of garlic in the slits here and there. You might also rub and let sit for more than just overnight. I like 3 days if I think that far ahead. Looks great though. Happy smoking. timber

 

[timberjet]

Some of the folks here do inject but the vast portion do not. If you brine a shoulder that is already enhanced like most of them are you may end up with a very hammy texture to the meat. You might try experimenting with different types of wood to get more flavor as well. Apple juice is a good liquid to add to your Butt when you foil as it penetrates the meat well and helps break down the tissues. If it was a little dry which I suspect you might have gone a little too far with it or it did not have enough time to rest in foil with juices. All in all it looks like a great first try to me. Do you have an external thermometer setup that you can check the ones that came with the unit to? I have seen where they can be as much as 25 to 50 degrees off. I have a maverick. Sorry if you already said that and I missed it. anyway, great smoke. Have a good day.

 

[red dog]

You nailed it! Great job. You are in big trouble now. You will get invited to lots of parties but you can guess the rest!

 

[disco]

 
I think the reason you may have not gotten much smoke and rub flavor is the skin. Try this next time.

You can also stick cloves of garlic in the slits here and there. You might also rub and let sit for more than just overnight. I like 3 days if I think that far ahead. Looks great though. Happy smoking. timber

I go as far as to cut a lot of the fat cap off. There is more than enough fat and collagen in the pork to keep it moist and you get more edible bark.

Disco

 

[gary s]

Yeah, remove the skin and most of the fat

Gary

 

[lovespicyfood]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for the active discussion!

I was thinking that a big part of why I wasn't able to infuse more flavor into the meat was that I didn't take any skin or fat off, nor did I cross-hatch.  That totally makes sense to do that but i was worried that it might get too dry.  I like the bark and getting more of it would be a big plus in my book!

The pork was plenty moist!  Though I did use a finishing sauce, I think that added flavor more than needed moisture...

I do have to say I'm hooked.  I saved some left overs and am about to have some pulled pork bbq sandwiches w/ cole slaw for lunch!  YUM!

I have read a lot about the pros/cons of injected a pork shoulder.  Not sure if I would do it next time...I do like the bark so removing the skin and some fat might be the ticket for me.  Perhaps I'll inject w/ apple juice right before smoking next time...not sure...  I read somewhere that injecting w/ a brine that has vinegar might make the left overs more "mushy" the following days and that would be a bummer.  Considering my results were pretty satisfactory, I think incremental changes to my technique is called for...

Looking forward to the next smoke!  Not sure what that'll be...maybe some jerky...

timberjet- I am using a ET-733.  The MES temp gauge really varies like you said.  This time I used separate extensions cords and I'm no electrician, but I do wonder if perhaps the MES was getting a wee bit hotter than usual as I was spreading the 2,000 watts over two cords instead of one.  Sometimes the MES is spot on and most of the time it is ~15 degrees off...

As you may recall, I cooked this pork shoulder hotter than recommended, to it'll be interesting to see if lower and slower makes a difference if I have time next time...

 

[beefy bill]

I did two at once, one with skin and fat, one trimmed. The trimmed one was much more smokey and flavorful. Cross hatching probably makes it even better. Next time...

 

[lovespicyfood]

Picked up a 2lb boneless picnic today... Coated it with Pappy's and planning on cooking it at 225 tomorrow with all hickory. This is going to be for my lunch next week...

 

[lovespicyfood]

Wow, after 3 hours the IT is only 144!  I turned up the heat to 275 and plan on wrapping it at 165...  I wanted to go to bed early tonight...  Will take a pic when I take it out to wrap in foil.  I haven't opened the door once so far...

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• lovespicyfood
• Jan 4, 2015

 

[lovespicyfood]

4 hours in and I finally hit 165.  Here it is before I wrapped it!

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• lovespicyfood
• Jan 4, 2015

 

[lovespicyfood]

5 hours and we're at 194!  I think I'm going to pull it not much above 195 as I need to get some sleep tonight and I'd like to rest at least for half an hour...

Interested to see how this little 2lb roast is going to compare to the 11lb best I prepared a week ago...

 

[lovespicyfood]

Well that was disappointing...  Pulled it off at 198 and let it rest 30 minutes.  It wouldn't pull!  I had to use a knife to cut it up!

I'm wondering if I got a pork shoulder?  There's hardly any fat?!

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• lovespicyfood
• Jan 4, 2015

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• lovespicyfood
• Jan 4, 2015

 

[gary s]

How was it ?

Gary

 

[lovespicyfood]

 
How was it ?

Gary

To be honest, it was a little disappointing!  :(  I'm not sure if I got a bad piece of meat...  I cooked it SLOW at 225 most of the way but it is not tender or juicy like my 11 pounder!  It's not bad...I used a finishing sauce...but the meat has very little fat...almost like a pork loin but the package said "Pork Picnic Shoulder."  It was boneless but I can't imagine that made that much a difference.  

It was so disappointing that it wouldn't shred w/ forks...

 

[gary s]

Yeah some cuts of pork are very lean and you really have to watch that temp.

Gary

 

[timberjet]

Looks like it might have been mislabeled. I bet it was a sirloin roast. Would have been really good cooked like a loin.

 

[lovespicyfood]

Looks like it might have been mislabeled. I bet it was a sirloin roast. Would have been really good cooked like a loin.

That is what I was thinking!! Does a leaner cut take longer to cook? It took forever to get this thing to what I thought was "pulling temperature." Is a sirloin roast like a loin so 165?

 

[timberjet]

A leaner cut takes much less time to cook. A large shoulder or butt has a ton of fat to render and connective tissue to dissolve. This takes a long time to happen at low and slow temperatures. A lean cut like a loin can be cooked to med. rare. This means taking it out at 135-145 instead of 203-205. You can not pull a lean piece of pork. You want all that fat and connective tissue in a cut of meat that you plan on pulling. A typical pork loin does not take much more than an hour and a half to cook at 225 and usually less. If you try and cook lean pork to pull you end up drying it out as there is not enough fat to keep it moist.

 

[lovespicyfood]

I am perplexed about how this came out because it took a long time to get the temp up on this meat and I had my ET-733 verifying that the smoker was a pretty consistent 225.

The wife made a pork sirloin roast in the crock pot today. Unfortunately I did not see what it looked like when she put it in. It was a lean piece of meat, leaner than the 2 pound meat I cooked. But that 2 pound piece of meat was loads leaner than the 11 pound piece I cooked prior.

It was interesting as the 2 pound piece of meat was $2.88 at Walmart. The 11lb piece was, if I remember correctly, was around $1.59/lb...

 

[superdave]

I think of a picnic roast as more of a ham.  Is it typical to pull this cut?