My first pork shoulder! (Picnic cut)

[gary s]

Your first Pork Butt     WOW really turned out nice  I love pulled pork. Good luck on the Briskets, I am doing 2 today along with a rack of ribs and some sausage.  Looks like your getting the hang of it pretty quick.

Gary

 

[bugz13]

Great job on the Butt... and good luck on your Brisket this weekend. I tried Jeff's Smoked Brisket & Burnt Ends recipe last weekend, for a change, and found that it turned out marvelously... my friends loved it. http://goo.gl/3nkvjP 

 

[grimm5577]

Looks great!!! congrats!

 

[markbeer]

a fantastic job well done! 

 

[daves1811]

Your picnic cut looks awesome man!!!!! I'm going to be trying my first one this weekend, hope it comes out just as good as yours did!

 

[shelterit]

Great Looking shoulder!  Good Job

 

[woozle]

>>160 at around 4:00pm so I covered it with foil to cook it until it reached 200 internally.

The last time I cooked a shoulder in my Masterbuilt it took two hours to go from 150 internally to 160, and after three HOURS in the oven at 225 it was only up to 180.  I ran out of time to heat it up and needless to say, it wasn't very "pull-ey".  All I can figure is, next time I will start it cooking in the evening, let it cook all night, and then it will have all day if need to be to get to 200 internally.  There doesn't seem to be an issue with my smoker, since it maintains 225 easily, but boy, does the meat heat up slowly.

 

[sskyking]

Pork shoulders tend to "stall".  If I have to move to oven (after at least 7 hrs of smoke), I usually bump the temp to about 325.  Some people wrap with foil but that tends to soften the bark.  When doing pulled pork, don't confine yourself to a schedule, do it a day before and let it take what it takes!  Once pulled, tray it and reheat when ready to serve.  One (of the many) nice things about the Southern method is the cider vinegar based sauce can be poured into the tray before reheating to deliver wonderfully moist que!

 

[woozle]

Thanks for the info. I guess this is another way a certain nameless TV chef misled me, I thought 8-10 hours would be enough to fully cook a shoulder.  Turns out it can take quite a bit longer, depending on the circumstances.

 

[foamheart]

 
Thanks for the info. I guess this is another way a certain nameless TV chef misled me, I thought 8-10 hours would be enough to fully cook a shoulder.  Turns out it can take quite a bit longer, depending on the circumstances.

You can cook a picnic pretty fast, but not if you want to pull 'em. You don't have to low and slow, I know folks here are now looking at higher cooking temps and I smoked a picnic today, could easily have gotten to 145 IT which is slice temp., easily get there in less than 10 hours.

Pulled pork is 200+ that adds usually two more stalls also. That is why folks suggest guesstimation of 2 hours per pound.

 

[sskyking]

 
Thanks for the info. I guess this is another way a certain nameless TV chef misled me, I thought 8-10 hours would be enough to fully cook a shoulder.  Turns out it can take quite a bit longer, depending on the circumstances.

It depends on the size of the shoulder.  Time is not as important as temperature, get a good digital thermometer and a steady supply of fuel.  Many experienced smokers will tell you that meat ceases to pick up smoke flavor after about 7-8 hours... that is when we move it to the oven to finish (usually at a higher temp) for quick cook; when we have time and usually using gas, we just wait it out..  The key is that you need to reach 190-200 degrees and then let it rest a bit before pulling, but pull it while it is still hot as letting it cool too much will toughen it quickly.  In a recent bulk BBQ, we cooked to 190 and then wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler for several hours and it was still over 160 when we pulled.

From my experience, small quantities smoke 7-8 hours and finish in the oven, large cooks use gas and go as long as it takes.  You get better flavor from the former but larger production from the latter.  The choice is all about what you are looking for.  For me, it's all about the patience!

 

[pgde]

Just an FYI, a Picnic cut is not necessarily the same as a Pork Butt. See http://localfoods.about.com/od/porkrecipes/qt/Picnic-Shoulder.htm

Congrats on this one however.

P.

 

[gary s]

I cook at 225, Pork butts take a long time I usually figure anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. We always do pulled so that bone has to slide right out Usually about 205 - 210 after I pull it I wrap and let it sit for a hour or so, depending on hoe hungry everyone is getting. I really don't think there is a magic time only time guidelines. There are a lot of condition that affect every cook. You meat quality, outside weather conditions (hot or cold high or low humidity Raney or dry wind or no wind cook temp, fluctuations in the cooking temp, all these affect time. I always use a digital meat thermometer on pork shoulders as well as poultry

Gary

 

[bobbyk]

The picnic looks outstanding. How is the inside of your MES so clean though? Was that your first smoke altogether?

 

[laxj]

Also smoked a small shoulder today and it turned out pretty good, not as good as yours I'm sure but good none the less.  Picked up a small shoulder and a generic rub this morning just as a test but it worked out well.  I started it with charcoal and hickory chunks for about 3 hours and then moved over to the gas side of the grill for an additional hour to finish off.  This was just a test, the real smoke will be early next week with some babyback ribs.

pork shoulder1.jpg

• laxj
• Oct 14, 2013

pork shoulder2.jpg

• laxj
• Oct 14, 2013

 

[mainemade82]

looks great. great job. making me hungry and its only 9am lol. 

 

[gtme2]

How sweet it is.

 

[sharryn]

Sure has my mouth watering.  Nice job!

 

[oldironhead]

Nice looking pork!!

 

[buttmes40]

Awesome job....making me hungry !!!