New guy pork shoulder questions

[Hollywood1977]

We have two small pork shoulder roasts (about 2.5 lbs. each) left from the last hog we had butchered. I would like to smoke them this weekend in my Charbroil electric smoker (this is my first attempt with shoulders)and then pull them for sandwiches. From what I hear I want to hit an IT between 190 and 200 degrees F. Is that right?
Also wondering if I should foil wrap them at some point and why. What would be the advantages or disadvantages? And what would a good rest time be before pulling them apart? (Hey, I told you I was new)
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[daveomak]

You want to wrap in foil of butcher paper BEFORE the stall occurs...The stall is... moisture evaporating from the meat, causing evaporative cooling effect.... same thing when you sweat... You get cooler.. Every hunk of meat is different when that occurs... My suggestion is to add smoke for a couple hours... When the meat IT (internal temperature) gets to 150, wrap tight.. Put the roast in your kitchen oven at 300 ish to get it finished.. Take the IT to 200-205.... Let the meat rest with the wrap in place and leave the thermometer in the meat.. you can cover with towels to hold for a later meal..
The bark will be severely lacking due to the wrap.. But it will be moist and tender....
The other end of the spectrum... Cook uncovered to a temp of 205... Smoker temp about 250-300... You will have great bark... The stall may take up to 3 hours... all depends...

 

[forkin pork]

Ok Hollywood, you are correct in pullin off @ 190*F , but no more then 200*F, I'm a 190 guy.
As far as foiling, watch the temps, and they are 2 small roasts, so not sure if you'll hit a "stall" in the rise in temps.
But if you do, that when I foil with a bit of apple juice, if you not seein a "stall" around 165*F ish ... go ahead a foil till 190*.
The reason, for foiling I can't explain as good as professor daveo, but it helps with pullin you out of the "stall" as well as help retain moisture during you final push to that 190* mark, again 190* is my mark.

 

[jbfromtennessee]

I like the other end of the spectrum. uncovered til it reaches 200 i.t. and then let it rest for 30 min or so. should take it up to 203-204. really good pull...

 

[berrya]

We have two small pork shoulder roasts (about 2.5 lbs. each) left from the last hog we had butchered. I would like to smoke them this weekend in my Charbroil electric smoker (this is my first attempt with shoulders)and then pull them for sandwiches. From what I hear I want to hit an IT between 190 and 200 degrees F. Is that right?
Also wondering if I should foil wrap them at some point and why. What would be the advantages or disadvantages? And what would a good rest time be before pulling them apart? (Hey, I told you I was new)
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

I just did the same thing last night. I foiled at 165 and then glazed one at 195 deg. (Just to experiment) and kept the other foiled. I let them both get to 205. They turned out pretty good. Let me know if you do anything different because I have a couple left and am always looking to make them better. I did not notice a stall. My total cook time was around 3:30 hours. Temp ranging from 225-240.

 

[SmokinAl]

We have two small pork shoulder roasts (about 2.5 lbs. each) left from the last hog we had butchered. I would like to smoke them this weekend in my Charbroil electric smoker (this is my first attempt with shoulders)and then pull them for sandwiches. From what I hear I want to hit an IT between 190 and 200 degrees F. Is that right? I would take them to 200-205 or until probe tender.
Also wondering if I should foil wrap them at some point and why. What would be the advantages or disadvantages? I wouldn't bother with foiling them because we like nice bark to mix in with the PP, the disadvantage would be that you are taking a chance that the meat may dry out a bit since they are so small. So you may want to foil them at 165 to 170, with some of the pan drippings & put them back in the smoker or as Dave says into the oven to finish them up. And what would a good rest time be before pulling them apart? They only need to rest 15-20 minutes for the juices to redistribute.(Hey, I told you I was new)
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Good luck!
Al

 

[Hollywood1977]

Wow, thank you all for the input! I think my wife will have the oven tied up so I will have to finish them out in the smoker. Maybe I’ll pull one at 190 and the other around 200. It would be a good opportunity to see the difference side by side. Again thank you for the awesome feedback. I will take some pictures and see if I can figure out how to post them. May need more help there. Hahaha.

 

[jbellard]

Hollywood, you’ll be much happier if you take that pulled pork to 205 unless you want sliced pork which will be a very different experience in my opinion. Just be sure that a probe will go through the pork like butter all over it, not just in one spot.

 

[Hollywood1977]

Hollywood, you’ll be much happier if you take that pulled pork to 205 unless you want sliced pork which will be a very different experience in my opinion. Just be sure that a probe will go through the pork like butter all over it, not just in one spot.

Ok. Thanks. What kind of rest time should I leave myself before I shred it?

 

[berrya]

Ok. Thanks. What kind of rest time should I leave myself before I shred it?

Pork doesn't need very long to rest IMO... around 15-20 minutes. I agree with Bellard that going to 205 makes for easier pull... but if you want to experiment with the small shoulders, then now is the time to do it.

 

[daveomak]

The longer the better on the rest... If you start pullin it apart and steam rises.... that's moisture you are losing.. I let them rest, with the therm in them, to about 170-180.. rest the meat covered if you can.... that will add to the tenderness and moistness.....

 

[jbellard]

I smoked a butt for New Year’s Day overnight. It got done around 11:30am and I put it in oven (wrapped in foil) at 170 and didn’t pull it until about 5pm. One of the best I’ve done.

Aaron franklin had a good tip about when to wrap a butt- he says at around 5-6 hrs you will notice that the fat cap on top will crack. Once it cracks, wrap it. Pretty simple.
Now I’ve tried not wrapping and you definitely lose a lot of your juice that the foil otherwise catches which is why I wrap. Not to mention the smoker gets a ton of juice in the bottom and is messy