Newbie trying a pork shoulder......looking for tips befor I start.

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corjen

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 18, 2011
26
10
Wichita KS
Hello All, I am going to attempt a pork shoulder in the morning......So I figured I would ask a few Questions before hand. I searched on pork shoulder, found tons of info, but to be truthful, they took me all over the place in terms of how to , when to and what to do.

I am using a vertical smoker, and have a ~4-5 lbs shoulder ready for rub.

Here is what I was able to gleem:

Rub the shoulder the day before. (Was thinking about injecting with robusto Italian dressing)

Smoke at 225. ( I have a bag of cherry chunks) (should I put it in a foil pan?)

Use a spritzer- (was planning apple juice, but how often?)

Foil and add moisture at internal temp of 165. ( add moisture?? how and what?

Continue to cook in foil until 190-205 internal temp.

Wrap in towel and put in cooler for 1 hour.

Thanks in advance......I will post pix as I go!!
 
 
Hello All, I am going to attempt a pork shoulder in the morning......So I figured I would ask a few Questions before hand. I searched on pork shoulder, found tons of info, but to be truthful, they took me all over the place in terms of how to , when to and what to do.

I am using a vertical smoker, and have a ~4-5 lbs shoulder ready for rub.

Here is what I was able to gleem:

Rub the shoulder the day before. (Was thinking about injecting with robusto Italian dressing)   Keep it simple the first time. You want to compliment the Pork, not Blow it Away.

Smoke at 225. ( I have a bag of cherry chunks) (should I put it in a foil pan?)
 What Smoker do you have, Wood, LP,Electric, Briquettes...?
Use a spritzer- (was planning apple juice, but how often?)

I go every 30 mins but my Smoker recovers quickly...You may need to wait longer.
Foil and add moisture at internal temp of 165. ( add moisture?? how and what?

Easy is to put the Butt in a disposable Pan with a cup of Apple juice and cover tightly with foil. OR You can wrap in foil with 1/4 to 1/2C juice but it will be Hot and you need to seal it well.
Continue to cook in foil until 190-205 internal temp.
Yep...Good pulling temp!
Wrap in towel and put in cooler for 1 hour.

If you need to hold it for the rest of the stuff to be ready...You can hold up to Six hours...If it's time to eat...30 minutes on the counter and Pull it...

Thanks in advance......I will post pix as I go!!
 
 
Thanks Jimmy... not sure what the brand of smoker is (Its a loaner from my father in law), but I use lump charcoal and chunk wood (hickory, apple or cherry)
 
Here we are so far..... Now its wait till morning to fire it all up!!!!

e2a582c4_Wichita-20110820-00087.jpg


53793959_Wichita-20110820-00083.jpg


bf9b1537_Wichita-20110820-00084.jpg
 
Do a search on the Minion Method...Works great with Briquettes and Chunks...Good Luck and have fun...I'll be watching for more questions and don't forget the Qview...JJ
 
Will do!! Is Qview somthing other than posting pix? I did post a couple, but when I hit submit,  a pop up came up and said since I was new, a moderator was going to have to approve the post. Thanks again.
 
No Qview is part of the REPLY box feature, little picture of the house...I am not sure why yours would not take...JJ
 
When your new the moderators check on your photo's. 

It just takes a little longer, but they will show up.
 
looks like you doing fine to me! I don't know how to post links to other post, but if you look in the wiki for Basic Pulled Pork by Meowey there is a step by step in there that will be evrything you need. Good luck & keep the qview coming!
 
Hour 2, nice bark starting to form..... temp in smoker seems to running a bit high tho 300*  I have the vent completly closed to try and choke it down a bit.....

dad4d804_Wichita-20110821-00089.jpg
 
Thanks All for the help so far....Hour 4, looks pretty much the same. Internal temp was 145*. Approx what temp is the plateau/stalled temp?
 
Ive had it stall between 145-160. It will be easy to tell. Your thermometer will show the temp stop moving and sometimes drop a few degrees.

Looks great so far. Did you get the cooking temp down?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
 
Thanks....last time I checked, it was @ 150* Did get the temp under control. Have been hovering in the 230-260 range for the last couple hrs. except when I put some more cherry on. bout 30 min after that, it cought fire and had a 300* spike. ended up having to open the door  about 1/4 in after I got the fire to choke out.
 
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