Pork Shoulder Picnic - first attempt

[jhilla68]

After my semi-recent successful brisket, I'm going to attempt a Pork Shoulder Picnic.

Last week, I picked up a 12.17 lb picnic and am planning to smoke it overnight.  Now, I know there's not a set time this will take.  But, if I was ball-parking dinner tomorrow evening around 6 pm, would it be alright to throw this on tonight around 10 or so?  I'm planning to cook around 225 - 230 in my MES30 with AMNPS, applying Jeff's rub before I throw it in the pre-heated smoker.  If it's done early, I can let it rest (or eat early lol).  I just don't like the early morning smokes and rushing to have dinner at 8 - 9 pm at night.  So, I'm going with an overnight smoke today.

Good plan of attack, or am I way off?  This will be my first "unattended" smoke.

The beast:

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• jhilla68
• Feb 1, 2013

 

[kathrynn]

Got a great price on that monster!  So long as your thermometer has an alarm...pop that bad boy in...snooze and check on it every couple of hours.  Meats sometimes have a mind of their own....I would do it the day before too.  My 2 cents.

 

[pgsmoker64]

Well,  I would figure 2 hours per pound...with a 12 pounder that is 24 hours.  Might want to think about starting it earlier and also foiling at 165 with some foiling juice to get it through the stall quicker.  You won't get the bark like you normally would but it sounds like you are trying to work on a timetable.  Everything else sounds good.

Good Luck and Get Smokin'

Bill

 

[themule69]

you can bump the temp up to 250 with no problem on Jeffs rub. above that and the sugar will burn.

happy smoken.

david

 

[pgsmoker64]

you can bump the temp up to 250 with no problem on Jeffs rub. above that and the sugar will burn.

happy smoken.

david

Yep...what David said!  Or, you could replace the brown sugar with turbinado (raw) sugar.  It doesn't burn at higher temps.

Bill

edited

 

[jhilla68]

Awesome...thanks for the tips everyone!

I'll be dropping the hunk o' meat in the smoker tonight and will probably update this thread with pics throughout the process. Hoping for some good pulled pork!

 

[mrlederman]

I know when I smoked some pork for dinner it wasn't as tender as I would have liked because I got too hungry and moved it from the grill too early. My two cents is the earlier the better for starting the cook.

 

[pool889]

Last weekend I took my 10# butt and cut it in half. I put the "2" butts in at 8 and they were done at 5 smoking at 225. Both halves were very Juicy and people were going crazy over it. Just another option if you don't want go do a overnight.

 

[jhilla68]

Got the skin off and the shoulder trimmed up. Warmed up the smoker and got the AMNPS lit and smoking. Rubbed the shoulder down and threw it in at ~7:45 pm. Here's where we're at:

IMG_20130201_191234.jpg

• jhilla68
• Feb 1, 2013

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• jhilla68
• Feb 1, 2013

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• jhilla68
• Feb 1, 2013

I'm keeping an eye on the thin blue smoke and I'll throw the meat probe in before I go to bed and set the alarms on the ET-732. Hoping for the best here!

 

[pgsmoker64]

Nice looking fat on that shoulder.  What did you rub it with?

I think you are off to a good start.

Bill

 

[bama bbq]

I also recommend running at about 250* to cut down on the time.  On overnighters I put the food on, let the cooker stabilize about an hour, hit the hay and sleep like a baby all night, get up and see how things are going.  I refuse to get up every two hours worrying about a cooker.

 

[jhilla68]

My thoughts exactly! With a long smoke like this, I'm not feeling so bad about letting it go by itself overnight.

I also recommend running at about 250* to cut down on the time.  On overnighters I put the food on, let the cooker stabilize about an hour, hit the hay and sleep like a baby all night, get up and see how things are going.  I refuse to get up every two hours worrying about a cooker.

Thanks! I just used Jeff's dry rub. I've had good success with it so far.

Nice looking fat on that shoulder.  What did you rub it with?

I think you are off to a good start.

Bill

 

[jhilla68]

Very pleased with the end result!!

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• jhilla68
• Feb 2, 2013

Safe to say it was tender:

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• jhilla68
• Feb 2, 2013

 

[kathrynn]

Looks great!!!!