Hi everyone. This is my first post here (besides Roll Call), and I'm looking to get some advice based on my most recent smoke.
Over the holiday weekend, I went to our local meat market and checked out the various cuts they had. I was just looking for something for myself and my wife, so I didn't want a huge piece of meat. They were selling "pork shoulder western ribs", which the guy said were strips of meat cut from the very top of the pork shoulder, and some (but not all) had some bone. I got three, which weighed just over 2 lbs. all together.
I brined them overnight (salt and dark brown sugar), put them in the smoker for about 3.5 hours (at which the IT was 175), then added BBQ sauce and smoked for another 1.5 hours (at which the IT was 192). My smoker (which uses a cast iron skillet on an electric element) was set to 240 degrees.
The results were okay, but kinda dry. It seems that the cut of meat was pretty lean, and may not have benefited from the higher IT as there didn't seem to be much fat or connective tissue to melt apart. So my question is: What should I do next time? Should I pull it out at a lower IT? Maybe include a water pan? Thanks in advance for any tips.
(PS, I do have before/after pics if you think that'll help)
Over the holiday weekend, I went to our local meat market and checked out the various cuts they had. I was just looking for something for myself and my wife, so I didn't want a huge piece of meat. They were selling "pork shoulder western ribs", which the guy said were strips of meat cut from the very top of the pork shoulder, and some (but not all) had some bone. I got three, which weighed just over 2 lbs. all together.
I brined them overnight (salt and dark brown sugar), put them in the smoker for about 3.5 hours (at which the IT was 175), then added BBQ sauce and smoked for another 1.5 hours (at which the IT was 192). My smoker (which uses a cast iron skillet on an electric element) was set to 240 degrees.
The results were okay, but kinda dry. It seems that the cut of meat was pretty lean, and may not have benefited from the higher IT as there didn't seem to be much fat or connective tissue to melt apart. So my question is: What should I do next time? Should I pull it out at a lower IT? Maybe include a water pan? Thanks in advance for any tips.
(PS, I do have before/after pics if you think that'll help)