Pork Shoulder with Q-View

[heubrewer]

Decisions....decisions.....do,I go with brisket or pork butt? Obviously the butt won out since i am posting here instead of the beef forum.

Plan on starting it tomorrow afternoon for Sunday lunch. It is a 9 pounder, plan on smoking at 230F for as long as it takes without foil. :biggrin:
Will use cherry wood to smoke.

Rubbed down with yellow mustard and my home made rub of season salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried minced onions, Cajun seasoning and brown sugar.


Here it is after applying the rub it is in the fridge now.

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 29, 2014

 

[padronman]

Looks good so far......resting tightly for it's journey tomorrow

 

[wade]

Looking forward to supporting it through its journey 

 

[heubrewer]

And away we go.......

11.15 am
IT of the shoulder. 37F
Smoker set to 225F

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 30, 2014

 

[padronman]

Whooo hooooo!!!  

 

[heubrewer]

For those following the thread

Here is a time vs temp graph so far.

Smoking using a MES 30 set to 225F

Recorded using pen and paper and transferred to Excel.

Will update as the smoke goes on

Pork_Shoulder_V1.png

• heubrewer
• Aug 30, 2014

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Looking good so far, keep us posted . . .

Have fun and . . .

 

[heubrewer]

9 hrs in and it is 171F

Pork_Shoulder_V2.png

• heubrewer
• Aug 30, 2014

 

[heubrewer]

Been in the stall stage for about 4 hrs now.  Reloaded the tray with chips and heading to bed

Pork_Shoulder_V3.png

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

 

[wade]

I had a similar problem with a 12 pound pork shoulder yesterday. Maybe there is an ancient curse on anyone trying to cook Pulled Pork on the 30th August!

 

[heubrewer]

Almost 24 hrs in and it is about where I thought it would be at this time.

Sitting at 189F

I guestimated 24-27 hrs  

Pork_Shoulder_V4.png

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

 

[padronman]

I'm glad someone else has the gumption to graph and all that stuff......Me? I only look at 2 temps......when it goes in and when its done

Looking good

Scott

 

[heubrewer]

Final pics. Took about 28 hrs and we'll worth it. Great bark. It was so tender that it almost fell apart getting it into the container

Here it is off the smoker

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

Here is a small portion served with sweet baby ray sauce thinned with water and red wine

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

Will post the final graph later

 

[heubrewer]

Final pics. Took about 28 hrs and we'll worth it. Great bark. It was so tender that it almost fell apart getting it into the container

Here it is off the smoker

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

Here is a small portion served with sweet baby ray sauce thinned with water and red wine

image.jpg

• heubrewer
• Aug 31, 2014

Will post the final graph later

 

[heubrewer]

Final Graph  For those of you who want to guestimate hrs per lb

It was a 28 hr smoke for a 9 lb shoulder, ~ 3hrs per lb set at 225-230F unfoiled.

This is consistent with my last shoulder a 6 pounder that took 18 hrs at the same temp and same method

Had leftovers today...mighty tasty...

Pork_Shoulder_VFinal.png

• heubrewer
• Sep 1, 2014

 

[biggqwesty]

Ow yer. That's the shiz...
Amazing how the temp really peaks early the tapers off..

Was this using a water bath?

 

[wade]

 
It was a 28 hr smoke for a 9 lb shoulder, ~ 3hrs per lb set at 225-230F unfoiled.

This is consistent with my last shoulder a 6 pounder that took 18 hrs at the same temp and same method

The temperature graph is very interesting - thanks for plotting it. Although you cooked the shoulder for 28 hours to get it up to 195-200F and it turned out well, I wonder at what point it was actually ready. The temperature is an important factor however the length of time at a temperature is important too. Without actually sampling it at different points I guess that is very difficult to tell.

I usually cook mine to a maximum of 80C (176F) and after standing the heat continues to radiate inwards from the hotter exterior raising the core temperature by another 5C to 85C (185F). At this temperature the meat pulls well. Using this method and looking at your graph your shoulder may have actually have been done within 15 hours.

The pork looks great

 

[heubrewer]

Ow yer. That's the shiz...
Amazing how the temp really peaks early the tapers off..

Was this using a water bath?

As you can see from my pic above there is a water bath but it is very small. That said the MES really holds in the humidity.

Had some tonight again as leftovers the flavor keeps getting better

 

[gary s]

Question !    Are you running a digital remote temp gauge or using the one on the smoker ?  I smoke a Lot of Butts, always smoke at 225 º, almost every time it is around a 12 hour smoke + -  I get my shoulders at Sam's 2 in a package and average 8 to 9 lbs each.. I have never smoked a butt that long.

Gary S

 

[wade]

As you can see from my pic above there is a water bath but it is very small. That said the MES really holds in the humidity.

Had some tonight again as leftovers the flavor keeps getting better

Yes the flavour does keep developing. You can really taste the difference when it has been re-heated.

Did you have to continually top up the water during the 28 hour smoke or did it run dry? Just curious because if you didn't the air flow through the MES must be very low. I haven't used a MES so I am not familiar with its operation but at such low air flows would you have a problem with keeping the smoke circulating and not letting it become stale? Or even keeping the smoke generator alight?