SNF Pork Shoulder

[undy]

Just purchased my first Snake River Farms pork shoulder for a 4th of July smoke. It is 19 pounds!. I have only smoked 6-8 pound boston butts. Any ideas on how long of a smoke for this if I smoke at 225-250? Has anyone ever smoked a SNF shoulder before? Ideas on injecting?

Happy Father's Day to All!

Thanks

 

[TNJAKE]

I'd plan on a 24hr smoke. Maybe put you a couple hour buffer in there as it's better to get finished early rather than late

 

[BB-que]

Personally, I wouldn’t inject a piece of pork like that. You’re not gonna need anymore moisture anyway, you’re just covering up The natural flavor.

 

[thirdeye]

Never smoked a SRF shoulder, but have smoked plenty of whole shoulders, plan on a long cook 20 hours or so, and you want to rest the shoulder 2 or 3 hours in an insulated cooler. I know this sounds hard to believe, but a shoulder is way better than cooking just the butt or the picnic. What breed of pork is it, this may have an impact on your cooking plan?



I expose most of the butt end, but keep skin on the picnic end. It helps protect the shank end. I use a lot of injection, (mine uses pork stock for the base) especially around the arm bone and the blade bone. Spices or rub is subjective. Using only salt and pepper is great. Or if you have a favorite pork rub by all means use it.

In my cooks notes, I have saved some advice I got in 2006 from one of the Dizzy Pig guys on shoulders, I'll pass that along too, it covers all the basics. He is cooking an a Big Green Egg.

Don't take the skin off! I've done a couple hundred whole shoulders and have never taken the skin off. Trim it a little skin off the butt end to get more bark but for sure leave as much skin as possible around the hock. 25 pounds is from one BIG hog! Treat it with love and it will return the favor. Nothing beats a whole shoulder in my book. When you render that much fat, the product will blow your mind. Inject it until you can't get anymore into it. Use apple juice, chicken broth, a little beer, melted butter, worsestershustershire, and some rub. Mix well and have at it. Try to get a lot of the liquid into the hock and the butt end. Let it rest a few then rub it good, getting the rub into as many crevices as you can. Cutting in extra crevices is a nice trick. Bark is good. Cook skin side down with a bunch of your wood of choice (mine is 50/50 white oak and pig nut hickory)at no more than 230* dome temp. You only need enough wood to burn for the first 2 or 3 hours. When the internal hits 200*(about 20 - 24 hours), remove from the egg and let it cool enough to pull. You will be rewarded with Miss White's Delights and Mr. Brown Goes to Town. Only possible from a whole shoulder. The cook's portion (that you don't have to share) is the meat around the hock. Nothing on this planet comes close.

 

[undy]

View attachment 450340

Never smoked a SRF shoulder, but have smoked plenty of whole shoulders, plan on a long cook 20 hours or so, and you want to rest the shoulder 2 or 3 hours in an insulated cooler. I know this sounds hard to believe, but a shoulder is way better than cooking just the butt or the picnic. What breed of pork is it, this may have an impact on your cooking plan?

View attachment 450341

I expose most of the butt end, but keep skin on the picnic end. It helps protect the shank end. I use a lot of injection, (mine uses pork stock for the base) especially around the arm bone and the blade bone. Spices or rub is subjective. Using only salt and pepper is great. Or if you have a favorite pork rub by all means use it.

In my cooks notes, I have saved some advice I got in 2006 from one of the Dizzy Pig guys on shoulders, I'll pass that along too, it covers all the basics. He is cooking an a Big Green Egg.

Don't take the skin off! I've done a couple hundred whole shoulders and have never taken the skin off. Trim it a little skin off the butt end to get more bark but for sure leave as much skin as possible around the hock. 25 pounds is from one BIG hog! Treat it with love and it will return the favor. Nothing beats a whole shoulder in my book. When you render that much fat, the product will blow your mind. Inject it until you can't get anymore into it. Use apple juice, chicken broth, a little beer, melted butter, worsestershustershire, and some rub. Mix well and have at it. Try to get a lot of the liquid into the hock and the butt end. Let it rest a few then rub it good, getting the rub into as many crevices as you can. Cutting in extra crevices is a nice trick. Bark is good. Cook skin side down with a bunch of your wood of choice (mine is 50/50 white oak and pig nut hickory)at no more than 230* dome temp. You only need enough wood to burn for the first 2 or 3 hours. When the internal hits 200*(about 20 - 24 hours), remove from the egg and let it cool enough to pull. You will be rewarded with Miss White's Delights and Mr. Brown Goes to Town. Only possible from a whole shoulder. The cook's portion (that you don't have to share) is the meat around the hock. Nothing on this planet comes close.

When you cook your shoulder go you ever wrap? Thanks for the advice!

 

[thirdeye]

Most of the time yes, I do wrap, but I live at 5400' and it's tough for me to pull a 202° on brisket or butts.... so wrapping for tenderness is kind of a norm. Also, I'm cooking at a low enough temp that pork gets pretty dark before I make the call to wrap & finish for more tenderness.... or just wrap before resting in the hot box. It's a combination of how the meat feels when probing and how moist it looks. I look at foil as a tool, not a rule. I do like having some foil drippings, so that is another consideration.

One thing I forgot to mention was scoring the skin on the picnic end. That's an option too. It's not like all the skin will be crispy enough for munching on, but some will. This would be about the color I'd consider wrapping.