Two Rib and Shoulder Questions

[Count Porcula]

As soon as I eat all the ribs I smoked yesterday, I plan to do a pork shoulder so I can have pulled pork.

To save me aggravation, can anyone give me recommendations as to temperature and time per pound? Also, how many hours of smoking (not cooking) time are needed? I haven't bought the meat yet, so I don't have a weight.

I know there are general guidelines out there, but it's always good to hear from a real person who gets proven results.

Second thing: is it worth it to buy spare ribs and turn them into St. Louis ribs, smoking the ribs and the extra part as separate pieces? I was pretty disappointed in the high price of the St. Louis ribs I bought this week. I chose them because I felt like smoking ribs that were a little more convenient to handle. Seemed like I should be able to spend the same amount and end up with St. Louis ribs plus a big chunk of additional meat.

 

[noboundaries]

For the butt (aka shoulder), do you plan to wrap at the stall or leave unwrapped to the end?

Ribs? I only but SLC spares when they are on sale. I prefer uncut. I'll SLC the uncut spares if I'm planning to use the trim for beans, soup, or stew. Otherwise I leave them whole.

 

[tag0401]

I usually plan for 1.5 hours per pound at around 225-250. If you finish way early you can hold in a dry cooler for hours and keep things hot. I always rest in a cooler at least two hours after finishing. I burn wood the entire cook. Most people state you get most of your smoke in the first few hours. My next cook I plan to smoke until I hit the stall(160-165it) then I am going to wrap and finish in the oven at 250 degrees. Just curious how it turns out. As far as St. Louis style I would buy and trim the spares unless you can get St. Louis style cheaper.

 

[tallbm]

As soon as I eat all the ribs I smoked yesterday, I plan to do a pork shoulder so I can have pulled pork.

To save me aggravation, can anyone give me recommendations as to temperature and time per pound? Also, how many hours of smoking (not cooking) time are needed? I haven't bought the meat yet, so I don't have a weight.

I know there are general guidelines out there, but it's always good to hear from a real person who gets proven results.

Second thing: is it worth it to buy spare ribs and turn them into St. Louis ribs, smoking the ribs and the extra part as separate pieces? I was pretty disappointed in the high price of the St. Louis ribs I bought this week. I chose them because I felt like smoking ribs that were a little more convenient to handle. Seemed like I should be able to spend the same amount and end up with St. Louis ribs plus a big chunk of additional meat.

A pork butt/shoulder 8 pounds or more at a steady 275F smoking temp, never opening the door, and smoking unwrapped the entire time, takes a little over 1hr a pound for me.

ALWAYS plan to finish 4 hours before eating time on big cuts like pork butts/shoulders or briskets.
If you finish 4 hours early great! Tightly double wrap in foil, then tightly wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the table/counter until time to pull and eat. It will be PIPING hot 4-5 hours later like this and will have rested nicely!
If you don't happen to finish 4hrs early... well you have 4 hours of time for it to finish before people stab you with forks while waiting on their meal to finish :)

The #1 reason for failure on pork butts/shoulders and briskets is that not enough time was planned and the meat gets removed early before it is ready to be eaten. Don't fail because of this :)
So, a 10 pounder for me I am sure to have it in a hot smoker 14 hours before time to eat :)

Oh if you wanna read up on my Pork Butt Buttcheak approach check out the following link. This approach gets you WAY more seasoning flavor, smoke flavor, and bark for a superior pork butt (In My Opinion haha):

Butterflied Pork Butt (or Pork Butt Butt)

Well a few weekends ago I did 2 pork butts at 17.5 pounds total. I butterflied them so that the pork butts were more like butts hahaha. The reason I did this was to: get more seasoning on the meat for flavor get more bark because there was now more surface area get more smoke flavor and...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

On to the ribs.

You can buy a full rack of ribs and then cut them to St Louis Style OR just smoke them whole if they fit.
I like when St Louis Style goes on sale for the same price or cheaper than whole spare so I don't have to do the trim work myself. Plus the extra sternum piece isn't as great as the ribs section.
It smokes up and eats fine but has meat that can be a little stringy and a fat layer that can be stringy as well. Sometime that sternum cut is just fine, so it's it or miss or really needs to be handled with care to come out well in addition to handling the ribs.

I cut St Louis Style and smoke both parts and just live with how the sternum part comes out. I rarely leave the spares whole because they take up a ton of room whole. U can always debone that sternum section after cooking and chop for BBQ or cut into sections and use for beans, soups, etc. it's never wasted and is good meat :)

 

[Count Porcula]

Thanks for all the help.

I was thinking I might smoke the shoulder until it got all the benefit it could and then wrap it in foil and put it in the oven. I might get more sleep that way.

 

[noboundaries]

Whether you smoke it at 225F, 250F, or 275F, the internal temp will climb quickly to the 140-165F; 2-4 hours depending on the size of the roast. Once it stalls and you wrap it, you can easily increase the oven temp to 300-325F to finish quicker. BUT, if you are using a lot of brown sugar in the rub, stick to the 250-275F oven temp to avoid burning the sugar.

Time and temp are guidelines. Probe for tenderness through the wrap and keep going until the probe slides right in.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I too plan on 1.5 hours per pound at 250-275, plus 2 hours to cover problems or a stubborn Butt. I'll smoke unwrapped during nice weather or put at least 6 hours of smoke before wrapping and Oven Finishing, at 250°F. I cook to an IT , internal temp of 205°F then probe for Soft Butter tenderness with a chopstick.
I buy double packs of Spare Rib, when under $2 per pound and trim to St. Louis Cut. I remove the Sternum, Cartilage Rib Tips and the smallest 2 Ribs with meat. I remove the Cartilage and Bone from the Tips and such. This leaves enough meat for a Stir Fry or Pork Fajitas for a second meal. Just recently we bought 3 packs of 2 racks for $1.59 per pound ...JJ

 

[GaryHibbert]

I do pork butt at 240ish. Full smoke until the stall hits at about 165 IT. Then I wrap in tinfoil (with the meat probe still in the butt) to an IT of 205. At that temp, all my butts are probe tender--I always check to be sure. Then I take the butt inside and let it rest for an hour before pulling. Since I have a MES, I don't bother using the kitchen oven, but if I have to for some reason, I still leave the meat probe in. Obviously, I cut off the smoke as soon as I wrap.
The reason I leave the smoke going until I wrap is I love lots of smoke.
As for time, I generally figure 1 to 1 1/2 hours per pound. But......with a pork butt, the time can really vary from butt to butt. So, when as usual, supper is late,, I just tell Miss Linda that the meat is done when the meat is done.
Gary