What the heck did I do wrong??? Not a catastrophe but not a victory!

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jstanford

Fire Starter
Original poster
Sep 9, 2010
70
11
Nashville TN
I smoked a shoulder in my propane smoker, 225-250 consistent, took about 12-13 hours, all seemed well and good....Till...Propane ran out at about 160 degrees, I took it off the smoker, let it sit for an hour or so and tight wrapped in foil to sit in fridge for a bit. The next day I let it sit out for a bit to acclimate, then threw it in the oven to finish it at 250 till it hit 190 internal. Well, it did, I let it sit in a cooler with the towels and everything looked good. When I tried to pull it, the meat was VERY fatty and greasy, the bark was a little mushy (from the foil) but it seemed as if the fat never did render off the pork. My suspicion is that I should have let it go to about 200-210 internal? I believe if the propane would not have run out and I could have finished it on the smoker that this may not have happened. Can anyone give me a suggestion as to what I may have done, here are the specs....

7.8 lb Bone in shoulder

hickory non soaked chunks

Jeffs awesome rub (mustard used as base)

consistent 225-250 heat

no spritzing or basting

I did inject with a butter/garlic mixture (not exessively)

I did not open the door too many times

had 2 probes and a thermometer to check chamber and internal temps (all fine)

YES, I drank some beer while this took place :)

I anxiously await some of the knowledge I am about to be given by the great smokers out the in these forums. BTW I am somewhat of a noob but know enough to be slightly dangerous. The pork tastes great but a little too fatty
 
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Agreed, and since many foil to accelerate the finish, there's no advantage to the smoke toward the end anyway, so finishing in the oven won't hurt the final product. And I think you're right about aiming higher temp-wise.
 
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Yes you didn't do that right. When you ran out of gas and if you could go get more (I have 2 extras) right then then I would have moved it into the oven inside and finished it there. But you shouldn't have foiled at all if you wanted the bark to be harder. Now I would suggest that you sign up for the E-Course it's free and it will give you the basics on smoking.
 
Yeah... next time if you run out just pop it into the oven and take it all the way to 200-210, rest it, the fridge it if you are eating it the next day. Day of eating, reheat in the oven then pull it.
 
Yeah, I screwed this one up, had some more last night, tasted good but the meat was laced with the rendered fat that never made it out of the shoulder. Almost as if it all broke down but never was able to make an exit from the meat, which probably would have happened if I left it on till 200-210! Back to the drawing board, New propane tank and one extra, Ordered my new dual probe wireless thermo.....Can't wait for that! stocked up the beer and ready for another go-round. Happy day to all
 
I've run accross similar situations myself. You gotta keep it cooking until it's finished, no matter what it takes, or the resulting "second" cooking pretty much destroys it. I have put a smoker grate into the oven with a large baking pan supporting it and catching drippings so the wife didn't want to string me up for trashing the oven.

It's not the same as reheating pulled pork by any means.

BTW, I now have 6 (six) 20lb LPG tanks, and I don't use gas grills anymore...just a smoker and outdoor cook stove for heating water, etc.

Eric
 
a little before the propane ran out, I could hear the drippings sizzling and popping as they were exiting the pork, I should have kept it going, I hoped this thread would help other people if ever faced with my situation
 
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