First Shoulder/Butt some schedule questions.

S

Switters

New member
Hi all,
I’m new to the smoker world, and just received my SI#2 as a Father’s Day gift.  I did a smaller brisket which turned out pretty well, although I didn’t hit my target temp in time.  To that end, I plan on doing my first pork shoulder/butt for pulled pork this weekend and had a few questions. 
The cut of meat readily available at my local supermarket is a 7-8 shoulder with the bone in.  Is the bone an issue at all?
I plan on brining it with one of the recipes from this site (which sounds great), adding a rub, cooking at 225F with a small pan of apple juice, with the goal to serve around 4:30-5pm on Sat.  My question is about cooking schedule, as my brisket took a lot longer than I anticipated (estimating 1.5hrs per pound at 225F).  I was going to put the pork in on Fri night say around 11pm, but am worried about it being done too early on Sat and sitting around.  The alternative is, starting around 6am and risk not finishing in time.  I’m leaning towards the night before.  Should I smoke at a lower temp? or is there a good way to preserve the meat (should I refrigerate and reheat) or just leave in the smoker at a lower temp.  Thanks for any input.  This site has a ton of great info.  Whatever I do I’ll be sure to post the outcome.  Cheers!
Also, another newbie question: is the goal of hitting the IT of ~200F related to the specific breakdown of the meats tendon/ligature/fat rendering etc.??
 
Is your plan to Pull the meat or slice it? If your slicing start it at 6am and go to IT of around 160'ish. However if you are making pulled pork you should be fine starting at 11 the night before and cooking to 200 or even 225. 

I assume you have some type of probe thermometer to monitor your meat. If not get one before you start. Even a cheap on that just tells the temp of the meat is better than nothing. I don't see a problem with bone in, I prefer it.  Regardless if your slicing or pulling, you can hold the meat double wrapped in foil either in a cooler, covered in towels. You can also lower the smoker to 100 or 125 and put your foil wrapped meat back on the rack. I would then pull it or slice it immediately prior to serving. If you leave the thermometer in the butt when you wrap it you will know what you temp goes down to and wont have juice running out of that hole. Properly wrapped and held I don't think you will be loosing much heat. If your holding it wrapped in the smoker it wont be below whatever your set it at. I suspect your butt will be at 200 around 12:30 to 1:00

The most important thing is this: If you are not happy with the results you get be silent about that. Most likely it will be better food than anything your friends have had before. You will find your perfect routine in time. As to your tendon/ligature &fat question. It is a combination of heat, melted fat with the length of cooking time that causes the breakdown and tenderness. Not that sliced butt is not tender, it is however it retains its structure because of the shorter cooking time. Properly done, there truly is no pulling when making pulled pork, it basically falls apart at the seams.

You did not mention wood type or amount, I don't recommend using anything more than 5.5 or 6 oz.

Post Pictures.
 
Thanks for the reply.  I'm planning on making pulled pork, and based on your response I'll start the night before and warm it with one of the methods you described based on when it finishes up.  Yes, I do have a temp probe.

As far as wood, I was just going to use some of the sample pieces that came with the unit which are hickory.  Now that you bring it up, I may run out and buy some apple wood.  I used 4oz for my brisket and that was pretty darn smokey, will probably use the same amount of apple wood.  Based on some other posts I may wrap the wood in foil to help avoid the combustion.

Thanks again for the response, it's much appreciated.  Can't wait till the weekend!
 
Hey Brandon,

I would also place a pan of apple juice near the smoker box.  This will help retain moisture during your smoke.

Personally I don't think you need to wrap the wood in foil.
 
I just did a 10 pound pork shoulder in my number 2 and it took about 18.5 hours to reach internal temp of 200. I used around 4.5 ounces of hickory and cherry mixed, I also used two little foil pans, one with apple juice and one with beer, well part of a beer, I had to check for freshness lol. I wrapped in foil and towels and held in a cooler for 2 hours then pulled right before I served.  I put some mustard on it and rubbed it down with Famous Dave's rib rub, very tasty and very very moist! Forgot to mention I was cooking at 225.
 
Hi Brandon!  Welcome, and congrats on a great choice in smokers! 8)

The Boston butt, bone-in, is (in my humble opinion) the best cut out there for pulled pork!  You're getting the right cut.  The bone actually makes the meat cook more stable and consistent. 

As for timing, I always plan for 2 hours per pound, but rarely have a butt that goes that long.  At least with the meat I buy, I usually get the butts done in 1 to 1.5 hours per pound.  It all depends on the meat - it has its own schedule that doesn't always match ours!  Remember, it's made by animals that can't talk, and no two are alike! ;)  If it gets done in less than 2 hours per pound, you can hold it 2 ways:

♦  Double-wrap in heavy duty foil and place in a cooler, with a heavy towel on top.  You should do this at least an hour before eating, anyways, to allow the meat to rest.

♦  Leave it in the smoker, and reduce the heat to 135.  This will stop the cooking process, and hold the butt for several hours.  Keep the thermometer attached during a hold.  You want to make sure the internal temp doesn't drop below 145 (food safe temp).  For a few hours, when coming down from 200, it won't.  Even when holding in the smoker, remember to wrap and rest before pulling the pork.

Here's my butt brine that I use:

http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1012.0

Wood:  5-6 oz

Temp:  225 to 235 for a butt.  No need to go lower and longer for this cut - once the fat renders, it'll be plenty moist and tender.  And yes, the amount of internal fat and connective tissue makes a difference in cook time.  Some render faster than others (see paragraph above for the reason why). ;)

Opening the door and peeking:  NO!  Let that little piggy ride with as little human intervention as possible!  You want to maintain the moist environment that your meat and juice pan are creating.  Opening the door cancels that!

Good luck, and let us know how we can help!

 
Thanks all for the excellent advice, I think I now have a solid plan!
Will post some pics, and let you know how it turns out. 
 
Switters,
As to the wood amounts:
Hickory has a harsh note to it that some don't care for. It may be you just don't like that flavor. Personally I only use it on Jerky. Also If your Brisket was not overly thick you were getting a lot of smoke to the meat because of all the surface area. Pork Butt is much thicker and requires more smoke. Buy the apple and go with at least 5oz. soak it for 30 minutes in water because you don't know how long it has been sitting in a warehouse.

*Party Tip
Pick up some squeeze bottles at the GFS  and fill them with two or three different brands of sauce.  I do this to keeps everybody happy.  It also allows for some taste testing and comparison. You don have to tell people you made the sauce they assume it themselves. 
 
I'm afraid a Southerner has to dissent with Brian on the choice of wood... Down here, hickory has been the standard for BBQ since they first figured-out how to mix meat and smoke.  Personally, I think hickory is great on pork, and will make you think of the great smell you've smelled in every BBQ restaurant you've walked into.  Apple, on the other hand, has a very unique flavor profile.  I've found straight apple to be a smoke flavor that I personally don't care for.  Other fruit woods, like cherry, give a very "traditional," yet mild flavor.  But, if I only had one wood to use, it would no doubt be hickory.
 
It may be a regional thing. In Southwest Michigan we have Fruit trees everywhere. I believe Alder (without bark) is the choice in Alaska. Regardless of wood choice, would you agree only 4 oz on an 8lb but will be a bit light?
 
Pork Belly said:
It may be a regional thing. It Southwest Michigan we have Fruit trees everywhere. I believe Alder (without bark) is the choice in Alaska. Regardless of wood choice, would you agree only 4 oz on an 8lb but will be a bit light?
Click to expand...

I would agree on the amount; 5-6 oz for a butt that big. 
 
I agree with Tony that if I had to pick one wood it would most definitely be Hickory.

That being said, I typically use about 3ozs of Hickory and 3ozs of Cherry on my butts. If I went straight Hickory, I may scale it down to 5, but would have no problem with 6 either. Its not an exact science. Getting exact amounts of wood is hard. 5-6 ounces give or take a half an ounce is a good rule of thumb.

Smoke flavor is a personal preference. You will find what you like. But 5-6 is a great starting point.
 
Hi all,
Thanks again for all the input.  It turned out great, best pulled pork I've ever had!!  Attached are some photos of the meat going in, coming out, after it shredded, and on the plate.  Awesome!

Here's a quick summary of how it all went down.  It was an 8lb shoulder, I put it in the brine (pork butt recipe from this forum) on Thursday night around 9pm.  I pulled it out around 4pm on Friday, rinsed it off, dried it, applied a thin layer of yellow mustard, and then the rub (2tbls of: kosher salt, paprika, brown sugar; 1 tbls of: onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper; about a tsp of cayenne).  After the rub, back in the 'fridge for a few hours.  It went into the smoker at 10pm, temp set to 225F, with a little more than 2oz of hickory, and a little more than 3oz of applewood - total wood weight was 5.5oz.  I had a small aluminum pan of apple juice and another of water next to the smoker box. 

By 6:30am it was 166F, 12:30pm it was 179F, 3pm 184, and it had to come out at 445pm with IT at 192F.  Didn't quite make it to 200, but we had to eat.  The meat just fell off the bone, was super easy to shred, and still was very moist.  It was great.  Served with two home-made BBQ sauces a red (1.5 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 worcestershire, 1/2 tsp of cayenne.  All goes into a small pot to a slow boil for 10min) and a white bbq sauce I've never tried but just saw a recipe for (1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 small clove of garlic minced, tsp of worcestershire, about half a tbls of black pepper, and 1tbsp of honey, I then added about 1/3 of a serrano and blended the whole thing).  Both sauces were great, really liked the white one; but the pork needed very little.

Anywho, thanks again- all the info posted here really made the difference and it turned out great - everyone loved it!
 

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I typically think of an aioli as being garlic mayo. The white sauce I made was thinner than a typical ranch dressing, and had a horseradish bite to it. We found it to be quite good on grilled chicken.
 
Hey Brandon, the pulled pork looks great.  It definitely is great Q that these smokers produce and makes us look like pros.  Thanks for posting the recipes of your sauces.
 
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