Smoking 30lbs of pork shoulder in a #2

[JDSwan87]

Howdy, long time, no see on my part. I've been busy and have done some smoking. Well, I have been tasked with making 30lbs of pulled pork for the 2nd shift Skilled Trades Christmas party at my work. I have 30lbs of boneless pork shoulder already and I'm going to use DivotMaker's brine. My question is, do I need to triple his brine since I'm making soo much? I'm only smoking the shoulders for 4-5 hours then I'm putting them into a slow cooker to get final cook over night (done this before with excellent results).

Any tips?

Thanks! The brine will begin Wednesday for eating on Friday evening...

 

[SuperDave]

Brine amount is really dependent on your brining vessel.  A deep and narrow container means a lot less brine.  Are you using a cooler or bucket type container for your brine?

 

[DivotMaker]

Welcome back, Josh!  I would wash out a cooler, and triple the brine recipe...then brine them all at once in the cooler.  Use bags of ice in the brine to keep it cool.

 

[JDSwan87]

I will wash out a cooler and brine it in one of those. I wasn't sure on tripling the recipe or not, I figured I should but didn't hurt to ask. Any other tips? I've never done this large of a smome before... I was figuring on 12oz of either cherry or hickory wood...

 

[NDKoze]

I would always recommend a bone-in butt. But since you already have the meat, that really isn't an option.

For boneless butts I would normally tie them up with butcher's twine to keep them from falling apart. But, since you are going to end up finishing them off in the slow cooker, I don't think that is necessary.

One thing I have done in the past when cooking beef/pork roasts in a slow cooker is to add a can of Coke or Dr. pepper to the slow cooker.

Good luck! I'm sure your co-workers will enjoy your product.

 

[NDKoze]

I will wash out a cooler and brine it in one of those. I wasn't sure on tripling the recipe or not, I figured I should but didn't hurt to ask. Any other tips? I've never done this large of a smome before... I was figuring on 12oz of either cherry or hickory wood...

12 Oz of wood will be WAY too much. 5-6 Oz will be plenty even though you are smoking more meat than you probably normally would.

The Hickory/Cherry combination is an awesome wood pairing.

 

[swthorpe]

+1 on the hickory/cherry combo, and definitely keep it to 5-6oz of wood.

 

[DivotMaker]

Josh, they'll also cook like a single (unless you jam them together).  Allow 2 hours per pound (of the largest butt, not combined weight), and use 235-240 for the temp.

 

[JDSwan87]

5-6 oz of wood it is!! Wifey is picking up the roaster today from WallyWorld since I don't have enough crock pots for that much meat.

Plan is: 5-6oz of wood (hickory/cherry combo), temp at 235*, smoke for 4 hours then remove it and put in roaster (set to 225*), add apple cider (maybe), keep in roaster over night, wake up in morning, shred meat, set roaster to keep warm...

How's the above sound??

 

[NDKoze]

That sounds like a pretty good plan. Make sure to take some pics and let us know how it goes.

 

[JDSwan87]

28lbs of pork shoulder in the icy brine!!

 

[BedouinBob]

They look so happy...... 

 

[DivotMaker]

Mmm, mmm!  Nothing like pork in the pool! 8)

 

[JDSwan87]

In it goes!! 5.5oz of wood!! (3.0oz of cherry and 2.5oz of hickory)

 

[BedouinBob]

Anticipation mounts... 

 

[Pork Belly]

I'm only smoking the shoulders for 4-5 hours then I'm putting them into a slow cooker to get final cook over night

What did you gain by doing this? Why not truss the boneless butts, then smoke overnight and transfer to the roaster to keep warm and serve?

 

[JDSwan87]

I'm only smoking the shoulders for 4-5 hours then I'm putting them into a slow cooker to get final cook over night

What did you gain by doing this? Why not truss the boneless butts, then smoke overnight and transfer to the roaster to keep warm and serve?

Smoking for flavor then transferring to roaster/crock pot is how I've always done it the las few times because I didn't have a digital thermometer. Since I'm cooking so much and I've never just left the butt in there, I didn't want to screw it up. I have another 2 butts I will likely be smoking the whole way thru this weekend since my BIL & SIL are in town from California.

Everyone question: should/could I add UN pasteurized apple cider to the roaster when I put the butts in?

 

[DivotMaker]

Josh, I'm with Brian.  I guess I didn't realize the crock pot method was your standard, just thought it was because of convenience for the party.  You will never duplicate the results of taking a butt to "term" in the smoker inside a crock pot.  As mentioned before, you will have the best results with a bone-in Boston butt.

Here's why you should smoke them to temp in the smoker: BARK!  At 4 hours, the rub has not caramelized at all.  There is a thing called the "Maillard Reaction," which is how great bark is created (the link is a good article about it from Amazingribs.com).  Bark is such an integral part of the taste of great pulled pork!  When the pork is pulled, all that chewy goodness is mixed into the interior meat, and the taste cannot be duplicated.  While you'll get bark on small cuts, like ribs, in 4-5 hours, this is not the case with large cuts like butts or brisket; the meat stays too cold for too long. 

If you want the best pulled pork you've ever had, go with the technique you are using, but smoke it until it hits 190, and save the crock pot for re-warming before serving.

 

[JDSwan87]

Josh, I'm with Brian.  I guess I didn't realize the crock pot method was your standard, just thought it was because of convenience for the party.  You will never duplicate the results of taking a butt to "term" in the smoker inside a crock pot.  As mentioned before, you will have the best results with a bone-in Boston butt.

Here's why you should smoke them to temp in the smoker: BARK!  At 4 hours, the rub has not caramelized at all.  There is a thing called the "Maillard Reaction," which is how great bark is created (the link is a good article about it from Amazingribs.com).  Bark is such an integral part of the taste of great pulled pork!  When the pork is pulled, all that chewy goodness is mixed into the interior meat, and the taste cannot be duplicated.  While you'll get bark on small cuts, like ribs, in 4-5 hours, this is not the case with large cuts like butts or brisket; the meat stays too cold for too long. 

If you want the best pulled pork you've ever had, go with the technique you are using, but smoke it until it hits 190, and save the crock pot for re-warming before serving.

Well, the pork was in the smoker for 4.5 hours, didn't develop a bark (knew it wouldn't), and it did reach an IT of 180* but I'm not 100% sure the probe was in the middle of the pork. I only ran 1 probe as opposed to two because I was going to slow cook it. I had the #2 set at 225*F and I thought it was odd that I hit an IT of 180 that quick, any input on that? Thought it was 2 hours/lb with an IT of 203*F (according to amazingribs.com I read it somewhere there).

 

[SuperDave]

Josh, I'll stick my neck out and say that there is no way in hell that you were at a true 180 in 4.5 hours.  We can blame probe placement.  The 2 hour per pound rule of thumb is the ultra conservative guess and includes the 2 hour rest time. Other than very small butts, I can say that I'm always under 1.5 hours per pound on a 7 to 8 lbs butt.

Other smoking forums will recommend higher IT for pulled pork.  SI's sweet spot is somewhere between 190 - 195.