Tips for my first pork shoulder?

[Hoover]

Ok, I’m psyched to take on my first 7 lb. pork shoulder tomorrow morning! Any tips on cooking temp, wood choice and cook time? Just trying to get my arms around what I can expect. Thinking of cooking to 197 degrees.

Look forward to your collective thoughts and reporting back!

 

[old sarge]

Welcome Hoover to the forum.  I do butts/shoulders at 225 and shoot for an internal temp of 195/200 for pulling. 197 ought to do it because you want to wrap in heavy foil and let it rest a little while. Typically I wrap in foil then a large heavy beach towels and place in a cooler till ready for dinner or whenever. 2 to three hours is not uncommon and it is still hot.  As for wood, I use 6 ounces of hickory chunks, the fewer chunks to get to 6 ounces the better.  Make sure your meat probe is in meat and not a fat pocket.  And be ready for the stall, around 170 degrees.  The climb out of the stall is painfully slow so the earlier you get it in the smoker the better. You can wrap and hold till serving time.  Good luck.

 

[BedouinBob]

What Dave said.....  8)

 

[Hoover]

Thanks for the advice, David! Love this forum so far...such a wealth of knowledge here. Anyway, my shoulder cooked pretty quickly and I was hitting 200 in multiple spots at 11.5 hours so wrapped her up in foil and blankets and she’s resting in the cooler. Smells delicious and looking forward to shredding her later tonight. Will let you know how it goes!

 

[old sarge]

Looks alright from here.  Enjoy!!

 

[DivotMaker]

Welcome to the party, Hoover!!  I'm a little more conservative on pork butts...189-192 is my target, and is perfect!  Once it gets through the stall and starts climbing, the real magic is complete.  I go up to the 190ish area to give it a little more.  Try it on your next one.  If you want to take your pulled pork to the next level, try brining it!  The recipe is at the top of the pork page, and is super easy.  It takes pulled pork from great to "wow!!"

When you get a chance, add your first name and town to your signature line.  We love that because we're kind of one big happy family around here!