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Smoking a pork shoulder..

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Stonewall12

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Any advice and recommendations would be appreciated.

Thought about doing it this weekend for opening weekend for college football but I think I will wait till it is a little cooler.

I don't have a smoker just a grill so I will be doing indirect heat. Low and slow. Looking for a 8lb-10lb shoulder. Also about how many sandwiches would that provide? I plan on making a rub and possibly storing it in the fridge overnight. I plan on putting a drip pan with water under the shoulder and maybe even having a spray bottle with water/apple juice in it to help keep the meat moist. How long we looking at cooking time here? 8hrs?

What is the ideal temp for the grill during cooking? Around 260 or so? Buddy at work said when the meat temp reaches 190-195 it is good to take it off the grill. I plan on placing a few pieces of hickory wood with the charcoal. I just need to buy a chimney starter so I can keep the temp up. I have a Charbroil barrel grill. I may have to take the top rack off so the shoulder will fit. I am not sure it will be close. Also I thought about during the last 2 or 3 hours of cooking... Wrapping the shoulder up in tin foil

I see grill topics on here often so I thought I would give this a shot.

Ok that is it. This is my first time so any info I will get will be greatly appreciated. Thank you
 
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louisvillesux

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Shoulders are easy, Very hard to mess up. Expect about 1.5 hours per pound. I use hickory, but that's me. I smoke at about 220. At 165 I pull it and apply more rub, butter, brown sugar, and honey. Then wrap in foil and continue cooking until about 203....then I wrap it in a towel and place in a cooler for. About two hours... After that, you pull and eat
 
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Stonewall12

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bananapants said:
Shoulders are easy, Very hard to mess up. Expect about 1.5 hours per pound. I use hickory, but that's me. I smoke at about 220. At 165 I pull it and apply more rub, butter, brown sugar, and honey. Then wrap in foil and continue cooking until about 203....then I wrap it in a towel and place in a cooler for. About two hours... After that, you pull and eat
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About how many sandwiches do your shoulders make? Do you place it in the fridge the night before? Thanks for the input.
 
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louisvillesux

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Stonewall12 said:
About how many sandwiches do your shoulders make? Do you place it in the fridge the night before? Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

I would expect to get 7 Pounds of pulled pork from a 10 pound butt. That's probably going to make 30 nice size sandwiches. The night before I apply my rub, then saran wrap and place in fridge. I can't put a link from my phone, but there is a site called smoking meat forums that has a lot of good tips... Please post how it turns out.
 
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mrhotdice

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bananapants said:
I would expect to get 7 Pounds of pulled pork from a 10 pound butt. That's probably going to make 30 nice size sandwiches. The night before I apply my rub, then saran wrap and place in fridge. I can't put a link from my phone, but there is a site called smoking meat forums that has a lot of good tips... Please post how it turns out.
Click to expand...
Hickory is fine but cherry wood or Apple wood might be better for pork.
 
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dgtatu01

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Instead of staying, just wrap it in foil after about 2 hours on the grill, then leave it like that the rest of the way. That locks in the moisture.

I am a fat down smoker, meaning the fat back is on the bottom when I smoke meats.

For the rub consider using some mustard as a wet rub then putting your spices on, for pork this makes the bark really tasty.
 
anthonys735

anthonys735

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Pork shoulder is easy. Gotta be the easiest meat to smoke out there.

1/2lb per serving and a 60% rendered weight on an 8lb butt would be what 5 LBs. So serves 10 normal people. Depending on sides and appetite. Throw a 2nd one on if you're unsure, at worst freeze the meat into smaller servings and use it later. Give yourself some extra time to finish in case it runs long, at worst you can hold in a cooler.

Personally, I would never remove a bone prior to a cook. I also don't like wrapping but I at least understand the concept behind that. Removing a bone makes no sense, on any meat.

Rub with Dizzy Pig
230 ID until 200
Pull and wrap in foil, old towel and drop in a cooler until you're ready, I've held for 7 hours(last time) and it was still 150 IT.
Pull and serve with South Carolina style mustard based sauce. Would also suggest collards and maybe beans.
 
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BBdK

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I assumed he was joking about the bone. That goes against anything I've ever seen, with ANY meat.

If you're lucky enough to have a bone why remove it? Do you vacuum out the bone marrow, too?

Must be a boneless wing eater.
 
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RacerX.ksr

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Kooky Kats said:
Debone and twine first. You're welcome.
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Started to reply to this yesterday but it wasn't worth my time. Now that the sane people have posted, I would like to throw in my very own WTF? I will admit though, twine is a good idea if you mangle the butt trying to get the bone out before cooking and relishing in it's goodness.
 
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Kooky Kats

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BTW: I go to a butcher that prepares my meat, you poors enjoy your Costco **** in a cryovac bag.
 
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Kooky Kats

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I do not ever wrap a shoulder, spritz till done and bark is thick and dark like a meteor.

Listen, try it before you fire bullets.

Damn y'all... Peace and Love.
 
PuffyNips

PuffyNips

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Rinse with water, then rinse with white vinegar, then water again.

Slather with yellow mustard, apply your rub. You do not have to do this the night before.

I smoke at 220-225. I use lump charcoal and chunks of hickory.

I go fat side down for an hour, then flip it. Fat side up the rest of the way.

Roughly 1.5 hrs per lb is the rule of thumb, but it usually seems to take a little longer. You never really know.

The temp is going to stall when the fat starts rendering. This will take hours. Be patient. The temp will eventually start coming up again.

At 180, I begin squirting with a tart wash. Cranberry juice, olive oil and some of the rub. This helps the bark.

I check the temp every 20-30 mins at this point and reapply tart wash each time.

I pull at 200.

If you are done early, I would wrap in foil and a towel and place in a cooler like Anth suggested.
 
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Kooky Kats

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A restaurant is not going to take the time to butcher the shoulder... They are cooking for masses...

A competition cook needs to present larger lump money muscles to judges... So they won't do it.

Me? I want 100% of the pork to render and cook to a uniform temperature, not having the shoulder blade act as a heat sink and impart off flavors...

Just a recommendation, like MANY other concerned cooks. Google. Try it. You MAY convert. I have logs upon logs of every shoulder I've done (40+) and have yielded my best results.

Cheers.
 
anthonys735

anthonys735

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Do not remove the bone. Pork is the least gamey meat this side of chicken. Especially the shoulder. That's why you season the **** out of it and serve with sauce.

Go for the yellow mustard sauce with the shoulder. It's my favorite with that meat Think it compliments the GAMEY pork flavor the best. I went with a take of this. Added a little honey. Sat in the fridge for 12 hours to congeal. (southern.food.com)
  1. Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Whisk to combine and occasionally while simmering for 20-30 minutes.
  2. Let cool before using.
  3. Save remainder in a sealed container in the refer. (I used a washed and rinsed out glass soy sauce bottle).
 
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Stonewall12

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anthonys735 said:
Do not remove the bone. Pork is the least gamey meat this side of chicken. Especially the shoulder. That's why you season the **** out of it and serve with sauce.

Go for the yellow mustard sauce with the shoulder. It's my favorite with that meat Think it compliments the GAMEY pork flavor the best. I went with a take of this. Added a little honey. Sat in the fridge for 12 hours to congeal. (southern.food.com)
  1. Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Whisk to combine and occasionally while simmering for 20-30 minutes.
  2. Let cool before using.
  3. Save remainder in a sealed container in the refer. (I used a washed and rinsed out glass soy sauce bottle).
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks.

I am pumped up to try this one weekend.
 
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drxman1

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I think Anth is dead on, its the hardest piece of meat to screw up. Usually most will turn out fine, but some can be exceptional. Try to be exceptional. Some people use store bought rubs which are fine, but once you figure out your taste profile, make your own.

Use lump charcoal and hickory chunks.
Rub with peanut oil, apply rub made of garlic, onion, Lawry's salt, black pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper.
DO NOT REMOVE THE BONE
Smoke at 225 fat side up for 6 hours, wrap in foil, turn fat side down, continue at 190 for 12 hours.

Perfect pork. It's "obnoxiously" good.
 
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anthonys735

anthonys735

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^I think you over smoked a couple of those early ones. Or maybe it was just a smoked pork butt sitting in a house for like 10 hours. Whatever it was we couldn't get the smell out for like 3 days.

*No, sugar in the rub? I don't carry turbinado that's why I like Dizzy. Besides the fact they use real ingredients and no caking agents.

*Willy, sub out mustard and sub in an oil. YW.

*Forgot to add siracha to the mustard based BBQ sauce but I just assume you all add a dash of siracha to everything.
 
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drxman1

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There is a sweetener in there, I just don't go throwing out all my secrets on the intrawebs bubster. Gotta keep a few ingredients close to the chest.

Game Day tomorrow!!! EEK
 
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