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Boneless Pork Shoulder

J jacksmokerMember
Picked up a 13 lb "boneless" pork shoulder at Costco. I have always previously used bone in pork shoulders but I figured I would give this a try. When I removed the meat from the cryovac it turned out to actually be a loosely held together mass of meat which could easily be divided into numerous smaller pieces. Not too impressed at this point. Applied a liberal amount of my homemade rub and let it sit for a couple of hours and then put into the smoker (with 4-5 oz of applewood) at 225. Since there were two predominant pieces I inserted a temp probe in each. Put the meat in my CS020 at 10PM saturday night - by 9:30 AM on Sunday 1 piece was at 200 and the other at 197. Before I FTC'ed them I "sampled" a taste from each piece. Initial reviews not good. Meat had a good flavor but appeared to be quite a bit drier than I would have liked. We'll see how the final product tastes after a couple of hours of resting but I have a feeling that I am going to have to add liberal doses of Okie's finishing sauce to moisten this up. Don't think I'll be going with the boneless pieces anymore!!!
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D downersgrovecookMember
Jacksmoker, I have a similar thing going on right now. I picked up a boneless pork shoulder at Sams. I have used boneless before, but there was always a big fatty vein in the center. This time, the vein had been removed. The meat was almost "butterflied". I rubbed it down on Friday night. Put it in the smoker at about 10:00p.m. Saturday night. I cook my Pork Shoulder at 210. It is now about 11:00a.m. My pork shoulder is only at 160. Maybe you want to lower your heat a little?
T tomMember
Yep,the lower part of the shoulder[picnic]is leaner and around 185º it can be sliced like ham and eaten.The upper[butt] still won't finish until about 195º.

Costco may sell them to commercial operations that cook it until about 175º,as all the FL chains used to do.There is less shrinkage/higher yield,less labor /skill,higher profits,shorter cooking time.They then slice it -kinda like pork steaks?

When Smokey Bones opened and had a cookteam and actually served pulled pork,the other chains were dragged into pulled pork.

You can try injecting it,and also -cringe- foiling after you build your bark.Then you can chop it with a cleaver ,as many Southern restaurants might.

Some folks will cook at 225º for 16 hrs after injecting and do a fair job.At 195º most should be pullable.
C coachMember
I've cooked several of the boneless butts from Costco. Yes, sometimes you wonder if the butcher who removed the bone used a large chainsaw, but for the most part, I've been pleased. I kinda like the boneless aspect as I have more surface area to apply rub. When making pulled pork. I take mine to only 185. After I add the finishing sauce, the texture holds up better.
D downersgrovecookMember
Just wanted to report in on the status of our pork shoulder. Pulled it out of the smoker last night about 7:00p.m. This had been smoking for 21 hours. The first 15 hours I smoked it at 210. Then, I noticed the smoke stopped coming out of the top, so I added another couple ounces of apple wood and increased the temp on the smoker to 215. My theory was that the higher temp would cause the wood to "catch" and smoke. Didn't work that way, wood was charred, but never got much smoke.

When we finally pulled the pork out of the smoker I was a bit concerned. The meat had separated a bit where the butcher cut into it to remove the vein. The finished temp was 190. The meat was moist and delicious and had great flavor. I served it with Oakie's vinegar mop. It would be hard to find a better meal.

I and going to try to find meat that is a solid piece next time. If I can't I will tie the meat to keep it together. If I can't find a solid piece, I wouldn't hesitate to do this again, it really was delicious.
tnqtnqMember
quote:
Originally posted by Downers Grove Cook:
TN Q, sounds like you have been to Italy. I will have to give your Porchetta a try. What temp to you smoke at?


yep, I have visited Italy many moons ago thanks to a stint with the USN. I did a bit of web research on porchetta before doing my first; set the smoker to 225 with shoulder on the bottom rack and sook to internal temp of 190.

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