Skip to main content

11 replies

My first Shoulder Attempt

FM Former Member
Heya,

This past weekend I tried smoking my first shoulder. I picked up a two pack of around 8lb shoulders from Costco, froze one, and slathered the other in mustard, and a rub of paprika, black pepper, crushed red pepper, salt, and polydextrose (to provide the carmelization properties of the absent sugar).

It ws a boneless shoulder, but it seemed to hold together well, so I saw no reason to tie it with twine. I put in around 6oz if Hickory, put it on the middle rack, set the smoker to 225, probed the meat, and let it go all night. I checked it again around 8 hours later, and it was already at 180 degrees. Hearing that you should move the probe around, I did just that, placing it in a different portion of the meat, and got a reading of 145 degrees, a big difference. I let the probe rest there for a while, and it climbed to 167 by 12 hours in. Curious, I moved the probe again and got a whopping 205 degrees. Figuring that a little underdone is better than burnt and dried, I pulled it, foiled it (no basting with apple juice was done as I can't eat sugar) and let it rest. It didn't fall apart like some of you say your shoulders do, but it did seperate without a ton of effor when I hacked at it with a fork and knife, towards the center it was definately sliceable though.

Overall the flavor was very good, although I was expecting, and would appreciate something more smokey, so perhaps I will find a stronger wood or use more of it next time.

My big question though is: since the probe was reading such different temps all in the meat, which one do I go with? Do I cook until the lowest temp is over 190, or until that is the mean temp? Any ideas would be most appreciated.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
I've seen Costco's pork shoulders, but have never bought one just because there is no skin and minimal external fat (it's all been trimmed off). I opt instead to buy my pork shoulders from another local supermarket that has them untrimmed and with the skin still on. This way there is ample fat to sweeten, moisten, and flavor the meat.

I slice slits through the skin and partly into the fat in cris-crosses, then I add my rub and work it into all the slits. I smoke it fat side up.

And I leave mine in the smoker until the inner-most part of the shoulder has reached the desired temperature. And I'm less picky about this. I just stick the thermometer in making sure it's in the thickest part of the meat and not touching bone or in a fat vein. Then I don't worry about it or open the smoker door until it's done. All the fat gives you a wide margin of error.
T tomMember
Wow,that covers most of bbq and life. Big Grin

Labeling gets to be strange in some places.

I have never seen a "boned shoulder".

Two packs are typically butts,which sometimes they call blade shoulder roasts?

Skip boneless,if you can.

Read the archives and Smokin' Okie's Pork Butt 101.

Try putting the next one in with some salt and pepper.

Put the probe into the center.

Set the cooker at 225�,on a center rack.

Don't open the door until it is 200�.

Open up and see if it feels like jello,or is hard to lift off the rack,without breaking apart.

You should be close.

Next time you can make adjustments.

A butt/shoulder is pretty massive.

You won't get a lot of internal smoke.

Hope this helps a little.

Smokin' okie's Pork butt 101
FM Former Member
Hmm, interesting. The reason I bought at Costco was because the local grocery store wanted $3 a lb for a bone in Picnic, while Costco wanted $1.49 for boneless shoulders, and with boneless it seems like you are getting more meat for your money. Is there a reason to go with a bone-in piece of meat? There was no skin on them (thankfully, doesn't that block smoke? I can't imagine smoked skin woudl taste that good anyway, now, I could alays pull it off and make cracklings in the deep fryer, but I wasn't feeling that adventurous), but there was quite a large fat cap. I think I might have mistakenly put the shoulder in with the fat cap side down though, would that effect things much?


So 200 degrees in the target? I wanted to pull it as soon as it would be ready to pull, thinking that at 190 it would be more tender and juicy than at 200, or is this a mistaken theory?
T tomMember
Go to any local grocery that is promoting country style ribs,pork shoulder steaks,etc.

They are usually down around $1.29 lb

They are just slicing up 2 packs of butts.

They should sell you a 2 pk,as they don't have to trim,package,etc.

Bone in always cooks better[heat conduction?]and you can wiggle the bone to check for tenderness.

If it has a fat cap ,you may be getting a picnic,the bottom of the leg that has the butt on the top.

Cook to 185� and slice like a ham.

Even here in the southeast,a shoulder[15-18 lbs]is a custom order.

The whole process is about slow cooking, to break down collagen and render fat.

You don't really lose moisture[boiling point of water at sea level 212�]

Butts are very forgiving.

Find a butcher that will sell you a two pk of bonein butts in cryovac.

Easiest money he will ever make and best eatin' you'll ever get.

Hope this helps a little.
FM Former Member
You guys have covered it in good depth, and like Tom says, terminology is important.

The only other thing I would add is that doneness is not determined by the temp. Different cuts and different fat contents will cook different from time to time.

For me, I use the temp as a guide, when I check temp but I ALWAYS pull it based on experience and testing the meat itself.

Did you check your thermometer,is it accurate? If you're getting 165 in one part and over 200 in another, that sounds a little extreme, but hey who knows.

For a butt, if it doesn't have a bone to wiggle, like Tom suggests, I use my temp probe and push it into the meat to see how firm or loose the meat is. With a little practice you'll be able to learn when to pull it.

As for definitions, here's a pic of a full shoulder (picnic and butt) weighed about 12 lbs.

FM Former Member
Nullo,

It's all up to what you want your finished product to be. I like my pork pulled and I set the probe to the center and cook it till it reads 195-198 degrees (some shoulders have required 205 degrees). I don't care what the outside looks like - its always been GOOD. If you want more smoke I would suggest a slower cooking temperature and more wood two thirds of the way into the smoke. By 195 most of the fat and cartilage has broken down and the flavor is what I want using only 4 oz of wood. Lots of options!

smokemullet
FM Former Member
Thanks for all the help. I'm sure it wasn't a picnic, in fact, it looked just like the left half of Okie's picture (There were two of them in the cryopack), except for there was a larger fat cap (similar to what I sort of see underneath in that photo).

My thermometer seems accurate, and it is a digital model. I will leave it in longer next time and see what happens.

As for buying at grocery stores here, maybe I will keep looking around. Does anyone know if certain stores are better than others for this? I have a Costco, a Super Walmart, a couple Acmes (Albertson's elsewhere), lots of Safeways (Genaurdi's), A Giant, a Food Lion, a Metro Food Market, a Trader Joes, several Shop-Rites, and a couple Superfreshes all local, along with an Amish butcher and a high end meat market, but I doubt the latter two will offer me good smoking meat at an acceptible price.
FM Former Member
nullo,
tom, dennis, smokinokie and smokemullet covered it really good.
only thing i could add is let your lowest temp be your guide
and for sure if i had an amish butcher near me i would do what ever it took to become his best friend up to and including a nice percheron horse if that is what it took!!!!!!!!
jack

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×