My first pork shoulder

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flynbyu2

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 20, 2016
17
19
Folsom, CA
OK, so I have half a dozen smokes under my belt but this is my first pork shoulder for pulled pork.

My wife was so confident, she has her parents coming over for dinner.

I got an 8 pounder on the grill @ 4:55am but after reading several posts, I'm concerned we wont be sitting down to eat until well after our "normal" dinner time.

I kinda wish she would have let me do this beforehand and then just re-heat for the pulled pork sandwiches.

It's been on for 45 minutes and I'm at 51° IT.  

And to top it off, I have to leave here in 2 hours for a breakfast meeting.

I have the local pizza delivery place on speed dial.....

What was
wife.gif
 thinking?!?!?
 
You should be fine. Foil it at 155 - 160 i dont normally add any liquid but others do, & let her go till 205 mark. Seems like you should have plenty of time. What temp are you smoking at? I always tell people with smoked food the food will normally set the dinner time not the people.
 
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You should be fine. Foil it at 155 - 160 i dont normally add any liquid but others do, & let her go till 205 mark. Seems like you should have plenty of time. What temp are you smoking at? I always tell people with smoked food the food will normally set the dinner time not the people.
Looks like my WSM has settled in at about 245°

I'm @ 81° IT after 1:25

It'll be done when it's done.

I was really trying to avoid wrapping in foil;looking forward to a nice crispy bark.

You think that's necessary to speed it up and get it done in under 12 hours?
 
It is really hard to screw up a pork butt, with the exception of under cooking or burning it up.  I don't pay much attention to IT until the very end. Pork Butt can take the heat. I would smoke it for about 5  hours at 275º then wrap it, check it after about 3 hours if its done or close unwrap and put back on the smoker for just a bit to firm up your bark.

Gary
 
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So I'm 6.5 hours in with an IT of 165°

Still chugging along at 245° on the WSM.

I'm gonna toss some more Kingsford in there to stoke it a bit and maybe raise the temp a tiny bit.

Foil it now and cook to 200°???
 
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I think I would wait a couple of more hours & see where it's at, especially if you want good bark.

In a pinch you can foil it & finish it in a 350 degree oven.

It will get done very quickly that way.

Al
 
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I think I would wait a couple of more hours & see where it's at, especially if you want good bark.

In a pinch you can foil it & finish it in a 350 degree oven.

It will get done very quickly that way.

Al
So I just pulled it at the 7 hour mark and foiled it.
 
I'm at exactly 10 hours now and IT is at 202°

It's over 100° here today and the sun beating down on my WSM pushed the inside temps up.  

I'm showing 260° instead of my usual 245°.  I guess that helped me in this case.

So close I can almost taste it already.

It looks like most recommend pulling at 205°, wrapping in towels and tossing in the cooler.

How long in the cooler before I can start doing "the pulling"? 

drool.gif
 
Flynbyu2, glad it is all turning out neighbor.  Pull it out, cover it with old towels on the countertop, and let it rest.  Be sure to save the drippings in the wrapping.  They are flavor gold.  Give the meat a taste and if it comes across as a little bland at all, just add some of the drippings, more rub, and maybe a little of your favorite sauce to give it more zip.  A finishing sauce is great too.  Just do a search here in the Forum for finishing sauces and you'll get several.  Chef JJ's is my favorite.   

The in-laws are gonna love ya! 
 
 
Flynbyu2, glad it is all turning out neighbor.  Pull it out, cover it with old towels on the countertop, and let it rest.  Be sure to save the drippings in the wrapping.  They are flavor gold.  Give the meat a taste and if it comes across as a little bland at all, just add some of the drippings, more rub, and maybe a little of your favorite sauce to give it more zip.  A finishing sauce is great too.  Just do a search here in the Forum for finishing sauces and you'll get several.  Chef JJ's is my favorite.   

The in-laws are gonna love ya! 
Wow, we really ARE neighbors.

It's been wrapped for about an hour now.  Since I did all the heavy lifting in this venture so far, I'm gonna have the wife do the pulling.

And yes, I do have a good portion of drippings in my foil that will be redistributed shortly.

In-laws will be here in 25 minutes.....unless they're late.

(Who am I kidding, they're ALWAYS late)

Thanks to all for getting me through my LONGEST smoke.

You all give me tons on confidence.
 
The in-laws just left. (They were 30 minutes late by the way) They were very impressed with my smoker skills.

I do have to say, it turned out nothing short of amazing.

So tender, moist and full of smokey flavor.

A big thank you to everyone that helped out here as well as all the posts I was able to read here during a L O N G smoking day.

love this place!
 
[/quote]
OK, so I have half a dozen smokes under my belt but this is my first pork shoulder for pulled pork.

My wife was so confident, she has her parents coming over for dinner.

Finished product looks great, nice work! I am curious as to the evolution in your smoking ventures. What all did you smoke those dozen times before this pork shoulder?

As for in-laws, they're always a classic case of those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. No worries!

DS
 
Finished product looks great, nice work! I am curious as to the evolution in your smoking ventures. What all did you smoke those dozen times before this pork shoulder?

As for in-laws, they're always a classic case of those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. No worries!

DS[/quote]

My half dozen smokes include a couple pork loins and a couple salmon steaks but the family loves ribs so that's been my go-to.

I have to say I'm getting a little less intimidated every time I fire it up.
 
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