Second attempt at smoking a few shoulders

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irishpride114

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 17, 2013
46
10
Springfield, Il
So this is my 3 attempt at smoking in my new MES (40" Gen 2); second attempt at a few pork shoulder's.  I started the prep the night before at about 10 pm. I did the standard mustard rub, then I used a dry rub that I created myself a few years back, then injected it after that. Let it sit in the refer for till about 7 this morning. ( I didn't get up in time to let it come to room temp as I had the day off). I used 2-bottles of Red Stripe in the water bucket/tray (or whatever it's called) to keep the moisture up. As far as the wood pieces goes, I used some apple wood and hickory chips from the local Farm & Home Supply. I used about 1/4-1/2c of wood chips every 45-70 depending on the mixture of wood chips; every time I added chips, I would mop the shoulder's in apple juice. I ended up smoking it with the chips for about 6 hours (roughly 160° @ 225°ish). Then when it hit 170° I moved inside to the oven. I wrapped both pieces in 2 layers of foil plus added some more apple juice for about 1.5 hours. When it hit the average (2 shoulders) I pulled them out and let one rest about 50mins, and the other for about 2.5 hours. One came out stupid good, and one came out not so stupid good. It was more tough, but I blame it on the lack of fat the came with it from the store.

If anyone cares, this was my injection recipe: apple juice, apple cider vinegar, water, brown sugar, and some of the seasoning that I make myself.

Sorry for all grammar mistakes, writing was never my strong suit in college.

(edited to include pictures)




 
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As for the butts, did you take a temp reading before you pulled them from the oven ?   The last pic of the one that rested for 50 minutes looks to be underdone. 
 
As for the butts, did you take a temp reading before you pulled them from the oven ?   The last pic of the one that rested for 50 minutes looks to be underdone. 
Yes I did. The first butt came in about 200, and the second one came in about 197. Oddly enough, the last picture (butt #2) was falling off the bone. It was the one that turned out perfect. It also was the one that had the bigger fat cap on it as well.

And thanks for the heads up on the photos. I got it corrected.
 
Yes I did. The first butt came in about 200, and the second one came in about 197. Oddly enough, the last picture (butt #2) was falling off the bone. It was the one that turned out perfect. It also was the one that had the bigger fat cap on it as well.

And thanks for the heads up on the photos. I got it corrected.
Oooooohhhhh, pretty pictures now  (yw, happy to help)    :)   

As for the butts, yeah, that is odd.  If I had to bet, I'd swear that butt #1 in pic 3 would have been the better one.    Oh well, isn't the first time that looks have deceived me   :)
 
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