birthday/BB-Q smoke party...........

[bob1961]

i'm going to do pulled pork picinic for my son's 1st birthday party for bout 15/20 ppl....i'm going with the picinic shoulder i did before....my question is will 3 or 4 shoulders in my smoker take longer then the one i did before if my temp's stay at what i had with one it there....i'm going with those 4/5 pounders without bone in them cause when i did the 1st one it was done at 205 degree's in 6 hours with no stall and wrapped in the cooler for 1.5 hours....we were eating in 8 hours

 ....so i'm thinking if i can maintain temp in the smoker at 245 like the first one then i'll be good to go if i have them at room temp before they hit the heat/smoke....planning to eat at bout 1/2 pm that day, so i'm thinking of starting charcol bout 4/5 am that mourning with the pork in by 5am at the lastest to be done for the cooler between 11 am and noon maybe 12:30 and eat at 2 pm the latest....i want it to be hot after bout 45 minutes in the cooler....all this is going by no stall

 what do ya all think...........bob

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[porklvr]

Well, personally I would plan for a little longer than that bc ya never know...they could stall, one could take much longer than the other, etc etc.  You can always rest in the cooler longer if they happen to get done quicker than anticipated.  That's just how I'd do it tho, i'm sure you may get dif opinions from others here.  We'll see, someone will speak up soon.  Whatever you decide, Good Luck....I'm sure they will be great!! 

 

[wngsprnt50]

I would agree with above.  I just got done doing two 10 pounder and anticipated 14 hours or so.  One was done in 11 or so and the other about 12.5.  So, being done earlier than expected, they just had more time to rest in the cooler.  I was concerned about doing both at the same time, especially with the danger zone time, but surprisingly (at least to me) they ran up to about 150 on each in under 3 hours.  Good luck with them and post a few pics for us to salivate over!

 

[bob1961]

yeah my thoughts were if i can keep the temp stable in my smoker, having more then one in there should affect each other....if i go with 4 the two closest to the heat source are the ones i'll monitor with my therm....i only have one at this time but i do have a meat therm i can stick each one to compair to the monitored one....i think with these being bout 4lb boneless picnic shoulders i shouldn't have avy troubles with them like the last one i did....i know my smoker can hold 245* for 10 hours with the air intake open only an 1/8", i had it wide open the last time i used it for steaks and had 290/300* for two hours straight....so i know i can boost up the temp if i need to, thx guys

 .............bob

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[pineywoods]

Cooking more than one won't really affect times much it will take a bit longer but usually not enough to even tell. Bringing the meat to room temp before going into the smoker will cut into your danger zone time I would suggest just starting a little earlier and put them in straight out of the fridge or close to it.

 

[wngsprnt50]

 Bringing the meat to room temp before going into the smoker will cut into your danger zone time I would suggest just starting a little earlier and put them in straight out of the fridge or close to it.

 Good eyes pineywoods!  Missed that one.  Definitely agree with keeping them refrigerated, as it may take most if not all of the 4 hours just to reach room temp sitting out.

Let us know how things turn out Bob!

 

[mballi3011]

Yes smoking more then one butt/shoulder will smoke at just about the sametime as one. If there is a difference you wouldn't notice it. So you should be fine but I would like Jerry (pineywoods) start earlier for you might have a stall to deal with. If you do have a stall don't worry it will go away and there 's nothing that you can do to stop it either. Do us out here in smokey smoke land and take some Q-view for us. After all we're crazy about that stuff.

 

[bob1961]

oh i will posts pic's guys....when i mean't room temp i was really thinking bout an hour to 1.5 out of fridge....stay tuned for the 28th august fer da pic's

 ...........bob

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[wngsprnt50]

Just keep in mind the danger zone issue begins at 40 degrees, so pretty much as soon as you take it out of the fridge, that time would start, which would leave less time to reach 140 once you finally put it on the smoker.  Don't wanna sound like a harpy on it, but I'm sure you don't want anyone sick either.  When I was in college I worked for a restaurant that had smoked ribs and pulled pork and other bbq items on a friday nite buffet.  A few times, we had to dispose of a few butts due to this issue.  The owner was a biggie on food safety (more than many it seems anyway in the restaurant biz) and never flinched about throwing away food that didn't pass all the rules.

 

[scarbelly]

Like others have said - be careful with the danger zone and just give yourself enough time to make it happen well - the results will be worth the effort and the praises will be worth the work

 

[chefrob]

at 4-5 # you should be fine...........

 

[bob1961]

i'm using the same picinic shoulder i used in my pulled pork Q-view thread, sure i'll have three or four 4/5 lb'ers then one or two 9 lb'ers going....but i know how the small one went cause i haven't done a full butt yet, i've heard a big butt works good too

 ...........bob

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[bob1961]

ok i was at the store today and compairing the pork butt/shoulders and such and found i might/will be going with picnic shoulders with the skin on and bone in....but the skin will come off at 1.69 a pound for a 10-11 pound hunk's of pork over the 3-4 pounders i was thinking bout at 2.89 pound

 ....i'm going to use two of them at a cost of 32.00 bucks for 20 pounds of pork with only 12-13 pounds at 34.00 bucks with 4 of the small ones....so now i need to adjust my start time to land for 1-2 pm eating time

 ....looks like i'll be getting to sleep early so i can start the fire at bout 2-3 am

 for a 8 to 10 hour smokeing session..........bob

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[bob1961]

ok my game plan is the shoulders are gonna get smoked and pulled on friday over some alum pans to catch any drippings and used in a finishing sauce....drain any liquid from pans but not any chunks before i pull da pork....wrap and fridge the pork over night, then make the sauce....then bout 9am stick the pans of PP back in the smoker to get some more smoke flavor till it's time to eat at 2pm at bout 225 degrees, maybe spritz them down a couple of times with the finishing sauce to keep moist....anything i missed or do differently don't be afraid to shout out at me, i think i gotz this ok...........bob

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[rw willy]

The bone and skin will affect your times.  I have done skin-on and feel they need to be trimmed very heavily.  You will lose smoke flavor if the skin gets it all.  Just my $0.02. 

good smoke to you and happy B-day to the boy.

 

[bob1961]

i'm pulling the skin off them.............bob

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[bob1961]

ok i went with skin on picinic shoulders that weighed 11.04 and 10.53 lbs each....i only lost 2lb 12oz from each one after taken the skin and some junk off of each....but i had to slice off some pork to get to some fat and under lying white tissue....so i had two flat slabs of pork, trimmed also with 6 smaller chunks of pork....grabbed my butchers twine and rolled the biggest pieces around the smaller chunks and tied it together....sorry forgot pic's as i wanted to get them done, olive oiled, rubbed and wrapped....so i have bout a 9lb and an 8lb shoulder and a smaller all pork ball in the fridge at 7pm thursday night ready for the smoker at 8am, pic's before they go in will follow tommorrow

 ....i'm trying a twist on a finishing sauce that goes as follows....

1. apple cider vinegar

2. apple juice

3. jack daniels BB Q sauce

4. mollasses

5. paprika

6. black pepper

7. brown sugar

still need to figure out a ratio of the ingrediants yet to blend good together, thinking of going with 1/3 cup each of the top 4 ingrediants....any ideas from anyone are welcomed

 ....not sure what wood i'm using yet for smoke, i have mesq, hickory, apple, sasafrasse, pecan and peach.........bob

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