Boneless Pork shoulder - first attempt this weekend! Que-view as it happens!

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lawman2391

Fire Starter
Original poster
Well, decided that since my first attempt at brisket turned out so well a few weeks ago, that this weekend it was time to venture into the realm of pulled pork!  Will be starting this smoke on early Saturday or Sunday morning with hopes that it will be done mid-late afternoon and be pulled early evening.

Equipment:

- 22" Weber Kettle grill

Here's the ingredients:

- Approx 5 lb boneless pork shoulder (Costco - smaller "half" of a 11.5 boneless shoulder) - knowing what I know now, I would have gotten a bone-in, but this is all they had...IMPULSE BUY STRIKES AGAIN!

- Bilbos Rub and BBQ sauce

- JJ's finishing sauce (want to try both sauces to compare)

Plan:

- Rub meat night before, wrap tightly in plastic wrap

- meat is a little "loose" from them cutting the bone out, so I will tie up with butcher's string/twine just before putting on the grill

- cook/smoke indirect with briquettes and hickory chunks..will figure 2 - 2.5 hrs per pound - was able to keep it right at 225-250 degrees with the brisket, hope to do the same here

- will plan to NOT wrap, as I would like some good thick bark on this puppy!

- no spritzing / mopping to reduce cook time

- monitor throughout with probe, and will pull off at around 200 degrees

- will foil wrap and then let rest 2 hours in towels and cooler

- unwrap and pull

So, if anyone sees any problems/improvements with my approach, please let me know.  I'd much rather realize them now instead of midway through or worse...afterward.  Also, feel free to comment positive or negative about anything...I am not easily offended and really want to learn from you "seasoned" (pun intended) pros!

And yes...I will remember the Que-view!
 
Sounds like a good plan here. I would think 2-2.5 hr per # is a little long. 1.5 - 2hrs more along the lines at those temps max. But.. just go by your IT and if it finishes earlier than exoected. Foil, wrap, and rest.
HAPPY Smoke'n...
Mike
 
Yup - sounds like you have it figured out 
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  I don't foil my butts either - I love bark too much 
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   I agree also that 1.5 - 2 hrs/lb is a closer general estimate for your time. Enjoy your smoke 
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Tonight I made the finishing sauce and rub...both taste amazing!  Sauce will go into the fridge and rub in sealed ziploc until Sunday.  Plan on making the BBQ sauce tomorrow night or Friday.  Having a hard time waiting...as you can tell...
 
Tonight I made the finishing sauce and rub...both taste amazing!  Sauce will go into the fridge and rub in sealed ziploc until Sunday.  Plan on making the BBQ sauce tomorrow night or Friday.  Having a hard time waiting...as you can tell...
Your arent the only one waiting for the weekend to hurry amd get here ;) we all have something we wanna through on some kinda heat and cook it... patience is key when smoking.... dont rush it ;)
Enjoy youe smoke ;)
Mike
 
Thought I'd update this so y'all don't think this is a dead posting.

5.4 lbs of boneless pork shoulder (with Bilbo's rub in the bowl above)...pre-rub down...


And post-rub down...


Interesting thing happened during the rub process.  I actually was so excited to get the rub on that I forgot to rub the mustard/worcestershire sauce combo on first!  My wife was around at the time and she said "well lets just do it now anyway"!  So as it sits now (wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge), it has been dry rubbed, then rubbed again with the mustard worcestershire combo, then dry rubbed again!  I said I was going for heavy bark, maybe it was a fortunate error!

Interested to know if any of you guys have done this "double rub" before?

Also, planning on a 6:15 wake up call (alarm), 6:20 lighting of charcoal, 6:30 tie up and 6:45am "meat on" time tomorrow.  Shooting for a "pull off" time of 3:00pm and a 3 hour rest (but of course will go by IT of around 200).

Of course, will do Que-view as much as possible throughout...
 
Ok guys, it has begun...on about 645...will keep you updated. Fyi a new little wrinkle is that I will actually be leaving my shoulder for about an hour and a half from 830 to around 1100 to go to church so....that should be interesting. ..
 
Update: came back from church...grill was up to 260, so closed down vents all the way for a bit...IT at 134...sorry about no que view update...but keeping it closed to keep time down.

I promise updated que view as soon as the lid comes off...as someone once wrote in here...patience. ..
 
I prefer the boneless butts, butt I usually smoke them splayed out instead of trussing them up, we like lots of bark! The few times I have had to foil and pop in the oven I've been hugely disappointed, it changes the consistency/texture... I totally got my two bone-in butts in too late today; I'm praying I can get them out by 10pm... So just know I waiting for your qviews to drawl over until mine are done!!
 
Good idea about splaying them out...would like to see a pic of that sometime. ..maybe post a previous link?

I'm also going to throw on some chicken wings later in my ecb just in case the shoulder isnt done in time on the weber (shooting for 630pm or so for the pull)...im going no oven/foil or bust on this thing!
 
Right on track it sounds. And its not a bad thing if the temp spiked to 260* some cook at the temp the whole time to quicken the cook a little.
 
For those of you playing at home...I am about 6 hours in and IT is @ 156 degrees. ..thermometer calibrated with boiling water measured about 2 degrees cold, so I could be entering "stall territory"...
 
left the stall begin... nows when you don't wanna peek.... let it do its thing. .. you got plenty of time til dinner time.. :)
 
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