Doing two BIG shoulders tomorrow

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resstealth

Smoke Blower
Original poster
May 19, 2014
130
15
Berea, KY
Hey all, going to be smoking a couple 18 pound full shoulders tomorrow. A few questions, first do I need to do these any different than I would a butt? Do I need to do any special prepping? Also what would be a good time estimate to look for, and should I aim for a higher put temp? Thanks in advance, I'll post qview as usual.
 
I've done 19 lbs of shoulder in my 22.5" WSM.  You're doing 36lbs in an 18.5" WSM.  That much meat in a WSM acts like a 36 lb heat sink, absorbing a lot of the available heat energy.  Don't be surprised if you find yourself adding more fuel and wood chunks, plus running the vents open a little more to keep the chamber temp up.

Chamber temp?  Depends on how much time you want to invest in the smoke.  I smoked the 19 lbs hot and fast 275-290F with lump and was done in 9 hours (5h15m to stall, then 3h45m wrapped until 205F IT).  While wrapping the shoulders the chamber temp actually shot up to 365F, which was kind of my plan because I wanted them done quickly.  After I loaded the meat back in the smoker the chamber temp dropped down to 315F and eventually all the way to 255F by the time they were done at 3:15AM.  Once I wrapped them I just let the WSM coast while catching Z's.  I dry smoked them too so all the heat went into the meat, not the water.

I let the meat rest covered until 6 AM the next morning when I pulled it apart.
 
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