I've had my MES40 for almost a year now, and really haven't done as much smoking as I should be. Mostly just chickens, ABTs, little stuff. So I finally took the plunge when I saw a two pack of shoulders at Costco. I had also picked up a Maverick ET-732 because I had the sneaking suspicion my internal temp was waaay off (7+ hours to do two chickens sometimes!).
Prepped with a slather of yellow mustard and a spice rub, let it sit overnight in the fridge. Took it out first thing in the morning while I got the smoker going and setup the Maverick.
Sure enough, internal temp was off almost 20 degrees! To get a constant 220-230 degrees I had to set the smoker to 245. Annoying, but easily fixed once I knew about it. So I smoked over a combo of apple and cherry wood until 165, then wrapped in foil and continued to 205, right about 10 hours total for a 7+ lb shoulder. Wrapped in towels, into a cooler for that last agonizing hour.
The unveiling:
I had forgotten to pick up a spray bottle to mist while it smoked, so when I foiled it I tossed a little bourbon and apple juice into the bottom of the pan. Made up a quick batch of SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce, and went to town:
Wow, that stuff was good. Best thing I've made to date. Will definitely be doing again. Smoked the shoulder on Saturday and still not sick of the leftovers, not by a longshot!
Prepped with a slather of yellow mustard and a spice rub, let it sit overnight in the fridge. Took it out first thing in the morning while I got the smoker going and setup the Maverick.
Sure enough, internal temp was off almost 20 degrees! To get a constant 220-230 degrees I had to set the smoker to 245. Annoying, but easily fixed once I knew about it. So I smoked over a combo of apple and cherry wood until 165, then wrapped in foil and continued to 205, right about 10 hours total for a 7+ lb shoulder. Wrapped in towels, into a cooler for that last agonizing hour.
The unveiling:
I had forgotten to pick up a spray bottle to mist while it smoked, so when I foiled it I tossed a little bourbon and apple juice into the bottom of the pan. Made up a quick batch of SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce, and went to town:
Wow, that stuff was good. Best thing I've made to date. Will definitely be doing again. Smoked the shoulder on Saturday and still not sick of the leftovers, not by a longshot!