First Pulled Pork Shoulder

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

midcalbrew

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 10, 2011
12
10
Vacaville, CA
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:

e05035eb_XauTY.jpg


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:

94363042_NEA5K.jpg


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!
 
Sounds like a success story to me! Nice job on your first butt! Looking forward to some pics when you're able to post them. How did you like the combo of apple and cherry chips? I have them both but never used any combo of chips when smoking.
 
lol.... you gotta stop doing that to me. I could've sworn I posted in your thread but when I clicked on it later it was gone. I see you got two of them going at once A?
 
Sorry about the two threads! Will delete the other one. It's funny, I posted once, with the pics, and it said insufficient permissions. So I hit back, remove pics, added the edit at the bottom, then posted. Somehow the original with pics still posted anyways. I'll leave this one open as it still has the pics, I guess they'll show up when I'm worthy!
 
Not a problem it takes a little time to get use to how things work here. You will be zipping along in no time.
 
I've noticed this about myself as well; the whole 'leftovers being better than 'day-of' PP' (sacrilage, I know).  I think at times my senses get 'smoked out', and after 12-14 hours of working around a smoker with all the intense smells, when it's finally ready to eat, my smell and taste senses are tired and very used to the smokiness of it all, and I occasionally don't get the best meal.  But man, look out the next day on those leftovers..

I also think this is why I've recently turned on to vinegar based sauces.  They tend to cut through all the smoke (and the nasal pasages) and really mix up the flavors when my nostrils and taster are already burned out.
 
 
I read a recent post where they said the food was for guests...the smoking was for the chef...

ain't that the truth...nothing beats those hours spend tending a smoker!
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky