Fresh Picnic smoke, need some advice!!

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lucc

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jun 4, 2009
152
22
NJ
Hey everyone, I'm looking on smoking all day tomorrow. I can get my hands on some fresh picnic for $0.79/lb.
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Let me know what rub and sauce to use, you pick. Nothing too spicy, got some lightweights around here.
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Also, I'll probably get a bunch and freeze them. I am going to get the smallest ones to cut down on cook times.
Any and all advice is welcome.
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Do all picnics have bones? Does the bone cause a longer smoke time? Can I trim the meat off the bone or is it better to leave the bone in?
 
that is a nice price on them. all picnics have a big bone in them. that is why they are so cheap. you really cant trim all the meat off of the bone.

if you are buying them fresh, have the butcher cut them in half. or get really big ones and have them cut into thirds on the meat saw. that will shave hours off of your cooking time and you will get more surface crust for more flavor in the meat. just be sure to wash the meat carefully once they are sawed. gritty bits of bone can get worked into the surface of the meat and you dont want to serve that for dinner.

i just use jeffs naked rib rub on them for starters. the finishing sauce you put on the meat after it is pulled is going to determine the level of spiciness. i use 1 part white vinegar, 1 part apple juice, 2 parts orange juice and 1 part famous daves rich and sassy on mine. the flavor of the pork will come through with a sweet finish.
 
Thanks Omahasmoker, never thought of having them cut a 10lb picnic in half.
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Where is the Jeff's rib rub? I'll use that finishing sauce, I assume Dave's sauce is bbq sauce? Never heard of it.
 
here is the rub recipe i used on my last pulled pork. it worked great.

1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup Paprika
2-1/2 TBS coarse pepper
2 TBS garlic powder
2 TBS onion Powder
2 TBS coarse kosher salt

you can use your favorite mild BBQ sauce to the other ingredients.
 
Awesome, thanks again! Now, if I have them cut the picnic do I put the cut side down or fat side on the bottom?
 
If they have the skin on, I remove it first to allow the rub to form a bark and the smoke to penetrate deeper into the meat. Then, dry rub...I try to use a simple mixture and it seems to taste better...not so many flavors hitting you at one time.

Rosemary is good with pork, a little chili powder, paprika, kosher salt, CBP, garlic powder and onion powder. If you don't like salty, back away from high amounts and the meat will not tend to dry out as easily...one nice benefit there.

Speaking of salt, go light if you will rub and wrap to rest in the fridge...salt pulls the natural juices from the meat even when chilled.

Place a foil pan a few inches under the meat whille smoking if you can, to catch drippings, mix this with a bit of apple cider vinegar and OJ/Apple juice if you like, and toss the pulled pork into it for a finishing sauce. Nice, simple and easy.

Bone in will taste best...be sure to not get too close to the bone with your probe...when in doubt about temps, move the probe a little and see if it changes.

Don't sweat the stall...picnics can plateau for several hours depending on your cook chamber/rack temps and the weight of the roast.

Figure about 90 minutes/lb @ 225* as an estimated smoke time....your time may vary.

Edit: you may want to consider brasing (foiling) after it hits 165-170*...speeds up the cook time a bit and makes 'em fall off the bone.

I'm finding that the simpler I try to keep things with a smoke, the better results I get.

Good luck, and congrats on the nice price find!

Eric
 
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