My 1st Pork Shoulders

[abetheham]

Having a house warming party so my family and the ole hide's family are both coming over. Figured I'd finally tackle my first smoked pork shoulder for the occasion. Two 7lbs bone in shoulders. Applied the rub at 5pm today, been in the fridge wrapped in Saran wrap since and will be until about 3:30am. Then the smoke will start, hoping to eat around 5:30pm so I'm thinking that should give me enough time. Hoping to not wrap at all and smoke in the 225-240 range. My only question is should I put water or some sort of liquid in my water pan or leave it empty? Supposed to be in the 40s all of tomorrow so holding a steady temp shouldn't be too much of a problem. Also, the rub I used contains brown sugar, black pepper, white sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, & kosher salt. Will be using a mix of apple and hickory wood. Any advice you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Hoping to be able to attach Q Views as well. Alright, I'm gonna try to get a few hours of shut eye!

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• abetheham
• Apr 3, 2015

 

[b-one]

I would be tempted to start them earlier you can hold them double wrapped in foil and towels in a dry cooler 2-3 hours if needed or reheat if needed as well. You don't want people waiting for food I've had butts take forever water pan isn't the biggest deal one way or the other IMO try it different was and see which you prefer your rub sounds good! Have you thought about a finishing sauce use the search feature there are some good ones and you can always adapt them to your taste they can add complexity to your PP as well as moisture. Take your time and good luck!

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Hey, nice lookin pork ya have there... First off, now this is just my opinion... But if your smoking at that range of temp, I would personally start earlier. I've had some stubborned pieces of pork that just didn't wanna come out of the stall & really took some serious time... I don't foil either, never have foiled personally. But take into consideration that each piece of meat has a mind of its own... I done a couple butts a while ago that were close to the same size as yours, one was done at 11 hrs & one took 18 hrs. Then the same size butt I've had done in 8-9 hrs before... So my point being, consider that as well as rest time... Ya wanna let it rest preferably for IMO at least an hour, but I like a couple hour rest personally !

As far as the water pan question, most water pans are just for temp regulation & most folks will fill with some sand & cover with foil for easy clean up....

 

[frijole smoke]

On my smoker, I have the factory water pan filled with sand and covered with foil.

Then I usually put an extra deep, disposable aluminum pan just above that.

I don't think that the water/steam contribute to moist meat per se, but I believe having the thermal mass helps keep the temps nice and steady.

Right now I have a butt and a picnic in the smoker and no water...but I did want a drip pan to help catch rendered fat for a finishing sauce.

Good luck!

Edit...that extra deep aluminum pan is for water.

 

[abetheham]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I warmed the smoker up and the shoulders are on. 12:30am start time.

 

[abetheham]

Hey b-one. Yea, I'll be doing a finishing sauce for half of it. Using the SoFlaQuer recipe I found on here.

 

[abetheham]

7 hours and 20 minutes in. Just put the meat thermometers in. One is at 160, the other is at 158. I have a feeling I'm gonna be happy that I started it a few hours earlier than I planned.

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• abetheham
• Apr 4, 2015

 

[abetheham]

2 days later, finally posting the rest of the pics that I took. Total smoke time was just under 15 hours, so thank you to everyone who told me to start early. Still had time for a 2 hour rest in a cooler all wrapped up. Here are the final pics. I didn't get any of it after I pulled it because I got too busy and hungry.

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• abetheham
• Apr 6, 2015

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• abetheham
• Apr 6, 2015

The bones pulled out very easily and cleanly.

Also did some Chicken Lollipops. These things were awesome. Gave them a 2 hour smoke at 300 and then glazes them with BBQ sauce and put them in the oven at 400 for 15 mins to set the glaze. Here's a pic of them before the smoke. Forgot to get a pic of them after they were done, but man they were awesome:

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• abetheham
• Apr 6, 2015

 

[arronbutler88]

Nice job looks great! !

 

[timberjet]

Great job. Looks good enough to eat!