Newbie with pork questions

[mrwinky]

So 2 weeks ago I got the landmann deluxe propane smoker. I've tried salmon with amazing results, pork ribs ok sucess, pulled beef ok success . Well now I want to try pulled pork...

1st thing I was at a local store and no pork butts, I did pick up a whole pork shoulder with hoc ( I believe that's bone in) what I'm looking for is a good moist pulled pork

questions I have :)

1 will this pork with bone in work ? It also has about .5 inch fat cap on it

2 can some one recommend a basic rub to try

3 should I soak my wood chips or not ? Planned on doing hickory

4 my understanding is rub down pork put infridge over night, set smoker to 225 let pork hit 160, foil with some apple juice (do I just pour it in the bottom of the foil) let climb to 205 pull off put in a cooler for 1 to 2 hours?

I think that's all I got want to try doing this tomorrow I think I made he mistake on beef cause I used an outside bottom roast ( very lean) and didn't double foil it hence why I found it dry

btw I wanna thank everyone here for there wealth of knowledge

Winky

 

[northern greenhorn]

Welcome to smf, I recommend checking out Jeffs free 5 day course, very helpful info, and a pork shoulder is a pork butt, and bone in will just add more flavor, I have Jeffs recipes, and I highly recommend them, but you can get ideas for rubs to use on here, good luck, and don't forget the qview, and also, you should go over to roll call and give us a proper introduction, like where you're from, what kind of smoker you got, etc

 

[mythmaster]

I'm not a pro smoker by any means, but I have been cooking meat for a long time, so I thought that I'd throw in my $0.02 worth:

1st off, a Pork Butt (or Boston Butt) Roast is actually a cut from the shoulder despite its name. Just ask anyone in North Carolina -- they typically do whole shoulders for their pulled pork.

1. HELLZ YEAH!!! Any bone-in meat is more flavorful. I would trim the fat cap down to .25" though. You want just enough to seep into the meat while it's cooking.

2. I haven't tried it yet, but I hear that Jeff's rub is very good for this. You can also search through the forums here for recipes. I've used a store-bought rub called "Head Country" with success, but I don't know if it is only available locally or not. You may want to consider injecting it, also, if it hasn't already been injected to extend shelf-life.

3. I can't answer this. I use about half soaked and half dry for my electric smoker.

4. Yes. I foiled mine at 170* and didn't add any apple juice, though. It came out great.

I'm sure that many other people will chime in on this one, and I hope that the collection of info will help you be successful. Good luck!

 

[walle]

Winky,
Everything NG said, with this added - I've tried all different rubs, so just use one you like and you will be good to go.

I pritzed my last batch with straigh apple juice once per hour, then a heavy spritzing as they went into the foiled pan. I would recommend you use a pan to catch the juice that will come out of them. IMHO this also helps to keep them moist, and is awesome for any re-heat. Just pour it off, let it cool, and remove the fat cap and you have some amazing pork stock.

To give you an idea - Mine took 7 hours at 225 to hit 160, then another 4 hours to hit 200 - 205. If you want good PP, don't rush it.

 

[mballi3011]

First off welcome to SMF. You need to please stop into Roll Call and intruduce yourself please. Now for you Pork. You can use a shoulder for pulling if you want to. Now you just smoke it the same way as a butt and you should be fine. Now for your chips you can soak then if you want I don't I just throw them into the pan and run with it. For a rub I would start out with some store bought then you can make your own changes for your taste. A rub is a personal thing. OK for your beef thing. Thats a whole differant beast for it's alot denser hunk of meat so it will smoke faster. So you have to look up what kind a raost you have and how you want it to come out Rare- med Rare- and then sorry well done. So you have some more things to learn. I would also agree woth Northern I would sign up for the E-courseand that will teach you the basics and it free too.