- Jun 12, 2015
- 9
- 25
So I finally decided to try my hand at my first real hunk of meat. I've been smoking ribs for a while and they have been a home run each and every time. I went to the local shop with the intentions of buying a pork butt, but they were running a great special on picnics. I picked up an 10.5 lb pound cut. Honestly, I had never even heard of it. I read some threads at this site about them and decided to give one a try. I left the fat cap and skin on and prepared it much in the same way I do with my ribs, a mustard coating followed by my own rub. I had some amazing Grade B maple syrup laying around so i made an injection using equal parts cold pressed raw apple juice and maple syrup. I also added a couple of table spoons of my rub into the mixture. In all it came out to 8 ounces that I injected into the picnic.
I preheated my smoker at about 9:30 pm and had the picnic in the masterbuilt at 11 pm. I used straight apple wood and smoked it at 225 degrees. After about 5 hours, I started to spray it down with the raw apple juice every so often. After 9.5 hours of smoking I hit a plateau at around 160 degrees which lasted for around 2.5 hours. I then hit a second plateau around 180 degrees which lasted for 5 more hours! Like I said, this was my first pork picnic and I was getting a bit nervous about how long it was taking. Finally after nearly 19 hours, I was at 200 degrees. I pulled it off, foiled it, wrapped it in a towel and let it rest for a little over an hour. The end result was the most incredibly delicious pulled pork I have ever had in my life. The bark was so wonderfully rich in flavor it was like eating chewy spiced candy. I was blown away. That small touch of maple and apple juice combined with my pepper laden rub was a great combination. The meat itself was so tender it was literally soft as butter. The only other info I can share is that I added wood chips and smoked the entire cooking time. I also made a mop sauce made from root beer, apple cider vinegar, tomato sauce, molasses and about 20 other things. It worked great with the pork.
I will post a couple of pictures of the end result. It took a lot for me to get these pictures because it wanted to fall apart taking it off the rack in the masterbuilt. You can see the meat just falling from the bone. The skin was also very tasty, and I was surprised at how tender it had become. I just figured I would post my experience in case anyone else has never cooked one of these and was looking for some information. I learned a lot just lurking on these forums so posting is the least I can do.
This weekend I am smoking another picnic, albeit an 8.5 pound which is all they had. This time, I am going to reduce fresh pineapple into syrup and inject my picnic with a pineapple syrup, raw apple juice and red pepper injection. I can already taste it.
I preheated my smoker at about 9:30 pm and had the picnic in the masterbuilt at 11 pm. I used straight apple wood and smoked it at 225 degrees. After about 5 hours, I started to spray it down with the raw apple juice every so often. After 9.5 hours of smoking I hit a plateau at around 160 degrees which lasted for around 2.5 hours. I then hit a second plateau around 180 degrees which lasted for 5 more hours! Like I said, this was my first pork picnic and I was getting a bit nervous about how long it was taking. Finally after nearly 19 hours, I was at 200 degrees. I pulled it off, foiled it, wrapped it in a towel and let it rest for a little over an hour. The end result was the most incredibly delicious pulled pork I have ever had in my life. The bark was so wonderfully rich in flavor it was like eating chewy spiced candy. I was blown away. That small touch of maple and apple juice combined with my pepper laden rub was a great combination. The meat itself was so tender it was literally soft as butter. The only other info I can share is that I added wood chips and smoked the entire cooking time. I also made a mop sauce made from root beer, apple cider vinegar, tomato sauce, molasses and about 20 other things. It worked great with the pork.
I will post a couple of pictures of the end result. It took a lot for me to get these pictures because it wanted to fall apart taking it off the rack in the masterbuilt. You can see the meat just falling from the bone. The skin was also very tasty, and I was surprised at how tender it had become. I just figured I would post my experience in case anyone else has never cooked one of these and was looking for some information. I learned a lot just lurking on these forums so posting is the least I can do.
This weekend I am smoking another picnic, albeit an 8.5 pound which is all they had. This time, I am going to reduce fresh pineapple into syrup and inject my picnic with a pineapple syrup, raw apple juice and red pepper injection. I can already taste it.
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