Decided to try my hand at pulled pork. I'm still very new to this, I've done a brisket and I've done spare ribs twice more. I've had issues with oversmoking the ribs.
I read quite a few posts on the virtual bullet smoker site and read varying time estimates for how long a pork shoulder should take. For reasons unknown, I started my smoke at 1:00 PM on Saturday, to eat Sunday for late lunch, early dinner. I was guessing 18 hours or so. Got a cryovac at Costco of 2 pork shoulders equaling 14.8 lbs.
I decided to do one with mustard and rub, one sans mustard. I usually like to rub the night before but didn't get to do that this go around. I was also overly cautious with the rub, pretty much sticking to Stubs only (more on that later). I used oak, a small amount of hickory, and shavings of pecan a friend gave me.
I read about the first smoke off wood chunks being bitter so I actually let the smoker stabilize this go around. I used a FULL ring of charcoal, about 20 light briquettes, and about 6 fist size pieces of smoke wood. I waited about 40 minutes prior to putting the meat on. (side note: the weber smokey mountain is so great, I smoked these for 16 hours, never had to re-fuel, kept the temperature at around 230*, and still had fuel to spare at the end)
Now the pics:
I didn’t tie these shoulders, but will likely next go around. I also trimmed them a bit and removed the fat as I pulled them later.
With Mustard
w/o Mustard
I put the smaller of the 2 on the bottom as I read the top grate runs a bit hotter.
7 hours in - sprayed with apple juice
9:50 PM - almost 9 hours in - smaller shoulder 175*, larger 170* This is where I knew I was in trouble. I read about it stagnating at 160*, often for hours, and I'm passed this about to go to bed. Knowing it won't make it through the night, I set the smaller shoulder's alarm to go off at 192*. 4:50 AM alarm goes off. I decide to let it go until 195, hoping to get another couple hours of sleep, but when I had the top off, the coals really got going and the temp spiked up to 250*. 30 minutes later the alarm was going off and it was done at 195*. (side note: when I woke up at 4:50, the WSM was holding right at 225*!)
Here's how it looked.
Here's the larger of the 2
I wrapped in foil and towels and put into a cooler while I went back to bed.
Shredded the 1st with tongs.
Shredded the 2nd with latex gloves.
Initially I was a bit disappointed as I felt it could use a bit more smoke and rub. The wife thought it was perfect and said it didn't need more smoke. The guests at the party concurred with the wife and said no more smoke was needed, and when I ate it, it was pretty damn good. I still think it would be better with an overnight rub and slightly more smoke, but perhaps I shouldn’t mess with a good thing.
A friend recommended brining, not sure a shoulder needs it, but may try it. I really love pulled pork….
I read quite a few posts on the virtual bullet smoker site and read varying time estimates for how long a pork shoulder should take. For reasons unknown, I started my smoke at 1:00 PM on Saturday, to eat Sunday for late lunch, early dinner. I was guessing 18 hours or so. Got a cryovac at Costco of 2 pork shoulders equaling 14.8 lbs.
I decided to do one with mustard and rub, one sans mustard. I usually like to rub the night before but didn't get to do that this go around. I was also overly cautious with the rub, pretty much sticking to Stubs only (more on that later). I used oak, a small amount of hickory, and shavings of pecan a friend gave me.
I read about the first smoke off wood chunks being bitter so I actually let the smoker stabilize this go around. I used a FULL ring of charcoal, about 20 light briquettes, and about 6 fist size pieces of smoke wood. I waited about 40 minutes prior to putting the meat on. (side note: the weber smokey mountain is so great, I smoked these for 16 hours, never had to re-fuel, kept the temperature at around 230*, and still had fuel to spare at the end)
Now the pics:
I didn’t tie these shoulders, but will likely next go around. I also trimmed them a bit and removed the fat as I pulled them later.
With Mustard
w/o Mustard
I put the smaller of the 2 on the bottom as I read the top grate runs a bit hotter.
7 hours in - sprayed with apple juice
9:50 PM - almost 9 hours in - smaller shoulder 175*, larger 170* This is where I knew I was in trouble. I read about it stagnating at 160*, often for hours, and I'm passed this about to go to bed. Knowing it won't make it through the night, I set the smaller shoulder's alarm to go off at 192*. 4:50 AM alarm goes off. I decide to let it go until 195, hoping to get another couple hours of sleep, but when I had the top off, the coals really got going and the temp spiked up to 250*. 30 minutes later the alarm was going off and it was done at 195*. (side note: when I woke up at 4:50, the WSM was holding right at 225*!)
Here's how it looked.
Here's the larger of the 2
I wrapped in foil and towels and put into a cooler while I went back to bed.
Shredded the 1st with tongs.
Shredded the 2nd with latex gloves.
Initially I was a bit disappointed as I felt it could use a bit more smoke and rub. The wife thought it was perfect and said it didn't need more smoke. The guests at the party concurred with the wife and said no more smoke was needed, and when I ate it, it was pretty damn good. I still think it would be better with an overnight rub and slightly more smoke, but perhaps I shouldn’t mess with a good thing.
A friend recommended brining, not sure a shoulder needs it, but may try it. I really love pulled pork….
