Pork Shoulder Plan - What Do You Think.

[AlphaPapa]

Someone posted a link a while back where the chef butterflied a pork shoulder and cooked it at a higher temp and got it done quickly. At the temps he used, my 590 doesn’t produce much smoke. So, I want something lower. And, I’m not looking for a super short method. But I would like a technique where I can get it done in one day without getting up too early or staying up past midnight. So, here is my plan. I’d appreciate any comments.

I will butterfly the shoulder the same way he did in the video. However, for convenience, I am just going to go ahead and separate it into two sections. I will season each piece. Then, I plan to place cooling racks on top of two separate medium sized aluminum trays that are about 2.5-3 inches high and put a section of the shoulder on each rack. I did this with my last butt and when it came time to wrap, I just removed the rack, put the butt in the tray with the juices it had caught, and covered the tray tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil. This method is not for those that like bark. But, I’m always happy to sacrifice bark for moisture. I very much dislike dry meat.

I will smoke the two pieces for 3 or 4 hours at 180 to get some smoke flavor. Then, I will raise the temperature to 250 (275?) until I hit the stall, spritzing every 30 minutes. At that point I will wrap and raise the temp to 300 until probe tender. I may play with the 300 degree setting in order to get the meat to probe tender by a reasonable hour. I’ll then place the trays in a warming oven set to medium for 2 hours. I normally use a cooler stuffed with towels.

I am thinking the smaller pieces of meat combined with the higher temps after the initial high smoke temp will cook the shoulder fast enough to get it done in 10 hours or so.

What do you think? Do I risk drying out the meat? Any other problems/thoughts?

 

[BigDan]

This seems like a well thought out gameplan. I’m curious to see how this turns out, only thing I personally would do differently if I tried it is injection.

 

[Motodad1776]

Keep it simple........235 for about 6 to 7 hours in the evening, then put in the oven uncovered in aluminum pan and go to bed until hits 195 internal. Turn off oven, cover the pan in foil and put back in oven......let rest for about 3 to 4 hours.......pull and DEVOUR IT.

I have also cooked butts for more than a few parties, and I always do the cook in advance, pull/shred the meat, vacuum seal and throw in the freezer. When need it, give it a proper thaw, put in aluminum pan with a bit of cider or apple juice "covered" at 180 degrees and let that meat warm up nice and slow........so damn good, you won't get any complaints.

I don't get why so many do overnight smokes and burn up a bunch of pellets, you are not getting any more smoke saturation after meat hits internal of about 165F.........finish in the oven, save some pellets, this is also a safer method as well.

 

[Waterboy]

I don't get why so many do overnight smokes and burn up a bunch of pellets, you are not getting any more smoke saturation after meat hits internal of about 165F.........finish in the oven, save some pellets, this is also a safer method as well.

A few reasons at our house. When the temps hit 105-110 ( and only cools down to 80 at night) we don’t fire up our oven inside the house. Plus the aroma is too much for my wife so she prefers I leave it outside. It’s worth $4-5 in pellets to keep the peace. Cheaper than losing 1/2 of everything!
The final reason is my dog won’t leave me alone when she smells meat in the house and I’d rather sleep. It has nothing to do with more smoke, just trying to live in peace.

 

[Greg Jones]

A few reasons at our house. When the temps hit 105-110 ( and only cools down to 80 at night) we don’t fire up our oven inside the house. Plus the aroma is too much for my wife so she prefers I leave it outside. It’s worth $4-5 in pellets to keep the peace. Cheaper than losing 1/2 of everything!
The final reason is my dog won’t leave me alone when she smells meat in the house and I’d rather sleep. It has nothing to do with more smoke, just trying to live in peace.

I was just going to reply a similar theme, other than the dog part. We lost ours 3 years ago so the dog is not an issue. On the temps, we don’t get the extreme high temps in summer but this time of year we get mild, nighttime temps where we want the windows open at night on the second floor for a nice breeze. So in agreement with both of you, there are times when it is of value to consider the time of year and when/when not to finish the cook inside.

 

[Motodad1776]

No doubt that my furry girls are salivating and hanging around the kitchen quite a bit, when I finish a butt in the oven or it's resting in there.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

Keep it simple........235 for about 6 to 7 hours in the evening, then put in the oven uncovered in aluminum pan and go to bed until hits 195 internal. Turn off oven, cover the pan in foil and put back in oven......let rest for about 3 to 4 hours.......pull and DEVOUR IT.

I have also cooked butts for more than a few parties, and I always do the cook in advance, pull/shred the meat, vacuum seal and throw in the freezer. When need it, give it a proper thaw, put in aluminum pan with a bit of cider or apple juice "covered" at 180 degrees and let that meat warm up nice and slow........so damn good, you won't get any complaints.

I don't get why so many do overnight smokes and burn up a bunch of pellets, you are not getting any more smoke saturation after meat hits internal of about 165F.........finish in the oven, save some pellets, this is also a safer method as well.

@Motodad1776 -
When you place in the oven and “go to bed”…(7-8 hours for me) for a total of about a 18 hour cook?

 

[Motodad1776]

@Motodad1776 -
When you place in the oven and “go to bed”…(7-8 hours for me) for a total of about a 18 hour cook?

Obviously the poundage of the butt makes a difference, but typically I will put a 9 to 10 pound butt on the smoker at around 18:00 hours for about 6 hours, then take out and put in oven at 225 until hits 195 internal. Seems most the time that occurs between 6:30 am and 8 am, then I shut off the oven, wrap the aluminum pan with foil, then let that butt rest for 4 to 6 hours. That's how I have done it for years, has yet to let me down and produces a consistent finish.

 

[Gonefishin]

@Motodad1776 -
When you place in the oven and “go to bed”…(7-8 hours for me) for a total of about a 18 hour cook?

If you are not aware… Keep in mind that you go by tenderness, and to some extent internal temp, as opposed to cook time. However the cook times at the temp given do sound ball park.

 

[Motodad1776]

If you are not aware… Keep in mind that you go by tenderness, and to some extent internal temp, as opposed to cook time. However the cook times at the temp given do sound ball park.

Yup for sure varying factors at play, and one cut to the next can do strange things. I find butts to be extremely forgiving, and the way I have always done it produces insane consistent juicy/tender pork every single time. I also only do bone in butts, just don't care for the boneless variants at all. Experimenting and learning from others is fun, for sure more than a few ways to get great results.

 

[We'reSmokin'Now]

Here's my .02¢: When cooking at higher temps, I'll throw in smoke tube and let my 590 work it's magic.

Good luck.

 

[Maule Guy]

Since AP is separating the pk shoulder cook time should be way shorter. Only suggestion on his plan is to smoke at 225F instead of 250F. I might lower the wrapped cooking temp to 250-275. The longer cook might yield a more tender result.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Ok, here is my write up on the new process. I modified the process from what I originally posted above based on some of the comments I received.

10.58 lb pork shoulder butt bought at Ingles in January 2023 for $1.48 /lb

0945:
Sliced butt in half along the bone (didn’t trim fat cap)
Injected with the following mixture:
1.5 cups apple juice
1 cup water
1/2 cup White granular sugar (recipe called for 1 cup)
1/4 cup table salt (recipe called 1/2 cup)
4 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

Seasoned all sides with following mixture using yellow mustard as a binder:
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup honey powder
2 TBSP kosher salt (change to 1 TBSP; see ”RESULTS“ below)
2 TBSP black pepper

Preheated smoker to 180 (pecan pellets)

Put some injection liquid in the bottom of 2 medium aluminum throw away pans
Set cooling racks on pans
Placed butts on cooling racks (fat cap down on cooling rack)

1055: Placed pans on smoker (stable at 180)
1255: Smoker temp raised to 225
1445: Spritzed; Internal Temps: Bone half - 129 other half 129
1515: Spritzed <no temps, charging probes>
1545: Spritzed; IT 137/145
1615: Spritzed; IT 139/149
1645: Spritzed; IT 141/153
1715:
Called the stall at 143/156
Removed from smoker
Placed butts down in the juices in the aluminum pans
Covered with heavy duty aluminum foil
Forgot to spritz, oh well…

1725: placed in oven preheated to 300
1825: IT’s at 176/176; reduced oven temp to 275
1910: IT’s at 203/203; probe tender; turned off oven; left butts covered in oven
2130:
Removed from oven and pulled
Put all meat and juices in one pan, covered, and placed in refrigerator


RESULTS
Juicy
Easy to pull
Surprising amount of bark
Reasonable amount of smoke flavor
Perhaps a tiny bit salty (but not much)
*********
ADDED 8-23:
Had a sandwich today and I now think it is definitely too salty. Next time I am going to leave all salt out of the rub.
*********

Total time from opening package to fridge approximately 12:15 minutes (still need to vacuum seal)

 

[Motodad1776]

Good job sir and great write up, looks juicy!!!!

 

[TheRicker]

Someone posted a link a while back where the chef butterflied a pork shoulder and cooked it at a higher temp and got it done quickly. At the temps he used, my 590 doesn’t produce much smoke. So, I want something lower. And, I’m not looking for a super short method. But I would like a technique where I can get it done in one day without getting up too early or staying up past midnight. So, here is my plan. I’d appreciate any comments.

I will butterfly the shoulder the same way he did in the video. However, for convenience, I am just going to go ahead and separate it into two sections. I will season each piece. Then, I plan to place cooling racks on top of two separate medium sized aluminum trays that are about 2.5-3 inches high and put a section of the shoulder on each rack. I did this with my last butt and when it came time to wrap, I just removed the rack, put the butt in the tray with the juices it had caught, and covered the tray tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil. This method is not for those that like bark. But, I’m always happy to sacrifice bark for moisture. I very much dislike dry meat.

I will smoke the two pieces for 3 or 4 hours at 180 to get some smoke flavor. Then, I will raise the temperature to 250 (275?) until I hit the stall, spritzing every 30 minutes. At that point I will wrap and raise the temp to 300 until probe tender. I may play with the 300 degree setting in order to get the meat to probe tender by a reasonable hour. I’ll then place the trays in a warming oven set to medium for 2 hours. I normally use a cooler stuffed with towels.

I am thinking the smaller pieces of meat combined with the higher temps after the initial high smoke temp will cook the shoulder fast enough to get it done in 10 hours or so.

What do you think? Do I risk drying out the meat? Any other problems/thoughts?

I’m not sure if I shared this on this forum but I tried this two weeks ago and it worked. Very pleased with my results. The video link provided is what I followed…

 

[AlphaPapa]

Edited my results to say “Had a sandwich today and I now think it is definitely too salty. Next time I am going to leave all salt out of the rub.”

 

[Motodad1776]

Edited my results to say “Had a sandwich today and I now think it is definitely too salty. Next time I am going to leave all salt out of the rub.”

Don't inject or brine, and the longer you have on a rub the more salt you can absorb into meat........however a cut like this needs some salt.

 

[Gonefishin]

I would agree with Motodad, the salt in the rub should be enough. But maybe dropping either the brine or injection one at a time would give you what you want.

Not that it matters but I do neither.