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re: how long to smoke a pork shoulder
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:43 am to Boudreaux35
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:43 am to Boudreaux35
quote:
Best advice is as others have said, use a meat thermometer and wait until you get an internal temp of 190.
I agree with the meat thermometer. I have a digital one with an alarm, and it takes all the guessing out of it, but not sure about 190 degrees. A bit high isn't it?
160 should be medium and 170 well done for pork
1
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:49 am to Mike da Tigah
For pulled pork? I go to 185 and let it carry over to 190. I don't think you can shred a shoulder at 160, that's the zone where all that connective tissue starts to break down.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:50 am to LSUAfro
quote:
15 minutes per pound at a temp of 225
Like I said, WITHOUT knowing the temp it is a guess.
This is stupid.
FWIW, if you cook it to 190 and then it carries over it will be dry for my taste.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:50 am to LSUAfro
quote:
Tis the season to work more for the same.
I hear I have about 2 weeks before life ends.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:52 am to JackNut
I have found in the past, if you overcook it (like if you leave it on till it gets to 190, as you said and with which I agree), if you take all the drippings back out of the drip pan and slather it all over the pork after you pull it, it will help un-dry it.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:55 am to kfizzle85
quote:
For pulled pork? I go to 185 and let it carry over to 190. I don't think you can shred a shoulder at 160, that's the zone where all that connective tissue starts to break down.
I pull mine out at 170 and let it rest, but to each their own. I just find 190 to be a little too overcooked IMO. I smoke mine low and slow, around the 225-250 mark, and it's always spot on.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 9:59 am to Mike da Tigah
Same here. Maybe I'll try it at 170 and see what happens next time.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 12:50 pm to kfizzle85
i usually pull mine off the grill when the internal hits 180-185, wrap in foil and stick in a cooler with towels for an hour. if you bring it to 190, then wrap and sit, it wont be dry.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 1:12 pm to robot55
What they don't tell you:
The amount of smoke flavor that enters a butt or shoulder decreases dramatically after only 3 hours. It's gets to the point where you would barely notice the flavor difference of a 18 hour smoked shoulder or a 10 hour smoked shoulder.
The internal temp to pull apart the the pork should be around 180.
There is a short cut to get around the 1.25 hour per lb rule if you are short on time. Smoke the pork at 225 for 3-4 hours (the right amount of time to get plenty of smoke flavor) Take the meat of the smoker and wrap in aluminum foil. Turn on your gas grill or bring any grill to a temp of around 500-700 degrees (depending how fast you need it cooked). Then just cook the meat to the proper internal temperature. After is reaches temp, pull off grill and put the meat (still wrapped) in a cooler for 30-60 minutes (no ice). After 30 minutes, separate and enjoy.
Now, most people will be against this. No one would ever do this in competition, but if it's just for family and friends and you're pressed for time, it works amazing.
I have a thread going right now about my first time to cook on my BGE and there is no way in hell I would do this short cut, but I have done it before and most people don't even notice. Any shoulder or butt smoked at home taste way better than any thing you can buy at any BBQ restaurant.
Also, the 30-60 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a cooler should be done whether you're doing this short cut or not.
ETA: Of course there is no RIGHT way to smoke anything. It's all a matter of preference, bias opinion, and teachings. I am never against trying anybody else's methods.
The amount of smoke flavor that enters a butt or shoulder decreases dramatically after only 3 hours. It's gets to the point where you would barely notice the flavor difference of a 18 hour smoked shoulder or a 10 hour smoked shoulder.
The internal temp to pull apart the the pork should be around 180.
There is a short cut to get around the 1.25 hour per lb rule if you are short on time. Smoke the pork at 225 for 3-4 hours (the right amount of time to get plenty of smoke flavor) Take the meat of the smoker and wrap in aluminum foil. Turn on your gas grill or bring any grill to a temp of around 500-700 degrees (depending how fast you need it cooked). Then just cook the meat to the proper internal temperature. After is reaches temp, pull off grill and put the meat (still wrapped) in a cooler for 30-60 minutes (no ice). After 30 minutes, separate and enjoy.
Now, most people will be against this. No one would ever do this in competition, but if it's just for family and friends and you're pressed for time, it works amazing.
I have a thread going right now about my first time to cook on my BGE and there is no way in hell I would do this short cut, but I have done it before and most people don't even notice. Any shoulder or butt smoked at home taste way better than any thing you can buy at any BBQ restaurant.
Also, the 30-60 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a cooler should be done whether you're doing this short cut or not.
ETA: Of course there is no RIGHT way to smoke anything. It's all a matter of preference, bias opinion, and teachings. I am never against trying anybody else's methods.
This post was edited on 1/7/11 at 1:16 pm
Posted on 1/7/11 at 1:28 pm to kfizzle85
quote:
I have found in the past, if you overcook it (like if you leave it on till it gets to 190, as you said and with which I agree), if you take all the drippings back out of the drip pan and slather it all over the pork after you pull it, it will help un-dry it.
I have cooked a gazillion shoulders/butts, whatever one wants to call the hunk of meat. I have very good results cooking to 190-195, foiling and dry boxing for 45 mins to an hour, then pulling, have never had a dry butt. I run the first hour at 190, then kick it up to 240. A butt at 170-180 will not pull, it needs to be 190 or higher. The things have so much fat they are almost impossible to f'up, especially if you are using a ceramic smoker on low heat.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 2:18 pm to Trauma14
quote:
The amount of smoke flavor that enters a butt or shoulder decreases dramatically after only 3 hours
thats not enough time to get a good smoke ring imho. its more like 6-8 hours of smoke before the flavor decreases.
Posted on 1/7/11 at 3:17 pm to rutiger
quote:
thats not enough time to get a good smoke ring imho. its more like 6-8 hours of smoke before the flavor decreases.
Again, that was a short cut tip. Great for when pressed with time. I don't do that very often but if something has kept me from starting early enough I don't completely change my menu. I still smoke the meat and then heat the meat to temp in the manner in which I laid out.
However, smoke ring and smoke flavor are two different things. You can smoke something for 30 hours and it clearly will have way more smoke flavor than something smoked for 15 hours. But the difference in smoke ring size will be not be much. Also, the amount of flavor injected into the meat is not constant and is like a bell curve. I would rather something smoked 6-8 hours than 3-4 like you said. But, generally there is not a HUGE noticeably difference.
The smoke ring is a chemical reaction and is the break down of a certain chemical. The slower you heat up the meat the bigger the smoke ring. When the chemical completely breaks down the smoke ring will stop forming. Smoke flavor still penetrates the meat even after the meat stops making a smoke ring. This is why I put my meat on the smoker right away and slowly let the heat rise.
The point of my post was that you can still get the benefits of smoking a shoulder without having to wait 10-18 hours. The most important time in smoking is the very beginning.
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