Picnic shoulder...first time

egghead2004

Ok it's time to play. I'll be away all day Saturday and would like to come home to a picnic shoulder ready to eat, or close anyway. I see the way to cook a butt is to bring it to 195, then rest until it goes down to 170. Do I need to do the same with a picnic shoulder?
If I don't have to bring it that high, what is the optimal temp to bring the shoulder up to? For a 6 pound shoulder, if I want to cook it for say 10-12 hours, what temp should I have the egg? or should I cook at a set temp like 225? In that case how long will it take to cook till done?
Sorry for all these questions, I'm new to this eggculture and have to proove to everyone I'm not a lunatic for buying a $700 charcoal grill. I see the value, but results speak more than words to some people. [p]Thanks

Yazoo

Well, until one of the eggperts says to do it another way, I'd say cook it eggactly the way you cook a butt.

Unknown

egghead2004, this issue gets brought up about once a week it seems...and the simple answer is: cook just like pulled boston butt if you want pulled pork and if you want ham make the internal about 170 or so to slice.

egghead2004

Chet,
Thanks Chet, I guess that could be a "gametime" desicion, pull or not to pull. How about time and egg temp? I usually cook these for 3-4 hours or so on a kettle or 2 1/2 hours in an oven. I'll be gone from 8am til 6pm so I need to slow cook this thing. I'm not sure how long it will take to cook 6 pounds @ 225 to 170 or 195. Any thoughts?

Unknown

egghead2004, I never made it a practice to keep up with time per lb, but I start with a ball park on estimated time to cook and rely on the probe to do the rest. I would estimate one that size would take 12 hrs at 250 dome temp and pull at 195 internal.

egghead2004

Chet,
I'll probably start it at 7am, 225, better low that high if I'm not going to be there. When I come home, if the probe is 170 or under, I'll pull it and slice up like ham. If it is over 170, I'll raise the dome temp to 275 and go to 195 internal and have pulled pork. Sounds like I can't really mess this up unless the egg goes bezerko and heats up to 300 and toasts the piggie.[p]Thanks, I'll take some pictures.

KevinH

egghead2004,[p]Several times I have read about people putting BBQ on the egg and then leaving for a few hours. Sometimes it turns out great, other times the fire dies, and once in a while the food gets burnt to charcoal.[p]I just wonder if it's a good idea to start a fire and then leave the premises?

egghead2004

KevinH,
I figure a $10 piece of meat is worth a potential sacrafice. Hey, if the fire dies or burns up the piggie, we go get pizza and beer. If we all come home (in-laws included) and the meat is cooked, everyone's happy!

katman

egghead2004,[p]I did one a few weeks ago. Think it was about 7.5 pounds. Pretty sure I left it on for about 14 hours at around 235 with a platesetter on the fire ring. My pull temp was probably a little shy of 195. Let it rest in a cooler wrapped in foil for about an hour. Fell right apart. This was my overnight test for my new guru. Worked great.

Unknown

katman, how did you like it like that as opposed to sliced, did it seem the same as a butt?

egghead2004

katman,
I think I'm going to get a Boston Butt, near 8 pounds and try it over night. Before I leave in the morning I can check to see if the internal is 150 to 160 and the BGE is @ 225-235. At least I'll have a better idea of what is going on in there 1/2 way through the cook and not total doing this blind. [p]Thanks all!!