Pork Shoulders - Direct??

Unknown · June 2005

I'm already relatively proficient at the 20-hour indirect cook of an 8lb pork shoulder at 225 degrees. I use the plate setter and a drip pan.[p]Recently I've had a lot of success doing 4-5 hour direct rib cooks, and I really like what direct heat does for the cooking in terms of developing browning and crust, as well as the more even heating/cooking. With plate setter, I find all the cooking comes at the top of the food with radiant heat from the lid, but the undersides of your meat really suffer. There is also a much larger temperature swing between dome and grid with plate setter.[p]SO![p]Has anyone done a 20-hour direct pork shoulder? What kind of results? I'd assume that I'd need to rotate to keep from getting over-browining in spots. Thoughts?

fishlessman · June 2005

Biker19,
i havent done a pork shoulder direct before, however to get a more even browning you have to get the meat higher above the drip pan.the larger the space between the pan and the meat the better the air flow. i found when cooking turkeys the underside wasnt cooking fast enough, to remedy this i would put hot stock in the cavity at the beginning of the cook, later i learned that by raising the bird the bottom would cook better. same would apply with the pork shoulder

Nature Boy · June 2005

Biker19,
I am sure some folks have done this, but I see a couple potential problems. First, that is a long time to have the outside of your meat exposed to an open fire. Chances are your crust will be pretty hard. I use a drip pan that is far enough away from the meat to get airflow all around, and don't use water in it. Top and bottom cook pretty evenly.[p]The other problem I see is that a butt will drip a whole buch of fat during the cook. Don't think you'll get flareups cooking that low, but it will definitely change the character of your smoke. There is a chance with the right kind of drippage that you could get billowing brown smoke from the fat.[p]Just some Thursday thoughts....when I should be working!
Cheers
Chris

Kyle · June 2005

Biker19,
I have had good luck with stabilizing the BGE at 250 and going direct for three hours and then double wrapping with heavy duty aluminum foil.[p]It then takes about seven hours to develop a internal temperature of about 212 degrees.[p]Just my experience with 3 or 4 cooks.[p]I am certainly no expert.

Borders · June 2005

Biker19, You might try plan B. I've thought of doing this just for kicks, but have not. How about doing a higher temp indirect cook? Say 350 dome temp for 5-8 hours or whatever it takes?
Scott

JSlot · June 2005

I've done this on two occasions and you can do it with excellent results. There are a couple of caveats, though. First of all, you really have to keep an eye on your dome temp. You should try and keep it under 225° as much as possible preferably around 210°. When you start to approach the 225° mark, shut that puppy down until the temp starts to drop again. Secondly, this works much better with a whole shoulder or just the picnic portion because of the fat cap or rind. As many of you know, we cook whole hogs quite often using very low direct heat. We always start whole pigs with the meat side down and then flip after 5 hours or so to put the skin between the meat and the fire. It's basically indirect as far as the meat is concerned. The same principle applies here. Flip the shoulder or picnic about 3-4 hours into the cook. Chris is right about fat drippings, too. If the fire gets too hot, you'll have some nasty smoke, but if you keep it low, it will actually impart what I feel is a desirable flavor to the meat. Give it a try and let us know what you think![p]Jim

Pork Shoulders - Direct??

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