Foil pork shoulder?

DaveEGG

I've got a five pound pork shoulder covered in John Henry's Pecan Rub.  I plan to cook indirect at 250 until I hit an IT of 195, then remove from BGE and foil for an hour or so.  

That's as far as my plan goes.  

Is there an advantage (moistness??) to foiling the meat at a certain IT, like I would do with a chuck roast when it hits 165, then putting back on the grill until IT hits 195?

Legume

I don’t think you’ll have any problem with lack of moisture with a shoulder.  If your plan is to pull it, I would suggest start checking the tenderness at 195 but it may be closer 200-205 that it’s ready to go.  If this is bone-in, it’s ready when the bone can pull free without a fight.

I don’t usually foil or FTC shoulder unless it’s a timing thing.  I keep in a foil pan on the counter until cool enough to pull, at least 30 minutes.   I don’t wrap because like to preserve the crispy bark as much as possible so you get a nice contrast when it’s all pulled and mixed up, but that’s just personal preference.

saluki2007

^^^That sums it up perfectly.  Only need to foil if you need to push through the stall to speed up the cook. 

DaveEGG

Thanks everyone.  I love being able to tap into everyone's experience!

dmourati

Don'f foil if you can help it.

minniemoh

The nice thing about a butt is they typically turn out pretty good no matter what you do. As long as your fire doesn't go out or you don't get a grease fire from cooking too hot, it's a very forgiving chunk of meat. I hadn't wrapped a butt in years until one day a few months ago when I didn't get up early enough to start the cook and I had to push them to get them done. I wrapped at about 5-6 hours with a few ounces of apple juice and dumped the drippings from the foil into the pan when I pulled them. This was a turning point for me. The last 7-8 butts I've cooked have been wrapped when I like the look of the bark. My wife's first comment was "What did you different, this pork is amazing!" I agreed that it was better than any I had cooked in a while.

No matter what you do, you're in for some good eats. Enjoy!

SaintJohnsEgger

I have wrapped before but normally i just let the butt ride until 203 and pull it off then loosely cover it with foil to hold the heat in.

Butts are very forgiving and don't seem to dry out much so no need to foil unless you are adding something to the foil to change the  flavor profile.