15 1/2 lb Pork Shoulder.....help!!

Da Coon-Ass Chef

We are having a mini party tomorrow, and I told my wife to bring home a pork shoulder for me to start tonight. She gets home and this enormous side of hog is on my table. All the recipes I see for pork shoulder call for 5-6 roasts. Any help on what to do with something this size would be greatly appreciated. I am considering cutting it in half because I'm afraid I don't have enough time. Thanks in advance for the help.

stike

it shouldn't take longer whole. the heat works it's way thru via the shortest dimension. it'll cook from the sides in, just as it would cut in half. you might allow a little extra time, few hours, for losing one exposed side (like you'd have if you cut it in half i mean).

but i don't see a reason to cut it up. unless you want more bark, or you can't fit it on...

gdenby

If you can cut it in half, that will speed the cook up. Don't let the parts touch, make sure there is air flow around each. 2 pieces at 8-ish pounds started now should be done by tomorrow afternoon easy.

If you are in a really big rush, the pork can be placed in a covered foil pan with some fluid after a few hours, and finished at 350 for a couple of hours. The result is not as good as a lo-n-slo, but can be O.K.

Good Luck!!

Celtic Wolf

It probably already is two pieces

Just cook it. Stike it is absolutely right,

Pulled Pork

AZRP

When you open the package you will find two 7.5 lb butts, figure on about 15 hours with a 250 dome temp. -RP

gdenby

Umm, beg to differ. It should take longer whole. If time is a big limit, cutting the piece should speed cooking up. The heat transfers through the surface area. If the hunk was sliced into a bunch of thin pieces, they could be done really quickly.

I did a rush job 2 weeks ago, split a 9 pounder into 4 and 5 pound pieces. At 8 hours, the 4 pound was too dry, the 5 pound not quite tender.

I'd suppose that the 15.5 pound shoulder is pretty much a sphere, and would take quite a while to cook thru to the center.

FlaPoolman

Have to agree with Stike, CW and AZRP. don't feel bad a lot of us have made the mistake pre opening. Enjoy your cook.

stike

my point is that he has a butt and a picnic and they are attached at one side. he doesn't have a 17 pound ball of meat.

cutting a hotdog in half doesn't make it cook faster. splitting it lengthwise would. see now?

it's not a sphere. and since it isn't, the heat doesn't come at it from the long end. well, it does, but it also comes at it from the short dimension, and that's the one that's going to determine the cook time.

your cutting a comparatively much smaller nine pounder in half created much more surface area relative to it's original surface area (relative to volume)

cutting the 17 pounder in half will add a small area, the dimension of the cross section.


i'm frequently told i'm wrong around here. no one ever proves it, though. :P

stike

holy sh!t, wolf. i'm gonna send you a frikkin bouquet of roses. hahaha


i hope they archive that post. "stike is absolutely right". ...that's a phrase that ain't never been said before on the forum, and prob'ly won't ever be.

hahaha

peace, bro.

stike

i think you are right.

(but it sounded like this dude knew what a whole shoulder was...) time will tell!

AZRP

Stike, I've noticed lately that the butts at Sam's are now packaged with fat side up on one and down on the other, makes it easy to see there are two roasts in the package. -RP

FlaPoolman

Down Boy Down :woohoo: :woohoo: . Sorry Stike but yes your right but who let the attack dog (Stike) out. Just messing with you buddy cause I love when someone pushes the wrong buttons for ya. :laugh: . One of these days when I get smart we'll talk :silly: :silly: . Sorry but couldn't resist when someone got your dander up!! BTW yes I agree.

Unknown

Stikey, did he really say that?

stike

hahaha

hey! i added one of those green smiley things so he'd (you'd) know i wasn't mad.

damn. i tried! i thought those smiley things were like "get-out-of-jail" cards. allowed you to say something that otherwise sounded cranky, but then let everyone know you really weren't being cranky.

hahaha

viz.

stike

yeah

i think every one of us stood there at one time looking in the case at the wholesale club thinking "damn, that's big" and then found two when we unwrapped them. he (da-coon-ass-chef) has been aropund here a while, so i figured if he said it was a whole shoulder, maybe it was really a whole shoulder. haha

then i read your post and the lightbulb went off over my head. i bet yer right. he begots two boston butts.

i only have one boston butt myself. actually. it's a wakefield butt. 12 miles north of boston. but just as good.

stike

no sh!t.

if i knew how to work the digital camera i'd take a picture of my monitor right now.

so h a r d t o t y p e t h r o u g h
t h e t e a r s o f j o y >sniff

FlaPoolman

Well I'm a part time A hole and full time computer idiot but this is the best I can do.

stike

hahaha
i was kidding, but thanks.

that was pretty funny, man.

FlaPoolman

Yea I know but I was just fanning the flames. Thats the part time A hole in me. :evil:

Celtic Wolf

Enjoy it.. It won't last..