Another Turbo-Cooked Shoulder

Sundown

It's now 3:30 and I just took a 10 lb. bone in shoulder off Mr. Egg that was started at 8PM just hours ago. Internal temp 200º. Had this happen several times over the last couple of years. 7 and 8 hour cook that should be 12 14 or more hours cook time. Had one summer before last that was done in 6 hours. That old chunk of pig is sitting in the Igloo wrapped in towels. Guests due at 6 tonight. By golly, there ought to be a law warning that a piece of meat might Turbo Cook. Oh well, I pull it and have some for breakfast. My guests won't know the difference. Back to bed. Say good night.

Nature Boy

Sundown,
Hmm. That sounds awful strange their Carey-dude. Any chance you were cooking hotter than you thought?? Just seems like turbo or not, the breakdown process just didn't have enough time to completely happen. I guess you will know fer sure when you crack it out to serve....but you definitely got me scratchin me 'ead, and lookin around to see what those flags are.[p]You planning to keep it in the cooler for 14 hours plus??[p]Cheers to you. Hope spring is comin' up your way too. Sure feels like it is here in Virginny.
Chris

Sundown

Nature Boy,[p]Just took her out of the cooler and it's done perfectly! Pulled easily. Tastes like heaven. Just have to re-warm for tonight.
As far as dome temp, when I went to bed it had been dead on 250º for over an hour. When I got up at three the dome temp was still on 250º and the internal shoulder temp was at 201º.Tried checking temp in other spots all over the shoulder and the lowest I could find was a reading of 199º. Love to know what happens. Course, had I waited to put it on this morning it would then take 20+ hours and we wouldn't eat at 7! Oh well, warmed up pulled pork is better than none at all. Nature will have her little secrets and jokes on us that's what keeps life interesting.
Working hard on getting to Waldorf. See ya.

BBQfan1

Sundown,
This is highly, highly 'what-if' thinking on my part, but you called it a 10-lb shoulder. If it is the whole shoulder (butt and picnic combined) and just 10 lbs, then 'what-if' it's from a younger animal, closer to weening milk-fed stage, muscles not as hardly worked etc etc and that may be the reason for the 'turbo' effect as there isn't all that connective tissue to break down and thus the plateau stage is much less pronounced? I know the shoulders I usually get bone-in are more in the 15-18 lb range. Just doin' the old think-out-loud thing here...
Qfan

Jose'

Sundown,
I feel that the amount of fat effects the cook time. I use the guru and always cook at 210 degrees.

Sundown

Jose,[p]The shoulder should have taken a bit longer than the time it did. 1.5 hours per pound (rule of thimb) should have, and has in the past, put me at 15 to 16 hours
Conevntional wisdom says 250º is easy to maintain and after fighting with 200º the first couple of times I stick with 250º. I can get the temp to stay dead on that number with few if any spikes I know of. The shoulder didn't have any more fat in it than the usual as far as I could see. Just a real quick cook time - thanks for the idea anyway.

Sundown

BBQfan1,[p]The only thing I neglected to mention was the shoulder had been frozen for the last 2 months. The shoulder was bone in and the bones seemed a little bigger than usual - a runt of the litter?
Don't have a clue bu your idea has merit. I was half expecting the meat to be tough when I pulled it but iw just fine. Tender and moist as always. Wife said this was the third time I had a piece of pig go turbo.