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Newbie ready for the next challenge. Advice welcome

Mauch5
Mauch5 Posts: 33
edited September 2012 in EggHead Forum
First off, this site is awesome.  I purchase by large BGE in late July and the discussion/comments on this site have been invaluable.  I have been having a blast with the egg.  I started with the basics (burgers, pizza, steaks etc) and then moved on to ribs.  I am now ready to try my first pork shoulder and am welcome to any advice you might have. 

Comments

  • Assuming you have a Maverick or other grid temp/food temp thermo, all you need is the indirect set-up with a drip pan, your favourite rub and a full load of lump and some smoke chunks/chips in a "just been cleaned" egg. For a five pound shoulder, about 2 hours per pound means you are into a 10 hour cook until food temp hits 190-200. (I still do a fork twist just to be sure)

    The first couple I did were day cooks, not overnighters. Made plans to have family over for pulled pork sammies, time was between 5:00 and 6:00PM. I started the egg at 5:30AM, 5 pound shoulder on at 6:00AM, grid temp 250-260, off at 4:30PM with temp of 200. FTC for less than 60 minutes then pulled. Came out very good. I prefer the day cook to the overnighters.

    After two successes, put a 6.5 pounder on at 10:30PM, went to bed and slept like a baby. Took it off the next day at 11:00AM, Sunday lunch and football (west coast so we usually catch the NFL game with our corn flakes.)  Lunch started just as the second game was getting underway.
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Thanks for the advice Skiddy.  I like the idea of starting early in the morning on the first one. I will let you know how it turns out. 
  • First, the following disclaimers...I only have a small and have only cooked a few shoulders, but I would advise against messing with the cook for several hours.  Once you get the temperature stabilized, put on the meat and leave it alone.  If it goes a few degrees higher or lower then you want, just leave it alone.  Also, avoid the temptation to keep looking at your meat (uhm, that doesn't sound right :))

    Jeff

  • Mauch5 said:
    Thanks for the advice Skiddy.  I like the idea of starting early in the morning on the first one. I will let you know how it turns out. 
    You are welcome and look forward to hearing how it all comes out. What rub are using? Further, just because you are awake for the day cook, as your BGE is preforming some smoke and flavour magic, try and resist the urge to keep looking at it, set your high/low temp alarms and trust them (I use maybe a 25 degree above and below target)  Pics every 3 or four hours are acceptable, but not mandatory. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    I like sleeping in.  Pork butts are very forgiving.  A dome temp of 275* cuts down on cooking time.  If it wanders up to 290*, it still comes out good.

    No need to peak.  rely upon your thermometer and leave that dome closed until you either take it off or poke it with an instant read thermometer to verify its done.
    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.
  • Read this: 

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1143814/attempting-my-first-low-slow#latest

    It is basically your same "Egg-zact" question.  Most questions have been asked b4, some keep getting asked over & over.  The search function is your friend for learning all kinds of stuff. 

    So read through the thread I linked to & see if you have any further questions about your specific cook & we'll concentrate on that.

    Best of luck!!
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • One of my favorite cooks. Easy and you know it will turn out great every time.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • Vitaman said:

    First, the following disclaimers...I only have a small and have only cooked a few shoulders, but I would advise against messing with the cook for several hours.  Once you get the temperature stabilized, put on the meat and leave it alone.  If it goes a few degrees higher or lower then you want, just leave it alone.  Also, avoid the temptation to keep looking at your meat (uhm, that doesn't sound right :))

    Jeff


    I know you aren't supposed too but I'm always opening the dome and snatching a piece. Just can't help it :\"> Always turns out great.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    edited September 2012

    Vitaman said:

    First, the following disclaimers...I only have a small and have only cooked a few shoulders, but I would advise against messing with the cook for several hours.  Once you get the temperature stabilized, put on the meat and leave it alone.  If it goes a few degrees higher or lower then you want, just leave it alone.  Also, avoid the temptation to keep looking at your meat (uhm, that doesn't sound right :))

    Jeff


    I know you aren't supposed too but I'm always opening the dome and snatching a piece. Just can't help it :\"> Always turns out great.
    I'm constantly taking the daisy wheel off to sneak a peak and get a good whiff.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Thanks for all the help guys.  The pork shoulder turned out better than I expected.  I used Pigs Ass Rub.  The shoulder was just under nine pounds.  I had a tough time in the begining getting the temperature to stabilize.  Great learning experience and once again thanks for all of your pointers.