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1st pork shoulder In the fridge!
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acolle
Posts: 133
I'm excited to try something new. I've been chasing ribs, chickens, sausage, brisket, burgers, pizza and various veggie stuff. Dropped my first shoulder into the fridge today... Weather looks nice for BGE day tomorrow! Any pointers?
Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi]
Comments
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Which way do you plan on cooking it? I usually go low and slow at °225 till it hits 200+ internal and have never made a bad one yet.
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Butts are arguably the most fool-proof low and slow. The biggest rookie mistake is bad smoke and freaking out when it's in the stall.If you have a large, the sweet spot temp is around 270F. You get decent smoke and the stall isn't as aggravating as lower temp cooks.The lower you run your egg, the harder it is to get good smoke.I will start my egg and let it run a few hours or even overnight before throwing on the meat. SMELL THE SMOKE! If it smells awful, it will taste awful.Take a little more work and experience but I will start at a low temp and when the meat is above 140F or so, slowly ramp up the temp, power through the stall, and by adjusting the rate of increases, you can pretty much target a time you want it to be done. Or put it in a holding pattern.______________________________________________I love lamp..
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^^ This ^^ is all great advice.
The only thing I will add is that while you do not have to rest the shoulder, you can easily foil, wrap in towels, and put in a cooler for a couple of hours if needed. Again not necessary at all. Not sure about your schedule for this meal, but if it is a narrow window to sit and eat, aim for a much earlier done time and foil/towel/cooler it if you actually hit it.--------------------------------------------------
Burning lump in Downingtown, PA or diesel in Cape May, NJ.
....just look for the smoke!
Large and MiniMax
--------------------------------------------------Caliking said: Meat in bung is my favorite. -
For me the finish-line is when the bone pulls clean. And another,"Wait til the smoke smells good before loading the protein." FWIW-
Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. -
Hello again, @lousubcaplousubcap said:For me the finish-line is when the bone pulls clean. And another,"Wait til the smoke smells good before loading the protein." FWIW-I'm still a bit of a newbie on the what smoke is good smoke thing I suppose. I often start my fire an hour or two before protein is loaded... Bring up the heat slowly. Today's fire has been going for about two/three hours. Stabilized @ 250 for a bit now. Smoke does not smell awful, but it also does not smell like a clean Hickory or Cherry. Can you and/or @nolaegghead elaborate with any detail so I can understand if I'm missing something or not?
And thanks to all for the advice above!Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi] -
What charcoal are you using?
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Rockwood Lump and some Cherry & Hickory woodEoin said:What charcoal are you using?Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi] -
Pork shoulder can be cooked in varying ways to great results. Setup for an indirect cook. Egg temp somewhere between 225-375º. Add some salt to the pork and cook until tender (normally 195-205º). Anything after that is personal preference.
Southeast Florida - LBGE
In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’ Dare to think for yourself. -
Agree. Just trying to figure out if there is some sort of Jedi "smell the smoke" trick I'm not keen on.Eoin said:Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi] -
acolle said:
Hello again, @lousubcaplousubcap said:For me the finish-line is when the bone pulls clean. And another,"Wait til the smoke smells good before loading the protein." FWIW-I'm still a bit of a newbie on the what smoke is good smoke thing I suppose. I often start my fire an hour or two before protein is loaded... Bring up the heat slowly. Today's fire has been going for about two/three hours. Stabilized @ 250 for a bit now. Smoke does not smell awful, but it also does not smell like a clean Hickory or Cherry. Can you and/or @nolaegghead elaborate with any detail so I can understand if I'm missing something or not?
And thanks to all for the advice above!It's difficult to describe the difference between good and bad smoke. Visually speaking, the clear blue smoke will smell good and the billowing white or black smoke will smell bad, but this is not always true based on weather (temp/humidity).You need to learn what is good and what is bad by making a conscious effort to smell the smoke right after you start a fire and periodically after that.In general, if the smoke smells like coal, or tar, or acrid or bitter, or like chemicals, it's going to make your food taste like those things. The best smoke is from a hot fire, like what we have in a stick burner. Since we're using eggs, we don't have that luxury. So we want our fire to be small (since we don't need much heat in an insulated, efficient cooking vessel) and hot.Lump should be well carbonized so it doesn't piss out VOCs. Smoke wood should be under 5% of the fuel total mass.Play around, smell the smoke, taste the meat and put the two together and gain experience. When you cook some seriously foul smoked meat, you will learn from it and that's the silver lining.______________________________________________I love lamp.. -
Thank's for that eggcellent summary @nolaegghead. All I would offer is "stick your hand in the exhaust smoke then smell it-that's what is going to hit your protein." (Clean hands at the start help in the assessment
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Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. -
Thank you @nolaegghead and @lousubcap ! I'm feel already in the zone. Just wanted to hear it from the pros!
Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi] -
Success! Forgot to take pics though. Pulled it just under 200. Will say it was just a tad dry. Possibly need to mop it next time. But overall, very happy. Thanks again, all!Moved from upper left to Denver, CO | BGE LG & MMX + Kotaigrill [Hibachi]
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Congrats on getting the first one under your belt. Now it’s time to dial it in.Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
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acolle said:Success! Forgot to take pics though. Pulled it just under 200. Will say it was just a tad dry. Possibly need to mop it next time. But overall, very happy. Thanks again, all!
What made you decide to pull it at your stated temp? Sometimes dryness can be from under cooking. Usually you pull it when the bone pulls out with ease or it probes extremely easy. That has happened to me anywhere from 185-215
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