Smoking Pork

[Walleyehooker]

Started Thursday with 10 Pork shoulders marinated in Garlic olive oil and Smokehouse Maple seasoning and put in cooler with some bags of ice on top.

Friday 10 AM have 8 pork shoulders started in smoker with cherry wood chips. Couldnt fit all 10 so I will have to do 2 later or I might pull 2 of these after 6 or so hours and finish in the oven and add the other 2. Just depends on how fast these cook as I have never done this many at one time before.

[otterman91105]

That look's like a really nice smoker. Good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

4 hours into it. Rotated some racks and fliped the meat and added some more wood chips. Meat is at 120 degrees.

[reinhard1]

must smell pretty good by your house. lookin good so far. good luck.

[Greybeard53]

OH C'MON!!!

I think there should be a forum policy against pictures like that when I'm stuck at work. I swear I can smell smoked pork in my office now.

That looks incredible Walleyehooker.

[pike79]

Looks good walleyehooker, I think I have a grad party to crash.

[Walleyehooker]

6 hours later meat is up to 140 degrees. Due to time and I would like to get some sleep tonight I pulled the bottom 2 that were the most done and puting them in the oven till done and put the other 2 I had in the fridge in their place. Probably have to finish them off in the oven too. After they get pulled and mixed together no one will know the difference anyway. Now the inside of the house smells like smoke too.

[reinhard1]

inside smells like this kind of smoke, you have the best of both worlds . i can appreciate the effort. kind of like when i did a whole hog. it sure was worth it. good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

Finished smokeing meat at midnight Friday night and was a big hit on Saturday at the party. I was going to keep these warm in a cooler till the next day but the party didnt start till early afternoon so I decided to let them cool some then put them in my other fridgerator to cool overnight. Saturday we pulled the meat apart a couple hours before the start of the party and warmed it up in a large electric roaster.

A few things I learned from this

My smoker only has room for 8 average size pork shoulders

The more meat you put in the smoker the longer it is going to take to get done

Doing a smoker full of meat makes a mess in the smoker

10 pork shoulders is a lot of meat.

Hard to say with people comeing and going but I would estamate there was about 100 people at the party. I had a lot of meat left over and 6 of these would have been enough to feed everyone. Nothing went to waste though as I gave some of the leftovers away and put some in my freezer.

[MJ1657]

What kind of internal temp should a pork shoulder like that be when its done?

[Walleyehooker]

When they hit 180 I stick a fork in them and you can tell if the meat is loosening up and typically around 180-190 they are done. I have read that you dont want to go over 200.

[Walleyehooker]

Here is an article I found that was helpful.

http://www.kitchendaily.com/2011/05/24/how-to-make-perfect-pulled-pork

[MJ1657]

Thanks alot Walleye. I'll give that a try.

[Walleyehooker]

Because of time and I should have started these earlier in the morning than I did I ended up finishing them off in the oven and getting them up to about the 190 mark. Took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 and they were moist and tender. I did put racks on the bottom of the pan to set the roasts on and added some water for moisture.

[Walleyehooker]

When I reheated the pulled pork in the electric roaster the next day I also added 2-3 cups of apple juice to keep the meat moist and it worked very well.

[Farley]

You can go over 200, I've took some out at 205 and they were excellent. I actually think they pull easier.

[jparrucci]

I agree with Farley. I smoke my pork butts to 200. It pulls much easier and there is no drying up of the meat

[hockeybc69]

Yep, I like 195-200 for my target temps as well.

When I made one a few years ago, and told my dad the temp I was shooting for, his eyes almost popped out of his head. He said its going to be burnt leather.

He took back his remarks after dinner...

[thirdeye]

Boy, that's a lot of good looking pork!!

Yep, I agree with these last posts.... mine usually get tender around or aboove 200* too. I go totally by feel, probing with a 3/32" rod with a dulled point. I used an ice pick for years (also with a dulled point) and these work just fine.

[Moose]

Walleye did you pull the pork before you put it in the fridge? Also reading on the smoked chicken link about the bacteria issue. Our party isn't till afternoon on Sat also. My roasts are frozen right now when should I pull them out if I want to rub them on Thurs. and smoke on Fri.? Thirdeye how can I quick cool pulled pork. I plan on putting it into ice cream pails when it's done. Is just putting it in a fridge good enough?

[McGurk]

How large are they? If they are 8-12 lb get them into the fridge today to thaw. Brine and /or Rub them on Thursday, Smoke them on Friday, and rest them in a cooler Fri night. They will stay above the bacteria growth temp if it is a good cooler and you take up the extra airspace with either dense-ly packed crumpled newspaper or old towels. I'd guess you could even leave them in there until you are ready to pull them for serving. A good cooler with lots of hot meat in it will stay above 140 deg for a long time if you pack it right. The fridge will be fine for storage, as the overall storage temp will be less than 40 deg while it cools if you choose to go the route of cook/ cool and store/ heat and serve.

[SkunkedAgain]

If I remember correctly, it's 24 hours for every 4lbs of meat to thaw in the fridge

[reinhard1]

it usualy takes 4 to 5 days for a whole butt to thaw. now if they are not completly thawed by the 4th or 5 th day you can put them in cold water to speed things up as long as they are in an airtight vacume sealed bag. so check on them so everything is ready to go by smoking day.

i have put a butt in cold water [in a sealed bag they come in] right away the day before cooking/smoking since i was going to cook it anyway and not re-freeze it. the thawing in the cold water deal is only if you are going to cook the product and not refreeze it prior to cooking because you are exposing the meat to above the 40 degree mark. much like thawing a whole turkey in cold water prior to cooking. good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

They will take a long time to thaw in fridgerator so you want to take them out and get them thawing in cold water now or soon then put back in fridge to keep cool.

I pulled mine the next day after they cooled but you can do it anytime.

[thirdeye]

Walleye did you pull the pork before you put it in the fridge? Also reading on the smoked chicken link about the bacteria issue. Our party isn't till afternoon on Sat also. My roasts are frozen right now when should I pull them out if I want to rub them on Thurs. and smoke on Fri.? Thirdeye how can I quick cool pulled pork. I plan on putting it into ice cream pails when it's done. Is just putting it in a fridge good enough?

McGurk makes a good point about timing your finish time closer to serving time. I've kept whole butts wrapped in foil hot for 6 or 8 hours in a cooler, then pull them right before serving. You can keep the cooler in the sun too, that will help. The wildest idea I ever saw was a guy with a big marine cooler full of BBQ brisket and butts and he had an electric blanket in there.

As far as fast cooling pulled pork, get some metal pans or sheet trays and put them in the freezer for a couple of hours. Spray them with PAM or spray olive oil and add the pulled meat to them and either go back into the freezer, or in the fridge.