Pork shoulder: spritz, mop, or neither?

[captainlee]

Thinking more about this post. I stopped spritzing and injecting after i saw an episode of BBQ Pitmasters in which Johnny Triggs said that he never injected a piece of meat in his life. He has won a ton of championships. On other other hand Myron injects. So, do what you think is best for your tastes. There seems to be not right or wrong way with so many bbq methods.

[texastweeter]

Neither. Inject, dry brine, bind, rub smoke crutch smoke, rest pull, eat.

[holehogg]

Had never mopped, spritzed or injected. Did try spraying a butt couple weeks back and I can say I didn't notice any difference compared with when I don't spritz.
Bark turned out as always and I don't believe spritzing does anything to add flavour. If you looking to add some flavour then just add some of the rub you used.

[radiodome21]

I normally don't. I do, however, wrap to help with the stall when pressed for time. Always wrap, though when it's at probe tender and let it rest for a few hours. I don't add anything to the wrap either.

[smokin fool]

Put me in the no column.
Think I tried it a few times, and it made no difference so stopped.

[Smilner]

Thanks for the responses, everybody. Seems like there’s more DONT responses than DO responses. So I’ll try this this first one with no spritz or mop then experiment on the next one

[smokin fool]

Good thing about this sport, nothing’s written in stone

[RichardCullip]

I don't spritz or mop. I get a temperature spike in my Weber Kettle every time I lift the lid so I try to minimize lifting the lid during a pulled pork cook.

[rickgregory]

"If you're lookin, you ain't cookin"

[DaveD]

There is also the tendency for smoke uptake to be promoted by moister meat, and depending on when one is spritzing, there could be an impact there. I certainly haven't done the experiment, it would be interesting to try to isolate several competing effects... Hmmm.

[Finster]

I've tried both ways
spritzing is a hassle, so i usually don't. I've heard the theory that moisture attracts more smoke, but not sure I could tell the difference

[DaveD]

Huskee - great info. One thing I always notice is that spritzing will blunt the rate of T increase by providing more liquid on the surface that must evaporate before the internal T can continue rising. So happens I'm buttin' in tomorrow, so I think I'll try skipping the spritz...

[Huskee]

DaveD Yep, unless you're spritzing boiling liquid on it (and even then it's still cooler than the smoker's air temp) you're making the meat sweat and just like with us when mowing on a hot day sweat cools us internally, slowly. Try it both ways, cut that butt in half and do one each way. Do a side by side taste test!

[DaveD]

Huskee tomorrow's butt is under 4lb/1.8kg, and is bone-in. Not really feasible to divide. But I got a great big ol' 9-pounder in the chestie, I'll do that experiment later. I was already thinking tomorrow's cook was going to be minimalist anyway, being a workday...

[jfmorris]

No mopping or spritzing for me. I feel it ruins the bark, and prolongs the cook for a couple of reasons - first, adding liquid causes evaporative cooling to the surface of the meat, and second, every time you're looking, your not cooking as the old saying goes - due to the heat loss while open to spritz, you prolong the cook.

[Smoked Transistors]

I'm for no spritzing or mopping myself.

Just watched Chuds BBQ - Texas Style Pulled Pork Video. He did not mop or spritz his pork butt during the video, at the end he whipped up a delicious NC vinegar hog sauce to add into the meat when pulled. Looked delicious !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XShPEuwwkcs

[TripleB]

Mop and fat cap down (what's left of it). Fat cap up.....newbies

[Huskee]

I haven't read though any of the above responses so if I repeat any other comments well then I'm in good company.

I vote neither. Let that sucker cook in peace and leave it alone. If you salt & use rub properly you don't need any extra help from a baste or mop, and you will only slow down your cook by adding cool moisture to it.

I like to cut my butts in half or thirds, as small as 3-4lbs, for extra surface area & bark. Those cook up mighty fine and make a wonderful end product. Remove ALL exterior fat cap since you absolutely do not need it, this isn't a brisket flat, there's plenty of internal fat in a pork butt and no one appreciates wads of fat in their pulled pork.

[Jerod Broussard]

To be honest, the main reason I tried scoring was other people were paying for the butts and after 10 butts I had quite few pounds in the trash. Plus scoring is more funner than carving it off.

[Huskee]

Jerod Broussard Don't blame you there.

[Mark The Q-er]

I'll sign up for anything that's more funner

[rlozinak]

I just put the fat side up and let her go

[BlueToro]

I score the fat cap, season, and let it run at lower temp until the bark looks great, tent it in a foil pan until probe tender. Nothing but moist and tender.