Help remind me some things on pork shoulder

[Mosca]

I got a 8lb pork shoulder on sale, it had a sell by date of the 14th but the date on the inner vacuum pack said the 18th. I was going to do it today, but our new pup needed some extra care, and I didn’t get it on the heat early like I had planned to.

I could probably get it over the smoke by noon today, but I haven’t done a pork shoulder for about 4 years; if I recall correctly, I might not have pulled pork until after midnight, or later!

Or, I could put it over the smoke tomorrow morning, probably by 7am. Debow has a vet appointment tomorrow at 4pm. I’m not worried about that one, though. But, tomorrow’s forecast calls for rain.

Maybe I could put it on tonight at midnight, idk.

Or, I could do it on the 19th. So it’s one day late, sue me.

Im not really worried about the cook. In my experience smoking a pork shoulder/butt/pulled pork is about as easy as making toast, if toast took all day and you had to check it to see if it was done.

So, how long should this sucker take, at, say, 260°-275°? And, even though it says the 18th, the 19th should be fine, don’t you think?

[CaptainMike]

I always plan on 10 hrs for a pork butt. Sometimes it's longer, sometimes shorter, but either way PB's are very forgiving. You should be fine with the extra day, but you'll know when you open the package.

[Mosca]

True that!

[HawkerXP]

+1 Brine today, the longer the better.

[JLR]

I do mine at 225, so I'm not sure how much this helps, but I did a 9.5 lb over the weekend and it took 20 hours.If you want to start it today, you can always wrap it and put it in the over when you go to bed. When your thermometer alarm goes off, get up and turn the oven off and let it cool down in the over. If you wrap with foil, you will have collected the juices so you can pour over it.

[Purc]

I used to think/remember a pork butt/shoulder took about 8 + hours and now if seams to take 11 to 12+ hours at 225 to 250 degrees. I never would have planned for 20+ hours like JLR. Has something changed or is my memory shot? I don't keep a journal but maybe I should.

[JLR]

It was my second longest. The longest was 22 hours. In both cases I wrapped with foil pretty much at what turned out to be the halfway point. The temp stayed between 220 and 225. It never exceeded 225, so running closer to 250 might speed things up a little. The results at 225 are a little better than 250 or 275, but the time is long.

[JoeSousa]

My last few were around 10-12 hours when cooking in the 250-275 range. Nearly all the butts I cook are the boneless ones that come in a 2 pack at Costco and I believe those are usually in the 7-8 pound range.

So plan for 12 hours with a 2-3 hour rest and you should be fine. When I want to serve one at a scheduled time I will usually start it at midnight just to be save and hold it in a cooler until it is time to serve. Have held them for 6+ hours with no issues. If it is just something I am cooking for a family dinner I will wake up early around 5 or 6 AM and throw it on the smoker. If it takes a bit longer we will just eat a bit later.

[mrteddyprincess]

The following statement applies only to me, and I'm not arguing this is the best way to cook a pork butt. It's the way I cook pork butt. 275-325 F, never longer than 8 hrs and usually, 5-7 hrs. That's on a Lang off-set using hardwood as the fuel source.

"I ain't got no 19 hours to cook no d@mn piece of meat." --Myron Mixon (loosely quoted)

:-) Brian

[JLR]

LOL! That's why I almost always finish my pork butts wrapped in the oven. I'm too old to stay up all night feeding the fire.

[Oak Smoke]

+1 I cook pork butt at 275-300 and wrap at 180 internal. Mine are cooked on a Kamado Joe Big Joe, 6 to 8 hours is a what it normally takes. I can’t tell that I’ve lost any quality from my low and slow days.

[LA Pork Butt]

When I cook them on my BGE I figure on 17 hours to serve for noon - 1 hour to stabilize the Egg at 225, 12-14 hours to cook, 2-4 hour hold wrapped in an ice chest.

[RonB]

If ya cut the butt in half, you will save some time and get more bark.

[Mosca]

Almost exactly 11 hours, at 260°-265°. On at 7:53AM, off at 6:50PM. Photos in SUWYC.

[CaptainMike]

Almost exactly close enough!