Bought a whole shoulder for pulled pork; should I cut off the picnic ham?

[PhotoJoseph]

Hey fellow meat lovers,

I'm doing a pulled pork tomorrow (first of the season, yah!) and all Costco had was a complete shoulder… 16lbs! Reading the "perfect pulled pork recipe" here http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porkn...lled_pork.html I realize now that this means I have a Pork Butt AND a Picnic Ham.

So the question is; should I (can I?) smoke the entire shoulder, or should I just do the Butt? (No complaints here if we have a ton of leftovers). If I do it all, I'm assuming I should separate the two pieces (I haven't even opened the package yet so maybe it's already separated). If I don't smoke it all, what should I do wtih the Picnic Ham?

[Jerod Broussard]

Picnic is not the ham. The ham is on the rear end. The picnic is below the butt shoulder, not butt rear-end. Hehehe

Looks like 2 butts.

[gcdmd]

"Looks like 2 butts."

I don't know about Costco, but Sam's routinely packs 2 butts in one package.

[Danjohnston949]

Jerod Broussard, gcdmd, That's Two Butts For Sure! I Prefer having the Bone in It's Like having another Thermometers!
@PhotoJoeseph, Get Some Kosher Salt and Garlic Powder on them ASAP and back in the Refer OverNight! Rub in the AM!
👍👍👍👍👍 From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[6th Borough BBQ]

Looks like two Boston butts and a perfect time to cook two Boston butts! If you do end up with a Boston butt and a Picnic, cook them both.

[Danjohnston949]

@6th BoroughBBQ! Two butts for Sure IMHOP! I am going to @PhotoJoseph's for Fathers Day! I'll Let Him Adopt Me!
🤗😇🤗
From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[PhotoJoseph]

Huh OK; I read this in the article linked above "A full shoulder can weigh 8 to 20 pounds and has two halves, the "Boston butt" and the "picnic ham"." and assumed that's what I had. OK, time to quite talking and start prepping. I'll update in a few minutes with what I actually have!

[PhotoJoseph]

Y'all were right! It's two butts. First time I've had one deboned but I'll tie it up, per our illustrious leader's advice. Hm, I don't think they'll fit side by side in my WSM; if I put them one on each rack, should I swap them part way through? I don't think there's much of a temp difference between the two levels but I honestly don't remember. Haven't smoked since last summer and it's been two years since I did a pulled pork.

[Danjohnston949]

PhotoJoseph, I have an older SS Brinkman WSM that I have Smoked up to 6 Butts at a rime on! Did it just the Same Way You are Planning Too! I can't rightly remember if I did but Swiching them on the Grates Seems Like a Good Plan!
🍀🍀Good Luck!🍀🍀 From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[kmhfive]

I'd put them on separate shelves. If you have two meat probes and you notice that one starts drifting 10-15 degrees higher than the other, you could swap at that point, but my guess is they'll ride pretty close through the stall and then you just pull them of when each is done. Enjoy the cook and share the learning -- with more pictures😜

[Jerod Broussard]

You can also watch the bark.

[PhotoJoseph]

I do have two probes so yeah I'll just watch the temp. And heck yeah I'll document!!

[PhotoJoseph]

Danjohnston949 I've salted them; don't usually put garlic powder on the night before. I'll put the Memphis Dist on in the morning which has garlic powder in it. You prefer adding it before?

also bone in; yes my preference too but this is what they hadn't. Oh well.