Pork Shoulder - Starting Temp

[_John_]

I don't think it will really matter one way or the other. I do butts unwrapped occasionally and they take me that long at 275. Others may correct me, but I think you should be thinking more like 2 hours per pound at 225, depending on thickness.

[DWCowles]

I always get the start up heat up to around 300 or so before putting the meat on. It doesn't take as long to get the smoker back to temp then I can adjust accordingly.

[jlazar]

I am going to try my second pork shoulder this week. First one turned out good but I am going to try this one without wrapping.

I have a 13.3lb shoulder that I am guessing it will weigh about 12lb after trimming. I will cut into two pieces as Huskee recommends. So I should have a 5lb piece and a 7lb piece of equal thickness. Plan on cooking at 225 for 90 min/lb for a total of 10.5/12 hours. Target will be 203.

I will be cooking on a WSM 18.5 with a BBQ Guru and using Kingsford Competition.

Every time I have smoked so far, once I put the cold meat on, the temp of the WSM drops (as expected). It takes me about 30 min of adjusting the vents to get the temp back up to 225 and stabilized.

Here is my question. Once I get the WSM up to 225, should I be putting the meat on immediately? Am I getting additional smoke flavor while the WSM has to climb back to 225? Or should I initially wait until the WSM is up to about 275 and then put the meat on with the temp then probably dropping to near the 225 range? Or does it make any difference in which approach I use? What do you recommend?

Plan on mixing half of the pulled meat with a homemade sweet and spicy sauce (my wife likes it this way) and half with sauce on the side.

Here is the sauce recipe I came up with. I like it because the tomato sauce doesn't give you any lingering ketchup taste like some recipes I have tried.

John's Sweet and Spicy

Hunts Tomato Sauce 15 oz can
Dark Brown Sugar 3/4 cup
Granulate Sugar 1/2 cup
Apple Cider Vinegar 2 Tbs
Garlic Salt 3/4 Tsp
Onion Powder 1 Tsp
Molasses 1 Tbs
Table Salt 1/2 Tsp
Ground Black Pepper 1 Tsp
Lime Juice 2 Tsp
Lemon Juice 2 Tsp
Liquid Smoke Flavor 1 1/2 Tsp
MSG (Accent) 1/2 Tsp

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil in a saucepan.
Reduce heat and simmer 50 minutes to thicken. Stir frequently.