Yo!
I decided to try a ~7lb bone in pork shoulder this past weekend. Previously I'd only done ribs and chicken, so this was by far the longest smoke I've attempted. I came up with my own rub based off of recipes I'd seen here and general cooking knowledge:
2/3 cup turbinado suger
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp sage powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
I let it dry brine for about 24 hours before I put the rub on. Since I was doing it on Saturday, the plan was to wake up around 5:30 to put the rub on, and then get the smoker ready later. However, I made the decision to stay out drinking until 2:30am on Friday, so I ended up applying the rub around 3am. I'm proud that the majority of the rub made it onto the meat. Even more proud that I actually woke up at 6 and was able to get the smoker up and running! I used Royal Oak charcoal and pecan wood chunks.
It is super humid right now in Chicago, even at 6am, so I made the decision to smoke for 9ish hours at 250° instead of what I'd read about 10-12 at 225°. I assumed the humidity would help keep the meat moist but also slow down the cook time. I'm not sure if that is true or not but in my head it made sense. I ended up leaving it for 9.5 and it turned out really well! It was the first time I was able to achieve a good looking "bark". The meat turned out very moist, tender, slightly sweet and very savory, though not as smokey as I'd hoped.
There are definitely some things I need to learn still. For one, I'm not sure if I put enough wood on. I used 3 chunks of pecan wood, and didn't add any later in the smoke. I'm not sure if that is enough or maybe pecan is just not the flavor I was hoping for. Do you typically add more wood at the beginning? Later into the smoke?
Also, about 5mins after I took the meat off there was a downpour. Thank the rib gods the meat had just finished, because the temp on the smoker dropped down to like 150° in the rain. How would I combat the temp drop if it starts raining during a smoke?
Overall everyone was very happy with the turnout. Many thanks to all the articles and forum posts on here!
I decided to try a ~7lb bone in pork shoulder this past weekend. Previously I'd only done ribs and chicken, so this was by far the longest smoke I've attempted. I came up with my own rub based off of recipes I'd seen here and general cooking knowledge:
2/3 cup turbinado suger
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp sage powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
I let it dry brine for about 24 hours before I put the rub on. Since I was doing it on Saturday, the plan was to wake up around 5:30 to put the rub on, and then get the smoker ready later. However, I made the decision to stay out drinking until 2:30am on Friday, so I ended up applying the rub around 3am. I'm proud that the majority of the rub made it onto the meat. Even more proud that I actually woke up at 6 and was able to get the smoker up and running! I used Royal Oak charcoal and pecan wood chunks.
It is super humid right now in Chicago, even at 6am, so I made the decision to smoke for 9ish hours at 250° instead of what I'd read about 10-12 at 225°. I assumed the humidity would help keep the meat moist but also slow down the cook time. I'm not sure if that is true or not but in my head it made sense. I ended up leaving it for 9.5 and it turned out really well! It was the first time I was able to achieve a good looking "bark". The meat turned out very moist, tender, slightly sweet and very savory, though not as smokey as I'd hoped.
There are definitely some things I need to learn still. For one, I'm not sure if I put enough wood on. I used 3 chunks of pecan wood, and didn't add any later in the smoke. I'm not sure if that is enough or maybe pecan is just not the flavor I was hoping for. Do you typically add more wood at the beginning? Later into the smoke?
Also, about 5mins after I took the meat off there was a downpour. Thank the rib gods the meat had just finished, because the temp on the smoker dropped down to like 150° in the rain. How would I combat the temp drop if it starts raining during a smoke?
Overall everyone was very happy with the turnout. Many thanks to all the articles and forum posts on here!
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