Hitman Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Another tennis party this Saturday, so I agreed to do another shoulder, even though I have another dinner party to go to. So, off I went tonight to Costco to pick up the meat. Much to my annoyance, Costco didn't have any! Plan B was to go to H Mart, picked up two 10 pound bone-in shoulders. They also had a thick layer of fat on one side, and around the leg stump. I took it off, leaving a thin layer of fat (mostly). Both shoulders were $1.39 a pound, but the Costco meat was very carefully trimmed of connective tissue, so lots of the little muscle groups were loose. This made it difficult to tie up with twine, and as a result there were hunks of meat hanging a little loose, which cooked more quickly than the main hunk. The H Mart meat was all in one piece, as the bone holds it together. No need for twine at all. I applied lots of rub, put each shoulder in a trash bag, put them in a cooler with a bag of ice and several freezer packs. That should keep them cool until tomorrow night, and the fridge won't stink of garlic and mesquite, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Hi Hit, what you have there is a pork "picnic." Did/does it look something like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 picnic observations I don't often cook a picnic, but they seem just as good to me as a Boston Butt. The first one, I tried to take off that skin, which was a PIA. Now I just cook it with the skin on, and it comes off WAY easier after you've cooked it! Go to any BBQ forum and you will find endless mental masturbation concerning whether to cook fat/ skin side up or down. As long as you are cooking indirect, it does not matter. If, for some crazy reason you did a low and slow direct, there is probably merit to cooking fat side down. But why would anyone do that? There is a school of thought that promotes fat side up to allow "basting". That's a crock of s---. First off, you don't need any "basting" in a KK. And second, the melting fat just drips off the surface of the meat. NO WAY can that juice penetrate the cellular structure of the muscle fibers of the meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 The "picnic" shoulder is all on one piece now, but will it fall apart while it's cooking? Should I wrap it in twine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 will it fall apart? No more so than a butt, and most likely when you move it from the grill. I like to use a commercial aluminum pizza peel as a "spatula" at times like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Good idea --- I have one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 I found a huge spatula from Weber at our local Backyard BBQ store,( a good friend from where I almost bought a BGE) I can usually lift an entire pork butt with one. Works great for whole chix too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Ahh, but David, they make pizza peels that could pick up a whole beef shoulder clod without blinking. Anyhow, restaurant supply stores are fun to browse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Today I learned that two 10 pound picnic shoulders cook a lot faster than one 15 pound shoulder. Lat night I got the KK temp fairly stable at 200 degrees around 11 PM, went to bed. Top vent was open less than 1/4 turn, bottom opening about the size of a dime. I cooked at two levels, with one shoulder on the main grill, the other above it on the upper/sear grill. Drip pan was on the lower grill, with 1 cup of water, one cup of white vinegar. Got up at 6:30 AM, the KK temp was around 230, & the upper shoulder was already at 195 degrees, so I pulled it off right away. The lower shoulder was at 185, so I closed all the vents on the KK, let the shoulder sit in the grill for another 45 minutes. Internal temp got up to 188, & when it dropped back to 187, I pulled it off. For my next cook for a tennis party, I will start early in the morning, cook during the day. Will make it much easier to monitor the temps. 10-12 hours should be plenty time, unless it's a larger party and I decide to do two big shoulders. The pizza peel worked great to get the shoulders off the grill. Starting to get the hang of this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conodo12 Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 You are definitely getting the hang of this Hitman! It's interesting to me how many folks think that if you cook two 10lb. pieces of meat it will take the same time as one 20lb. piece of meat! Not so as you have discovered. That's why so many BBQ joints cook up larger quantities of smaller sized pieces of pork for pulling. They can get more done in less time to feed the masses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 your body was not completely heat soaked at 11pm.. Lat night I got the KK temp fairly stable at 200 degrees around 11 PM, went to bed. Got up at 6:30 AM, the KK temp was around 230 This shows that your body was not completely heat soaked at 11pm and then when it was the same amount of fuel burning brought the temp up to 230º. The only reason your temps will ever not be stable is the body is still absorbing or has just started to reflect/give off heat. Start a little earlier and set your airflow to where you know you had it before for a desired temp.. It will end up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Thanks for the advice. I'm learning that you just need a tiny amount of air to maintain a low temp. I guess I've been overly concerned about the fire going out in the middle of the night, so I'm starting out with a little too much opening in the upper vent. Another thing I learned is that I don't like the picnic shoulders nearly so much as the larger shoulders from Costco. Costco does a really great job of trimming the meat of all the connective tissue and inter-muscle fat. As a result, the shoulder is much looser, and require some twine to hold it together. Would be nice to find a twine "bag" that I could slip the shoulder into. Also, the rub goes right on the meat, not on the fat. So, the bark stays with the meat when you pull it apart. The picnic shoulder is a lot more labor intensive. First, you have to decide whether to cook it with the skin on, or remove it. With the skin on, the rub is not going to sink into the meat. Even when I removed the skin (took about 20 minutes to do both shoulders), there was still a thin layer of fat on top of the meat. This did not really turn into bark, it was still fairly fatty when I started to pull the meat, and I decided not to include it. Pulling the Costco shoulder was a breeze --- it practically fell apart, and there was NO fat. The picnic shoulders took a while to pull, and it was MESSY, with lots of fat, membranes, and bones to discard. Guess I need to also try a Boston butt, just don't know where to buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Couldn't agree with you more re: Picnics. I use them for Pernil and that's it, never for PP for all the reasons you stated. See if you can locate a bone in Boston Butt, it's my preference (even over Costcos boneless). I belong to another BBQ forum with about 4,000 members/bbq enthusiasts, I'd be happy to post asking for good meat sources in your area. Just let me know . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 That would be nice. I live in Annandale, VA, just inside the Washington Beltway south of DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trudeto Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Hitman, i get bone in boston butts in a two pack from BJ's, if you have access to them. I live 60 mi south of DC in Southern Md, and i get them there all the time. i can usually fit 3 10 lb butts on the main grill with a drip pan on the sear grill below it. i usually start the fire at 10PM, put the butts on around 1130 or so, after having injected and rubbed them the day before. I have used both the stoker or just 'go manual' targeting temps around 220 or so. In the AM, i check and monitor throughout the morning. Whenever they're done, I pull them, wrap in either foil or plastic wrap, then towels and into a cooler for up to several hours. I pull one for dinner, and then pull the rest, and bag Foodsaver bags for future quick meals. You can cook 30 lb of butts as easily as you can make 1, and with a Foodsaver, you can just bring a pot of water to a boil, and put a still frozen pkg of pulled port in the pot for 20-30 min, and you're ready to go!! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Here's what the guys came back with as options for Butts (and other Qing meats):Wegman's, Harris Teeter, BJ's and Costco (which you're already aware of). Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 There is a Wegman's right near the Costco I go to , but I bet they don't sell pork shoulders or butts for $1.39/lb!! Harris Teeter is a possibility, but I don't have a BJ's membership. Next time I am at Costco I will ask one of their butchers whether they ever have Boston Butts. I'm still a little leery of a bone-in cut though, seems like it would be messier to pull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryR Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Here's a link to the THREAD These guys claim you can get them for .99 a lb at Wegmans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Stores here (FL) have sale fliers that come out on Wed every week. I googled all the Store Co's in the area then bookmarked them. Every few months one of the stores will have ribs or butts on sale around $1 a pound. When low on KK feed I check the meat dept. on each web site, buy meat on sale and stash in the freezer. I buy chicken by the case the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 bone in Lots of people think bone in is the best. I don't care, they pull the same, they both taste great, use either! And I make 'em all the time, so I know! In fact, I've got two bone in right now out there cooking. Cook every Boston Butt you can lay your hands on and you'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
