SNAKE RIVER FARMS Whole Bone-In Pork Shoulder

[tnt]

Has anyone out there tried this ???

The online store says:

This phenomenal piece of 100% kurobuta pork is perfect for the backyard barbecuer or a serious competitor. This is a full shoulder with the shank bone still attached to provide the rich flavor and extreme tenderness that make it so special

1 (approx 20 lbs each) Bone-In Pork Shoulder

I just ordered one for delivery in the middle of Oct and wondered if anyone tried it and how it turned out..

I assume that 20 lbs of pork shoulder will take the better part of the day to cook. I'm expecting about 18 - 20 hours.

Anyone have any experience they would like to share ??

All suggestions are appreciated.

Tony

[LarryR]

What are you making?

What are you making with it, pulled or sliced pork?

[cruzmisl]

Well, I never tried the shoulder but have had SRF pork loin before, several times actually and I think it's what they're going to serve me at heavens gate

[tnt]

Larry,

I'm thinking pulled pork..

Tony

[mguerra]

a long duration fire

Your cook may go substantially longer than 18-20 hours, start with a FULL charcoal basket. Normally I don't arrange my charcoal, just dump it in, but for this cook you want to ensure a good transfer of fire from piece to piece throughout the (likely) prolonged cook. Therefore I would arrange it so there is good contact as well as air spaces between all the pieces. You might want to dump out several bags of lump on a tarp or similar, and pull out a basketful of similar sized pieces. Start one or two coals in three or four spots around the basket, to ensure you don't get a central "core burn down". You don't want to start a lot of charcoal, however, the fire will get too hot. Let us know how it goes!

[tnt]

Thanks doc, I will take pictures...

So if I'm planning on dinner at 5:00 on Saturday then I need to start this up at 4 or 5 on Friday ?? or do you think it will take longer ??

[mguerra]

unpredictable

Tough call. A big pork shoulder is unpredictable. The oft mentioned time on BBQ websites is 1-1/2 to 2 hrs./lb. If true, you need 30 to 40 hours. Trying to work backwards from party start time is a dicey proposition. In a perfect world, you will pull the pork shoulder off the fire one to eight hours before party start, foil, wrap in towels and place in cooler. Well insulated, it will still be hot after up to eight hours. So, if you buy the cooking time above, you should start it 41 to 48 hours ahead. Thing is, it might cook faster. If it were me, I would start it at 41 hours ahead. If it got done way early, I would hold it in a 170 degree oven tightly foiled til pulling time. This is the problem with a party low and slow. What you really don't want is to have everyone expecting to eat at a given time and not get your meat done for 2 or 3 or more hours after that! Better to get done a little early and hold. By the way, you are cooking to a finish temperature, right? 185 to 200 will be perfect. Here's option B: Cook it several days ahead, pull it, bag it, freeze or refrigerate it, then reheat it in the oven or KK. It's about 99% as good as same day Q. But it's way more cool and "partyesque" to have your guests watch you pull it and grab little bites of the fresh steaming pork as you go!!!

[cruzmisl]

I have absolutely no idea how long it will take but I can say I've had butts finish at 8am. I wrapped them and stored in a cooler and they were still too hot to pull at 5pm when the guests arrived.

I'm with Doc on this one, give it extra time. Nothing worse than hungry guests and undercooked pork, especially of this caliber.

[Syzygies]

I don't have experience with this source, but we've switched from butt to shoulder (butt + picnic) with no change in protocol. We cook 21 hours or so, at 220 F or so. Perhaps higher, less or a bit more time.

Pulled pork is done when a push at the meat reveals a loose bundle threatening to fall apart, not at any given temperature. This makes sense, even if one stipulates for simplicity that all meat is identical: Final temperature is the barest audit trail of how the meat got there, with durations at lower temperatures affecting how completely connective tissue has dissolved. The final internal temperature tells you nothing about these durations. A shove tells you everything.

Let me say it: Pulled pork is generally dreadful. Not yours or mine, of course, but what passes for pulled pork at large events or commercial establishments. Romanticizing stringy greased rope fragments is how they get away with palming off inattentively overcooked pork. My very traditional French cooking teacher nevertheless disparaged tradition, calling it "the last bad performance."

A pork shoulder can be wonderful, and not yet at the point where it disintegrates completely into this potentially ghastly, overcooked "standard".

Why might a shoulder cook like a butt? Once a cylinder is long enough, it cooks in from the sides, with a bit of "burnt ends" effect on both ends. From this perspective, the cylinder could be 20' long and still cook the same (if it fit in the cooker). One just gets more middle, still just two ends.

So switch to shoulders as a rule, but cook them exactly as you know best already, without fretting. You'll only make minor future adjustments.

[mguerra]

moisture

I'll partially agree with Syz. A finish temp of 190 with a cook at 225 will be more tender and easier to pull than a finish temp of 190 cooked at 300. I know, I have done it. Even though the finish temp is the same, the longer 225 cook breaks down the proteins more. I have never had a butt or shoulder either over or under done when cooked to 190 at 225. So I use the finish temp as my gauge as to when it is done. This is ONLY because I don't want to open the lid! If I could somehow reach in there and do a feel test without opening up the cooker, I would probably do that. In fact, that is precisely how we do the fast hot brisket! We open the lid and check for tender. But, in that case, the brisket is wrapped in foil so losing a vessel full of moist air is of no consequence. The butt or shoulder is not foiled and I don't want to open that cooker. Having said all that, I presume Syz gets good results opening his cooker to check. So maybe everything I said is moot!

[tnt]

Well I try not to open the cooker that's why I bought my stoker unit. I can put in a temp probe (or two) and not open the lid. I think a target temp of 190 to 195 is where I'm heading. I'll set the pit at 225. I like the suggestion to aim for a early finish and wrap it and put it in a cooler...

Thanks for all the info I guess I'll figure about 34 hrs and an early stop time so if I need it I'll have some head room..

Now I'll just sit back and wait for mid October...

Tony

[LarryR]

I agree, I'd plan on 35 - 40 hours if cooking at 225.

Sounds like an awesome cook, I love nice long cooks. Please take some pictures and if possible estimate how much fuel you use throughout the cook. I'm very jealous.

[tnt]

Larry,

I plan on pictures.

I'm going to load up the grill with some extruded coconut charcoal and hope it lasts for 35 to 40 hours...

I've never tried cooking anything this long the longest was the brisket at about 14 hours.. so this should be interesting (hopefully in a good way)

Looking forward to the adventure.

Tony

[slu]

Smaller Pork Shoulders

For what it's worth, I've been doing about 8lb pieces of pork shoulder, bone in, at 225 degrees, and pulling them at 185 degrees internal temperature. These took 16 hours on the KK. You might want to consider acquiring some extruded coconut charcoal for your cook. Until Dennis' shipment arrives, here is a possible source. http://www.charcos.biz/

[tnt]

OK the pork shoulder is here(pictures coming) but it only weighs in at 16.1 Lbs.

It came on Wednesday so I called Snake River to ask about the size. The web site claims it should be appx 20 Lbs I thought 16.1 was a little light. Kim at Snake river agreed with me a sent a second shoulder that made it today. I just LOVE good customer service.. I also ordered a pork collar and it came today also.

So now I have two shoulders 1 at 16.1 and a second shoulder at 15.6 plus a pork collar at 5.3. I am expecting about 25 - 30 people on Sunday at 3:00 for pulled pork. I think 32 Lbs of shoulder is to much and 15 or 16 is to little.

My current plan is to cook the 16.1 Lb shoulder and the 5.3Lb collar.

So based on the information in this chain I will shoot for the pork to be done by 1:00.

So I figure 1.5 - 2.0 hours per pound that puts the shoulder on by 5:00AM Saturday and the collar goes on by 3:00Am on Sunday..

Any comments or ideas ???

Tony

[tnt]

OK it's 5:00 on a Saturday and the adventure starts...

[slu]

Re: SNAKE RIVER FARMS Whole Bone-In Pork Shoulder

So how did it come out? Cook time? Pics of finished shoulder?

[tnt]

Re: SNAKE RIVER FARMS Whole Bone-In Pork Shoulder

Well the bad news is I completely blew the pictures of the finished product however the good news is I now have a second one to try to do better .....

It turned out great everyone loved it. I put out two trays one pork shoulder and one pork collar. People loved both, they do taste different (cooked exactly the same way). and it went about 50 - 50 on which was better. In the end we went through 16# of pork shoulder and 5# of pork collar with nothing left for left overs.

I promise I'll take pictures on the next one which should be coming soon ..

Tony

[slu]

Re: SNAKE RIVER FARMS Whole Bone-In Pork Shoulder

Sounds like you all had a greast time. Too bad the winds were not out of the north that day. I would have smelled it roasting! How many hours did it take to cook the shoulder?

[Syzygies]

Re: SNAKE RIVER FARMS Whole Bone-In Pork Shoulder

A 20 lb pork shoulder from Diablo Foods in Lafayette, CA, just went on to bring tomorrow night to what some dear friends consider an intimate gathering. (There will be lots of other food; she's a great cook.)