Picnic-cut Pork Shoulder - First time on the NTM WSM

[MartyG]

The 18.5 WSM is New To Me (NTM) and I fired it up this morning for some pulled pork. Grabbed a picnic-cut shoulder (just because I have not tried that cut yet) prepped it last night and it's on the smoker this morning. Chilly day here in PA - 32 at the moment - so I may have to tend the fire more closely. So much fun!
Trimmed and ready last night - about 10 lbs:

A little mustard...

and some homemade rub:

Then wrapped in the fridge for the night:

Lit a dozen coals in the mini-chinmey and got the WSM up and running around 7am;


11:45 - locked in at 225ish and looking good. Nice day for a smoke - no wind!


4:00 - sun is going down and so are temps,  so I added fuel and lit a few more coals. Internal temps (155) not budging - the dreaded doldrums of pork shoulder smoking. Even so, it's looking good:

Gotta love the mini-chimney!

Still more to come...

[Thin Blue Smoke]

Glad to see you were able to get that fired up Marty!  This is making me anxious for one to land in my house next month!  (I hope the wine in the first shot was for you and not the pork )

[Bman]

If I have this right....

10 pound shoulder
On the WSM around 7am
225 degrees (assuming the thermo is accurate)

What and when are your plans for this cook?

[MartyG]

It's coming along. Internal temp just under 160 at the moment. Made a few minor adjustments to the vents to keep it stable as it's getting colder here now. Added water as it was running low, but I had not filled it to capacity to begin with.

Hoping to get to temp around 7, then let it rest before I pull it around 9. My wife is hoping to have it for dinner, but I will have to grill up a couple steaks instead. Guess that means I get to fire up a second kettle. Poor me. 

[MartyG]

5:45 - Internal temp just under 170. Slow going, and the ambient temp around 30 doesn't help. Lid temp at 250 now, we'll see how long that lasts - may have to add some coals again in a couple hours.

[Bman]

At this point, I'd foil and finish in the oven.  It's already taken as much smoke & flavor as it's gunna take.  From your 2 posts, you went up 10 degrees over 3 hours.  From 170 to finish (190-205) is a fairly slow go.  Hopefully that 3 hour period was your stall and you're not just entering it.

[MartyG]

Good point Bman. I'll see where I am in another hour then throw in the towel. It's 7:30 now. I just checked temps again and I'm at 175. Tick, tick, tick. On a brighter note, my wife and I just had a nice NY strip and zucchini, with a few bacon-wrapped jalapenos for dinner - thanks to the Performer and gourmet grate. Amazing how quick that goes when I've been waiting all day for the pork. In any case, I'm confident it will be good eats tomorrow.

[Up In Smoke]

Looks Great. Glad you finally got to use it. I love the mini chimney,I am going to have to get one.

[1buckie]

  Lookie the BONE  on that dawg !!!!


Marty, another way to go on these is when it gets to 155~165, wrap it with a small amount of liquid, crank the temp up & destroy the stall....

Stall will usually be in that temp range, wrapping will protect it from drying @ higher temps, higher temps will force the stall, you'll eat sooner, although NY's & accompniment sounds just fine also !!!!!

[MartyG]

Got her in the cooler now. 90 mins in the oven at 250 did the trick, and the kitchen smells great! I'll be pulling pork in a little while, presuming I stay up. This was a fun cook for a cold day.

[MartyG]

11:30pm. Out of the cooler and pulled to perfection. Great smoke ring and the bones slid right out. Nearly all the fat had melted away, leaving behind some of the best pork I've had. I added nothing liquid to the foil pack in the oven, and it stayed moist without softening the bark. I would definitely do a picnic cut again. Love it!

[OGlenn]

Very nice cook, especially during turkey season!  I love smoking picnics and having cooked several this past summer on both the WSM and the kettle, I prefer the kettle for a single one using the snake method. The WSM rocks when I am doing multiples.  Either way, when you can easily pull that naked bone out, good eating is on the way!

[wyd]

Yummmmmmmmmmmm.  That looks really good.  I'm starting to drool.

[jcnaz]

I have had good results with this cut on the kettle.

Your thread is making me want one of these WSM thingies though!

[MartyG]

Gotta love the mini-chimney!

And I have to say that I'm beginning to fall in love with paraffin cubes! Having an extra grate over an ash bucket (a favorite yard sale find years ago, they don't make buckets like they used to!) makes a perfect staging platform for extra hot coals when needed. Although I typically fire up the Performer for a cook, one little cube gets the job done, and the ash falls straight down into the bucket, not the kettle. Adding hot coals to a long cook on a cold day makes this a must have.