Quote:
Originally Posted by DrRyan
IMO, that is way too high of a temperature to be smoking a shoulder at. I just smoked two a couple days ago and I always smoke them at ~195 until the temperature stabilizes at 175-185 and then increase the temp closer to 275. It takes quite a bit longer but slow and low is the only way to go when smoking. I don't think bringing is necessary but I did brine but the last two I did on a recommendation from a friend and I did like the result. I was able to get a serious bark on the shoulders and the meat was still incredibly moist and basically pulled itself when it came time to pull the pork.
Take it for what it's worth, but I have been doing them under 200 degrees for a long time and everyone loves them. I took one of the shoulders to a group of about 20 people that work for me and the entire shoulder was gone in less than 10 minutes.
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I typically cook mine between 225-250, if the temp gets to 275 there is no reason to freak out. It is my understanding that it is unsafe to have a large pork shoulder on the smoker under 225, there is too big of a bacteria risk. Same thing with a turkey.