Food and Drink Smoked shoulder for pulled pork question - Page 5

**mlyonsd** · 03-24-2011, 09:30 AM

Ok, I've been smoking since the mid 80's but have never done a pork shoulder for pulled pork.

Yeah yeah, I know so don't even start with the insults.

I'm planning on taking the plunge and smoking one this weekend for a March Madness watching party.

Been looking at recipes and I have a question to the seasoned shoulder/butt smokers out there.....do you pre-soak in a brine?

KCTitus · 03-26-2011, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

I can see if a guy didn't know about stalling he might up the heat for no reason.

Shhh...dont tell anyone, it's the secret to good 'Q

**mlyonsd** · 03-26-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCTitus

Sure....you didnt panic, left it to do its thing, and that's the key.

Amazing what you can learn on CP.

There's not a whole lot of things I haven't smoked so this one had me scratching my head.

Stewie · 03-26-2011, 02:34 PM

Wait. You did a whole pork shoulder?

Pork shoulder is both the butt and picnic. The shoulder is a great cut, but if you did a whole shoulder it needs to be treated differently than a butt or picnic cut cooked individually.

**mlyonsd** · 03-26-2011, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCTitus

Shhh...dont tell anyone, it's the secret to good 'Q

Well I still wouldn't know if you hadn't spilled the beans.

**mlyonsd** · 03-26-2011, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewie

Wait. You did a whole pork shoulder?

Pork shoulder is both the butt and picnic. The shoulder is a great cut, but if you did a whole shoulder it needs to be treated differently than a butt or picnic cut cooked individually.

No it was just the butt. What's different about the whole shoulder?

KCTitus · 03-26-2011, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R8ers

Ignorant statement there guy, I would love to try KC BBQ or any other for that matter and after I ate it I would tell you if I liked it or not...
Eat it first, if you don't like it, then bitch.

BBQ is BBQ -- smoked meats. The only difference between the regions is what they do to the meat afterward. Im not a fan of vinegary watery NC style sauce. They make some mean pork, but leave the cole slaw on the side and dont put any sauce on mine and Im good.

That said, Im no fan of Arthur Bryants sauce either.

Stewie · 03-26-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

No it was just the butt. What's different about the whole shoulder?

The shoulder is a much bigger cut... from the shoulder to the hoof. We humans have skinny arms, but think of the whole shoulder as your upper arm (bicep area) and forearm. The pork butt is your upper arm, the picnic is your forearm. The picnic cut is less fatty, buy damn good. The whole shoulder, done right, is killer.

R8RFAN · 03-26-2011, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCTitus

BBQ is BBQ -- smoked meats. The only difference between the regions is what they do to the meat afterward. Im not a fan of vinegary watery NC style sauce. They make some mean pork, but leave the cole slaw on the side and dont put any sauce on mine and Im good.

That said, Im no fan of Arthur Bryants sauce either.

Yup it's a regional thing, I am not into the thick sweet sauces but I would love to try any regions Q , the main difference is we do pork and most other places call bbq beef....

I will not snub my nose at any of it, I just like to eat...

**mlyonsd** · 03-26-2011, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewie

The shoulder is a much bigger cut... from the shoulder to the hoof. We humans have skinny arms, but think of the whole shoulder as your upper arm (bicep area) and forearm. The pork butt is your upper arm, the picnic is your forearm. The picnic cut is less fatty, buy damn good. The whole shoulder, done right, is killer.

Guy, is that you?

So how do you do it differently?

R8RFAN · 03-26-2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewie

The shoulder is a much bigger cut... from the shoulder to the hoof. We humans have skinny arms, but think of the whole shoulder as your upper arm (bicep area) and forearm. The pork butt is your upper arm, the picnic is your forearm. The picnic cut is less fatty, buy damn good. The whole shoulder, done right, is killer.

When I was a kid (16) I worked in a local BBQ joint here that cooked whole shoulders, we had to break them down and chop them or slice them, it's an excellent tasting part of the pig.

We use to pull the skin off the cooked shoulders and take a knife and cut the layer of fat off the inside of the skin, then we would drop it in the deep fryer and have killer pork skins to munch on, we would dip them in BBQ sauce.

Good Stuff

Stewie · 03-26-2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R8ers

Yup it's a regional thing, I am not into the thick sweet sauces but I would love to try any regions Q , the main difference is we do pork and most other places call bbq beef....

I will not snub my nose at any of it, I just like to eat...

True dat. The only issue here is that beef BBQ is mainly Texas. Most other areas do a brisket, but that's it for beef. The rest is pork. You'll rarely find beef ribs, as an example, in a BBQ restaurant outside of Texas. Not that they're not tasty, but it's not the focus.

Eating BBQ = Greatness

R8RFAN · 03-26-2011, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewie

True dat. The only issue here is that beef BBQ is mainly Texas. Most other areas do a brisket, but that's it for beef. The rest is pork. You'll rarely find beef ribs, as an example, in a BBQ restaurant outside of Texas. Not that they're not tasty, but it's not the focus.

Eating BBQ = Greatness

I read alot here about brisket, I will come out one day and try this stuff... sounds delicious.

R8RFAN · 03-26-2011, 03:03 PM

this chick has an annoying voice but it's a pretty good example of Lexington Style BBQ here in NC

Bill Lundberg · 03-26-2011, 04:34 PM

The catfish just went on.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

03-26-2011, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Lundberg

The catfish just went on.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

See you in an hour.

03-24-2011, 09:30 AM
mlyonsd Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Spink, SD Casino cash: $-2016238	Smoked shoulder for pulled pork question Ok, I've been smoking since the mid 80's but have never done a pork shoulder for pulled pork. Yeah yeah, I know so don't even start with the insults. I'm planning on taking the plunge and smoking one this weekend for a March Madness watching party. Been looking at recipes and I have a question to the seasoned shoulder/butt smokers out there.....do you pre-soak in a brine?
Posts: 39,459

03-26-2011, 02:34 PM	#63
Stewie MVP Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West of the Equator Casino cash: $-1610099	Wait. You did a whole pork shoulder? Pork shoulder is both the butt and picnic. The shoulder is a great cut, but if you did a whole shoulder it needs to be treated differently than a butt or picnic cut cooked individually.
Posts: 13,833

03-26-2011, 03:03 PM	#73
R8RFAN Molôn Labé Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: North Carolina Casino cash: $8466872	this chick has an annoying voice but it's a pretty good example of Lexington Style BBQ here in NC
Posts: 23,182

03-26-2011, 04:34 PM	#74
Bill Lundberg American Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Overland Park Casino cash: $10004925	The catfish just went on. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Attached Thumbnails __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after. ~Henry David Thoreau
Posts: 3,919