Picnic Shoulder question
 

Good morning! I was asked to smoke a couple of butts for a friend's family reunion today. I told him to pick up a couple of 10 lb pork butts. He brought me 2 shoulders. I hadn't done those before but assuming they should cook about the same as the butts.

Put them on yesterday at 3 at 225 with my Guru. This morning at 5:45 were at 182, temp consistent at 225 in the pit. Bumped temp up to 250 so I could make sure done by noon to foil, towel and place in cooler for this afternoon. At 8 probe temp showed 177 and now shows 175. I am guessing these must be going through a 2nd temp hold. Double checked with Themapen to confirm nothing wrong with probe in Guru.

Have you run into this with the pincic's? Small bone on the outside pulls. I'm pulling at noon whether or not temp is where I want it at 200.

If you wrap them in foil now and put them back in the cooker you should get a boost in temps, if you pull at 190-195 and cooler for an hour or so they should be fine

Dont forget the Pron!

Thanks. Will do that now. Hadn't thought about that. I do brisket all the time like that. I'll do a pron before foiling since they are heading out all wrapped up.

Don't forget the "It's done when it's done" rule. Temps are a guideline, and depending on where you put the probe, there could be a distinct variation. If the bone pulls easily, you're done.

In regards to using shoulders, many people, myself included, find shoulders to be more flavorful than butts. The bone adds to the flavor and (in theory) transmits heat throughout the meat.

I have had that problem with picnic's, not too much you can do except boost the temp as you did already.

Sorry, no prons as I had too many things going on at one time, but as mentioned I foiled and placed on smoker for 2 hours. Wrapped in towels in cooler for 2 hours. All meat on both 11 lb'ers were juicy and tender and came completely off the bone. They weren't overcooked. I will also agree that now that I have tried the picnic, I may just continue to cook them. Very flavorful. I did a 14 lb brisket as well and both were the hit of the reunion. I really appreciated the assistance.