Howdy -
Got my UDS last weekend and did an initial run of baby backs that turned out great (posted pics the other day).
Anyway, I have a party of 40-45 people this coming weekend and am going to do pork shoulders. We are planning on eating around 3:30pm Saturday afternoon.
Went to Costco and got two large boneless pork shoulders, one 16lbs and the other 13lbs.
So first question is: should I definitely cut these two in half to get them down to two 8lb'ers and two 6.5lb'ers? Makes it easier to smoke?
Going to rub these down tonight and start smoking them Friday night. Just want to get my gameplan in order.
On the UDS I'm planning on smoking these things at 250 degrees as that seems to be the right temp to run at from all the posts I've seen on here.
So second question is: with this much meat, realistically how much time do I have to give myself in order to have these done, rested and pulled before 3:30pm Saturday? I was thinking of throwing them on at Midnight giving me ~15hrs of total time.
Third question, which influences the second is: I'm currently NOT planning on foiling these things at 160. But should I do that anyway in order to speed the process up and/or make better shoulder?
Fourth question is: I'm planning on using Apple to smoke the shoulders with maybe a chunk or two of Hickory thrown in there. Is that a decent combo?
Finally: just wondering how everyone likes to eat these things - what kind of bread to make sandwiches? Anyone like to put stuff like pickles or other "side" items on the sandwiches? I'm planning on having a NC-like BBQ sauce and then something more "traditional" as options.
Will of course have pics for the entire process. Thanks for the great info on here!
Got my UDS last weekend and did an initial run of baby backs that turned out great (posted pics the other day).
Anyway, I have a party of 40-45 people this coming weekend and am going to do pork shoulders. We are planning on eating around 3:30pm Saturday afternoon.
Went to Costco and got two large boneless pork shoulders, one 16lbs and the other 13lbs.
So first question is: should I definitely cut these two in half to get them down to two 8lb'ers and two 6.5lb'ers? Makes it easier to smoke?
Going to rub these down tonight and start smoking them Friday night. Just want to get my gameplan in order.
On the UDS I'm planning on smoking these things at 250 degrees as that seems to be the right temp to run at from all the posts I've seen on here.
So second question is: with this much meat, realistically how much time do I have to give myself in order to have these done, rested and pulled before 3:30pm Saturday? I was thinking of throwing them on at Midnight giving me ~15hrs of total time.
Third question, which influences the second is: I'm currently NOT planning on foiling these things at 160. But should I do that anyway in order to speed the process up and/or make better shoulder?
Fourth question is: I'm planning on using Apple to smoke the shoulders with maybe a chunk or two of Hickory thrown in there. Is that a decent combo?
Finally: just wondering how everyone likes to eat these things - what kind of bread to make sandwiches? Anyone like to put stuff like pickles or other "side" items on the sandwiches? I'm planning on having a NC-like BBQ sauce and then something more "traditional" as options.
Will of course have pics for the entire process. Thanks for the great info on here!