shoulder times

[Austin]

can some one tell me if im thinking right,,im cooking a shoulder,,seems like I was told like 1.5 hours per pound???

[TAR RIVER RAT]

Sounds good,BUT, a stick in thermometer is no guess. Take it to 160*, foil and then to 190+*/195* and put in a cooler for a while. Just me, I'm not good enough to guess at internal temp. Why not be sure?
Tarrib

[Austin]

I use a stick guage but im trying to settle a disagreement between me and a buddy he says 1 hour per pound I say 1.5

[Mic]

Too many variables involved to really say! i.e. pit temp, size of shoulder, foiled or not, how often ya peek, etc. I never consider time with pork. It's done when it's done! :wink: I feel internal temps are more important.

Mic

[JamesB]

Depends totally on the temp you are cooking that hunk o'pig at...

Here is what think...
Cooked at 225 - 235 degrees, 1 1/2 - 2 hrs per lb
Cooked at 275 dgrees, 1 hr per lb

Higher less time, lower more time... makes sense to me... and do go by internal temp, use the time tables just as guide...

James.

[burnt food dude]

Too many variables involved to really say! i.e. pit temp, size of shoulder, foiled or not, how often ya peek, etc. I never consider time with pork. It's done when it's done! :wink: I feel internal temps are more important.

Mic

I agree. I've had some go 2 hours per pound. Its done when its done, and not a second sooner!

[gsmith]

I can't remember any coming close to one hour per pound, mine have always hovered closer to two hours per pound. I do smoke close to 250* and don't peak cause my brinkmann leaks enough already.
This past saturday we smoked 5 butts averaging 5.5 lbs per and they didn't get to 160* until the 8 hour mark, wrapped them in foil, back on the smoker and didn't hit 190* until the 11.5 hour mark.
This is typical of my brinkman and I plan on 12 hours when cooking he butts.
I haven't done enough briskets to figure out how long the brinkman likes on those but I plan on it. :wink:

[Tallfatguy]

OK guys, I'm always searching for the right information on butts. When cooking competition, what do the judges look for? Pulled or sliced?
I know some folks turn in pulled, but I don't know. I know that pulled covers up a lot of sins in the product, but what do the judges want? The last cook off (KCBS) I did here in Tulsa a few weeks ago had about 60-65% CBJ judges.
Inquiring minds want to know, not that it will do any good at my age, but what the heck.

["No Holes barred"]

Well around this part of the country you don't see very many contest with a Butts. So I had never really done any, until a few weeks ago I thought I'd give er a try. MY GOD it took for frieaking ever to reach 190 on a 225 smoke. I was flabbergahsted at how much longer butts take then say brisket. However once I finished cooking them and everyone had gone to bed hungry...................well that was some kinda good eats I'll tell ya right now...................mmmmmm good.

[Paul Taylor]

Hey Austin, here's the way that I do it; If you want pulled pork, cook the thing until you can cleanly pull the shoulder bone out. It may be done in 12 hours, then it may take up to 16 hours. I have heard of PPL going as long as 20 hours too. It all depends. Just play it by ear. However if you want sliced pork shoulder roast. I say go to ahhh,175. That's just me. Hope that this helps.


Paul Taylor

[droller]

I did 4 pork butts last Saturday/Sunday in my offset.. They were all within 6 oz.'s of 8 pounds, and at 225* they took 18 hours. My temp never dropped below 200* and never spiked above 260*. Meat temp got to 175*, dropped back to 168* and stayed there and at 170* for four hour before it started moving up again.

Next time I do butts I think I'll cook at 250*.

[PitBull]

I do them at 250 degrees. They take around 8-9 hours usually and they are fairly good size. But, I've also begun to wrap.

[droller]

I do them at 250 degrees. They take around 8-9 hours usually and they are fairly good size. But, I've also begun to wrap.


What type of smoker do you have? At what temp did you wrap?

[cleglue]

droller,

I smoke butts between 225 and 250. Usually a 7 or 8 pounds takes me about 10 hours. Here is a chart I did on one last year.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cleglue/April22006/BostonButtMedium.JPG

I foil at 170 then take it to 195. I then wrap in more foil and a towel and place it in a dry cooler (igloo) for at least an hour before pulling.

[droller]

droller,

I smoke butts between 225 and 250. Usually a 7 or 8 pounds takes me about 10 hours. Here is a chart I did on one last year.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cleglue/April22006/BostonButtMedium.JPG

I foil at 170 then take it to 195. I then wrap in more foil and a towel and place it in a dry cooler (igloo) for at least an hour before pulling.

Nice chart. My Excel won't let me graph although I do have the time, meat temps and smoker temps (but not the ambient temp) for my cook. I think the secret to a faster cook must be the foil, which I have not used until I take them out of the smoker. I put the first two I took off in my microwave while the last two came up to temp. When I took the first two out to pull, I put the last two in the microwave. The microwave makes a nice little tight box for keeping them warm.

[PitBull]

What type of smoker do you have? At what temp did you wrap?

I have an old Lyfe Tyme 20" offset (haven't tried it on the new pit yet). I wrap at 165 and pull from the pit at 195-200. Any more than that and the meat is toooo tender.

[BBQIL]

I agree there are many variables, but as a rule of thumb, I usually allow about 8 hrs. for about a 6 lb. shoulder, give or take.

[Buckeye]

Hey Droller....I'd check them temp gauges :rolleyes: ........18 hrs. for 8#ers seems "reelee" long. Ya mite a been cookin at 180° or so insted of whut ya thaut wuz 200°.......jus thinkin' out loud heer.:D

[droller]

Hey Droller....I'd check them temp gauges :rolleyes: ........18 hrs. for 8#ers seems "reelee" long. Ya mite a been cookin at 180° or so insted of whut ya thaut wuz 200°.......jus thinkin' out loud heer.:D

Checked the gauges. I use an ET-73 for pit and meat temps during the cook and a final check of the meat with my trusty Thermapen. Gonna move the temp up next time. Also, move and switch the meat around in the pit when it hits the plateau.

[Buckeye]

Checked the gauges. I use an ET-73 for pit and meat temps during the cook and a final check of the meat with my trusty Thermapen. Gonna move the temp up next time. Also, move and switch the meat around in the pit when it hits the plateau.

I'll jus think quietly next time. :idea: :oops:

[droller]

Keep thinking. I appreciate the input. BTW, I did notice I had much, much less grease in my grease pot after the cook. Far less than when I did two butts before.

[DoubleBarrelSmoker]

did a butt yesterday-- tried the high temp version that someone on here suggested. kept temps up in the 300 range for most of the cook ,although I was busy doing other things so temps did go down to the 250 range occasionally. Without foiling[cause I was too lazy to do it] it took almost nine hours to bring a 8 lb. butt to 198*. And it was fantastic.

[kpigout]

I'm with Paul Taylor on this one. I ain't ever temped a Butt or Shoulder. When the bone pulls clean, it's ready. That's it. Done. Pull it.

[Bluegrass BBQ]

I guess I have cooked about 600# of butts so far this summer and I never worry about how long. I concentrate on the temps. 160 and then foil and bring to 200. I have learned you have to check each butt for temp if you are doing a number of them. They all wouldn't reach temp at the same time. Even if they are the same size.