Cooking a pork picnic shoulder (fresh)

Cafe Society
1

So I’ve got this 8 1/2-pound fresh (i.e. not smoked or cured) whole pork picnic shoulder in the fridge, and I’m looking for suggestions/recipes as to how to cook it. From what I gather about the cut, I shouldn’t treat it like a typical roast. However, all the recipes I’ve found on the net so far talk about smoked picnic shoulders, not fresh ones. I don’t have a smoker or a crock pot, and I’d have to cut it into much smaller pieces if I want to put it in my dutch oven. I got it thinking that it was the cut pulled pork or some such delight was made from, but now, well, I’m a bit stuck. Oh, did I mention that my in-laws are on their way over for dinner tomorrow night? I’ll be around all day so long cooking times won’t be a problem. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Rhythm

2

I’m no chef, so I won’t have the right terms… Get a good Polska Kielbasa (hope I got that right) make and X cut into the roast and insert it into the pork shoulder (no snickering as you do that…) . Cut some garlic into little ‘spears’ and insert into slits in the outside of the roast.

Then roast the whole thing in a charcoal Weber. I usually do this with a butt or sirloin, but it should be fine with a picnic roast too… enjoy.

3

Do you have any type of grill? Gas, charcoal, anything? If so, here goes:

This is one of my favorite cuts of meat to cook. Relatively cheap, tender and flavorful.

First:

Brine the meat. Soak it overnight in a brine marinade. Put the pork in a big pot. Cover it with water. Take the pork back out. Dissolve as much salt as you can in the water. Add other flavors if you want (e.g. wine, beer, garlic, bay, fruit juice, rum, etc…)

Plan on cooking your shoulder for several hours at looow heat. Cook it indirectly (i.e. put the fire on one side of your grill and put the meat on the other. Cover.) Cook with aromatic fuel if at all possible. Best would be using chunks of real wood (hickory, cherry, mesquite). If not, use chips of said wood that have been soaked in water for a little while. The idea is to make them smoke. This is what I usually do: Soak the chips for at least 30 minutes, then wrap a big handful of them loosely in aluminium foil. Place the packet on the coals so it’ll burn and smoke can escape easily. Replace the packets every time you time you open the grill (don’t forget that you shouldn’t be opening it any more than once an hour or so.)

Keep the grill covered and keep the meat as far as possible from the fire. Replenish the coals every 90 minutes or so. Replenish the chips at the same time. Don’t take the cover off the grill any more than you have to.

I would let the meat cook for a minimum of 3 hours. More is better, as long as you’re cooking over low, slow, smoky heat.

When you take the meat off the grill, let it sit for at least 15 minutes. If you want it to stay warm, cover it loosely with aluminium foil. Make a tent. Then, when you’re ready to serve, use two forks to shred the meat.

You’ll love it.

It’s a way of life.

4

Low and slow baby low and slow.
A picnic has lots of connective tissue and will be tough as a boot, unless you cook it at a low temp for a long time which will
A) render the fat out
B) cause the connective tissue to turn into gelatin.
Google some recipes for pulled pork.
Anyway to save you some time
Season with a good rub, add salt if necessary
Start you BBQ and stabilize it at 200-250 degrees F
Add some wood chips apple is good.
Cook until the internal temp is about 200-208 degrees F.
This will take anywhere from 8-20 hours.
Yes you read that right, it can take up to a day to cook.
Anyway after pulling off the pit allow it to rest for about 20 minutes and then “comb” the meat with a large fork to pull it. This will allow you to remove any remaining fat, and connective tissue.
Reseason the rest, and add sauce (vinegar based is considered traditional)
Serve on a cheap white bread bun with cold slaw and yellow mustard.
Enjoy the food of the gods.

A couple of notes:
[ol]
[li]You will only get about 4.5-5 lbs of food out of an 8.5 lb roast. You might want to get a 2nd one, it is no more work to do 2[/li][li]If you use a meat thermometer, it will plateau and possibly even fall for several hours in the middle of the cook. This is normal[/li][li] No the meat won’t be dry[/li][/ol]

5

Thanks so far!

August’s post came in after I hit the hay (with Bonny Lee, I might add :slight_smile: ) so it’s too late to brine it. We have a cantankerous gas grill with an unknown quantity of gas, so that’s a long odds crap shoot. Is there any way I can do this in our conventional oven? I can set the temperature as low as 175. As I said, the dutch oven is way too small to fit the roast, but I do have a large enough roasting pan/rack, scads of aluminum foil, and a digital remote thermometer.

Or am I going to end up serving them chicken?

6

You can do it no problem in the oven, just rub it with whatever seasonings you want and maybe a rubbed coating of oil or butter and slow roast around 250F for several hours. You could also roast at slightly higher temperatures (350F) if you wish to cut the cooking time. I would probably add a small amount of flavorful liquid, like wine or stock and do more of a braise at higher temperatures to keep the meat moist. I would also reccomend covering it with foil for the first couple of hours.

7

You can braise it. That means the meat will be half-covered in water and cooked a long time with a cover on the pot. The long cooking will, asRick says, convert the connective tissue to gelatin, and the resulting meat will be fall-apart tender.

8

Here’s a recipe from Fenris that I can personally vouch for. Mmmm, mmmm, good.

9

If you’re grilling a shoulder that has a fat side, that side should be facing up. All that fat will run through the shoulder, making it jucier.