I got a couple of Boston butts and started them smoking this morning at around 7, so they’ve been in the smoker for about 10 hrs. I only applied smoke for the first 5 or so, so the smoking is done. They are currently sitting at about 160 degrees and I need to get to 190.
Since all I’m doing is trying to heat them (slowly still) I would wrap them up in foil, pour a little brine in the wrap, and put them in a roasting pan in my kitchen oven till they are done.
My question is: Is there any reason not to do this with a propane smoker after the smoking has completed? I figure once the smoking is done it’s essentially just a big propane oven so I might as well just save the gas and move it inside.
Is this a fair assessment?
I can see leaving it to cook over charcoal or wood if thats how you started (and that’s the kind of smoker you have) but I can’t for the life of me think of any reason to finish cooking it out on my propane smoker.
Any thoughts?
Oh, BTW, this is my first time ever smoking anything.
The 190 is necessary for the collagen breakdown to be complete and for the shoulder to become tender. And if you want it to pull, you’re looking at 195-200, but the temp can vary.
Anyhow, yes, you can foil it and finish it in the oven or in the propane smoker. Or don’t foil it at all, so you can keep that nice bark you’ve worked to build up. Most, if not all, of the smoke the shoulder can take has been taken at the 4 hour or so point.
At 140, the meat tightens up and the smoke can no longer penetrate. You may be able to coax a bit more in after the plateau, but I don’t think it would be a noticeable difference. We’ve moved butts inside to finish in the oven when we’re pressed for time. They can be a bit persnickety and plateau for ages–I’ve had them stay at 160-165 for several hours before. It’s usually a 14-18 hour smoke for us in the Egg. Definitely something you have to plan ahead of time.
Well, just at first glance, that’s what a lot of commercial BBQ joints do, they give it a bit of time for “hotboxing”. Some say the low and m(o)isty, tented or covered environment in a low oven, hot box, or steamer box improves the tenderness of their shoulder or ribs… I tend to think that it can be a good thing or bad thing, depending… especially in the case of shoulder or whole hog. All things considered I would rather take a cut to completion in the smoker, tent, and serve immediately after resting.
SUCCESS! The meat was perfectly cooked. The bone literally fell out of one of the pork butts. I wasnt able to transfer one of them to the platter for me to shredd the meat because it was falling apart as I was picking it up. The only thing that didn’t work out was there wasn’t much smoke flavor at all. This smoker has a very small wood box and it seemed to struggle generating a lot of smoke even though I soaked the chips first. It was hickory, maybe that was why? Dunno. Either way the meat tastes awesome just from the brine and rub so I can’t complain since this is my first smoke!
Any tips on getting stronger smoke flavor?
Also had very little bark since I wrapped it to finish in the oven. Tastes good though.
SUCCESS! The meat was perfectly cooked. The bone literally fell out of one of the pork butts. I wasnt able to transfer one of them to the platter for me to shredd the meat because it was falling apart as I was picking it up. The only thing that didn’t work out was there wasn’t much smoke flavor at all. This smoker has a very small wood box and it seemed to struggle generating a lot of smoke even though I soaked the chips first. It was hickory, maybe that was why? Dunno. Either way the meat tastes awesome just from the brine and rub so I can’t complain since this is my first smoke!
Any tips on getting stronger smoke flavor?
Oh, i also overshot a little on the temp as it was about 220 when got it out of the oven.
Also had very little bark since I wrapped it to finish in the oven. Tastes good though.
1 - Hickory is among the strongest flavored woods. I usually use a blend of hickory and oak or hickory and maple as hickory on its own is a little too smoky for me.
2 - You don’t want a lot of white billowing smoke. This type of smoke (usually from wood that is too “green” or wet) deposits all sorts of nasty creosote on your meat, making it very bitter. I made the mistake once of using very wet wood to smoke in a poorly ventilated Brinkman water smoker and quickly learned what creosote tastes like. It tasted like I had just smoked two packs of Marloboro Reds. What you want is a thin, whispy, bluish smoke. That’s clean smoke flavor. Now, I’ve never had good experience using wood chips. I generally only use chunks or split logs. Is it possible to use chunks in your smoker, or is it only made for chips?
3 - Your smoked pork shoulder should taste smoked, but it’s not going to be overwhelmingly smoky, because the shoulder is a rather large chunk of meat (8-16 pounds or so, depending on whether it’s the whole shoulder or just the butt or picnic) and the smoke only penetrates so far into the meat. So, it’s usually not as smoky as your typical smoked sausage, but it should still have a definite smoke profile to it. If it doesn’t, I’m sure it has to do with the smoking technique with the wood chips.
