Smoked Pork Shoulder (Boneless Blade Roast)

[rangerone]

I just finished smoking a pork shoulder, and it was awesome. Thanks to NCSmoker for advice on a great sauce idea!! I am looking for feedback on my technique, as I think it took longer than it should have. I am sure there are a few people here with enough experience to comment on my technique and results.

The meat in question was a 5 lb. boneless pork shoulder blade roast (butt). I seasoned it the night before with rub, and left it in the fridge until I put it on the smoker. 
I had my 22.5" Weber prepped with 1 chunk of hickory and Maple Leaf Briquets loaded in the Smokenator.
I had water in the pan, grill at 225F - 235F (confirmed by Maverick) and the internal temperature of the pork was started at 36F. 
Adding water to the pan and stirring the coals every hour, the pork was at 150F at the 4 hour mark. The last time I did a similar cook, this is where the stall happened (150F - 160F).
So, I let the water pan run dry and increased the grill temperature to be 265F - 275F. At the 6 hour mark, the pork was at 165F. I put water back into the pan and let the temperature of the grill drop to 240F - 250F. At this time I also rotated the pork.
At the 7.5 hour mark, the pork was at 174F. I again let the water pan run dry, and increased the grill temperature to be 270F - 280F. 
At the 10 hour mark, the pork was at 196F - 198F depending on which thermometer I used. I wrapped it in foil for 20 minutes, and when I went to remove the string holding it together, the shoulder just fell apart. Extremely tender, moist, and tasty. Very nice bark and pulled very easy.

Now I am new at this stuff, and this is only the second time I have done a pork shoulder. From what I have read, the rule of thumb is 1.5 hours per pound if smoked at 225F - 250F.  I was expecting maybe 7-8 hours for this cook at the temperatures I used. Does a 10 hour cook seem reasonable for this? Does the 1.5 hours per pound rule take into account the stall, or does it assume no stall due to foiling at a certain point in the cook?

Looking forward to advice.

[ncsmoker]

Allan I try to take my meat out at least an hour before I put it on the grill. This lets it warm up some while I'm setting up the SN and lighting the coals. I'll also cook it at 240-250 the whole time, 225-235 is not a hard and fast rule. Take and see how much fat is in the butt if there is plenty then you can cook it at a higher temp.

Every piece of meat is different. You just have to go with the temperature. The packer brisket I did Labor day was finished in 14 hours when I was counting on 16 hours. It weighed 12lbs. You just never know for sure.

I take it you liked the sauce.

Tom

[whiskeycharlie]

Allan,

36F is too cold a starting temperature. Last pork butt I cooked I pulled it from the fridge, unwrapped, put on a 2nd coat of rub, back into a plastic bag, and I left it to sit on the kitchen counter for about an hour. Nothing "bad" is going to happen to a roast that sits at room temperature for one to two hours.

Keep on smokin'!

WC

[rangerone]

Thanks NC and WC for your replies.

I have always started out my cooks around the 225F mark because I read somewhere that meat accepts the smoke best between 200F and 225F. This works great for shorter cooks, but I think for longer ones like pork shoulder I will keep the temperature closer to 250F to speed things along. I know 36F sounds cold, but I never have any trouble with the temperature climbing in the beginning. It climbs from 36F to 86F in about 45 minutes or so. It would not be anywhere near 86F even after 2 hours sitting out of the fridge. No, it only takes about 4 hours to get the temperature up to around 150F. That is when the temperature starts to crawl for the rest of the cook. Taking 4 hours to get to 150F is not the problem. Taking another 6 hours to get to 196F is my issue. Especially when I had the kettle at 250F - 275F for that 6 hours. I really expected a 7 - 8 hour cook total time.

This was only my second time doing a butt. Maybe both of them were "tougher" butts? No matter, they both tasted great when done, and I will be doing many more in the future.

[ncsmoker]

Allan remember your thermodynamics, the colder an item is the more heat is required to raise it a degree. So taking out the pork butt an hour or more will raise it to 45-50 degrees. This will let the SN raise it faster to 100 or more in 45 minutes. So your ahead of the game.

When I am cooking a butt or a brisket I get up take them out of the fridge and then do my morning clean up and get dressed. Then go and set up the grill and set up the SN and light the coals. This may take an hour to and hour and 1/2. Then the coals take another 1/2 hour to be ready to add back to the SN.

Any advantage you can get to decrease the cooking time you need to take. That's the bottom line in my opinion. Try it on your next butt and see if there is any difference.

Tom