British BBQ Society Forums

Just got a boneless pork shoulder from costco, it converts to about 4.30lbs in weight but seems pretty big and there's hardly any fat on it.

Would you recommend leaving the string on when i smoke it? I'd take the string off to apply a light coating of mustard and then my bbq rub.

Based on this weight should i be smoking for about 6 hours? or 4 hours and then 2 hours in foil? I'll try to get the temp to 160 then foil and then hope for an internal of about 190-195 i guess

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr21 ... G_3788.jpg

Said my image was more than 600 pixels wide so have provided a link

In my opinion I would remove the string. But try to sit it on the grill in a compact shape, as if it still had a bone in.

definitely remove the string.

What temp are you cooking it at. At 225f that piece will take around anywhere from 6-8 hours.

Does it have skin on it?

I sometimes get the bookers 5-6kg boned ones, they come in string and plastic and they still have the skin off so have to remove from the plastic and cut the string off to trim all the skin off

I have done a few of these now and have been successful on every one although had to finish them all in the oven due to being lazy and not starting them until after lunch

I have left the string on on all of them and just pull it off when pulling the meat and it hasn't had any detrimental effect that i have noticed and it keeps it nice and tight on the grill.
The only thing that i would sugest is that if it has the skin on, is to remove it as it goes soft and not very nice if you foil it, it also has allot of fat under it that doesn't render out so IMO better to remove the skin and most of the fat and Q it seperately along side the joint to get a nice crisp crackling.


Andy

Ok got it. I was thinking of removing the netted string to rub it on Friday night and then try put the string back on. I guess when i remove it i'll get a feel for the cut and whether it has any hanging bits or odd shape about it.

I'm aiming to be lighting coals 8am saturday and be cooking around 9 when it reaches temp. Then i presume 6-8 hours cook time and would it be best to wrap in foil in cooler box when 190 internal is reached?

Also doing ribs that day with the 3-2-1 method so will put them on not too long after the shoulder.

Matt, if you are going to rub the pork the night before be very careful the rub doesn't have too much salt in it as it could start curing the pork slightly.
Also unless you have really thick meaty ribs I'd cut the rib timing to somewhere around 2, 1.5, 30 or thereabouts. UK ribs are very sparse on meat and if you have the Costco baby backs or spares there isn't a lot of meat on them compared to American ribs the 3,2,1 was designed for. Have a look at the ribs on the Youtube clips to see what I mean.

Ah ok got it. The ribs last week were from a butcher but they look similar to the costco ones i now have. That would explain why the end rib on each rack was thrown away. Neverless the rest of the rack was lovely, maybe a tiny bit drier that i thought/tough little bite but everyone said they were awesome

The stuff i'm using this weekend (used Butt Rub last week) is;

http://www.gardengiftshop.co.uk/acatalo ... Q_Rub.html

It does contain salt but doesn't say the % amount. That would explain why a lot of smokers on youtube get the coals going and then go to the kitchen and rub the meat. I always thought it was best to rub/marinade things overnight? Or is that only valid when salt isn't involved?

keith157 wrote:Matt, if you are going to rub the pork the night before be very careful the rub doesn't have too much salt in it as it could start curing the pork slightly.

Hey Keith,

out of interest how long before you put the meat on will you rub it (and I guess it varies depending on which meat as well)?

Hi Connor.

If it has got salt in, I tend to put in on about an hour before, go outside and get the smoker started and then put it straight on.
If there isnt any salt I would put it on the night before.
Derek.