I bought a couple pork shoulders at Costco and decided to do an
overnight smoke with them in the Bradley. They weighed a total of 16+#
and there was no bone to pull the heat into the center of the 2 shoulders.

They went into the Bradley at 5:00p last night at 225f and the digital
target temp of the Pitboss set at 185f. This AM, I fully expected to
see the smoker shut down and the shoulders ready to take out for one of
my classic breakfasts. I even got the hoagie rolls out and told Mrs.
Nonny to get ready.

I never even checked the remote read internal temp, but when I went
outside, I saw that the Bradley was STILL COOKING. That was 15 HOURS!
The hood temperature was precisely 225f by a temperature probe and
also the Pitboss's clip-on rack probe. Likewise the meat's temperature
by 2 different probes in 2 different points was 167f. The blasted thing
hadn't even started to ramp the temperature.

I've been cooking butts for a little while, now, and have never
experienced this before. 3 hours LATER, internals were just > 171f. I
peeked inside and all seems good- the Mr. Brown was incredible, but
don't tell Mrs. Nonny- she was eating leftover Chinese for breakfast.
<grin>

1) What in the world happened? is it the lack of bone to conduct heat
inside, coupled with a lot of collagen?

2) Have any of you had a mysterious "failure to cook" like this happen?
Since the temp finally broke > 170f, I assume that the collagen is
finally liquified. Right?

3) At what point do I pull the 2 shoulders out and call them ready?

Nonny

"Nonnymus" > wrote

> 1) What in the world happened? is it the lack of bone to conduct heat
> inside, coupled with a lot of collagen?

Might have just been a tough hog.

>
> 2) Have any of you had a mysterious "failure to cook" like this happen?

But of course. It's done when it's done.

> Since the temp finally broke > 170f, I assume that the collagen is
> finally liquified. Right?

As long as the temp is steadily creeping upward, that's a safe assumption.

>
> 3) At what point do I pull the 2 shoulders out and call them ready?


At the same temp you would have initially thought them done. Stick 'em with
a fork and see how they feel if you're concerned.


TFM®

On Sep 1, 10:36*am, TFM® > wrote:
> "Nonnymus" > wrote
>
> > 1) What in the world happened? *is it the lack of bone to conduct heat
> > inside, coupled with a lot of collagen?
>
> Might have just been a tough hog.
>

Yep, I usually cook these Costco ones and 7-8 hours is normal, but
they sometimes go 12. *shrug*


> > 2) Have any of you had a mysterious "failure to cook" like this happen?
>
> But of course. *It's done when it's done.

Not often, but it happens,

>
> > 3) At what point do I pull the 2 shoulders out and call them ready?
>
> At the same temp you would have initially thought them done. *Stick 'em with
> a fork and see how they feel if you're concerned.
>

Exactly, it's the temp, not the time. I understand your concern
though. Blame it on the coffee, you know you're supposed to be
drinking something else when you BBQ and now you know why. <g>

On 1-Sep-2008, Nonnymus > wrote:

> I bought a couple pork shoulders at Costco and decided to do an
> overnight smoke with them in the Bradley. They weighed a total of 16+#
> and there was no bone to pull the heat into the center of the 2 shoulders.
>
> They went into the Bradley at 5:00p last night at 225f and the digital
> target temp of the Pitboss set at 185f. This AM, I fully expected to
> see the smoker shut down and the shoulders ready to take out for one of
> my classic breakfasts. I even got the hoagie rolls out and told Mrs.
> Nonny to get ready.
>
> I never even checked the remote read internal temp, but when I went
> outside, I saw that the Bradley was STILL COOKING. That was 15 HOURS!
> The hood temperature was precisely 225f by a temperature probe and
> also the Pitboss's clip-on rack probe. Likewise the meat's temperature
> by 2 different probes in 2 different points was 167f. The blasted thing
> hadn't even started to ramp the temperature.
>
> I've been cooking butts for a little while, now, and have never
> experienced this before. 3 hours LATER, internals were just > 171f. I
> peeked inside and all seems good- the Mr. Brown was incredible, but
> don't tell Mrs. Nonny- she was eating leftover Chinese for breakfast.
> <grin>
>
> 1) What in the world happened? is it the lack of bone to conduct heat
> inside, coupled with a lot of collagen?
>
> 2) Have any of you had a mysterious "failure to cook" like this happen?
> Since the temp finally broke > 170f, I assume that the collagen is
> finally liquified. Right?
>
> 3) At what point do I pull the 2 shoulders out and call them ready?
>
> Nonny

Well welcome to the club Nonny. I'm surprised that you're surprised.
I've been surprised in both directions. I no longer spend any time
trying to figure out what happened. It's done when it's done and that's
that. Oh yeh, pull them when they reach your target temperature. The
meat is just messing with your mind. You haven't made a mistake, (yet).

--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)

Brick wrote:

>
> Well welcome to the club Nonny. I'm surprised that you're surprised.
> I've been surprised in both directions. I no longer spend any time
> trying to figure out what happened. It's done when it's done and that's
> that. Oh yeh, pull them when they reach your target temperature. The
> meat is just messing with your mind. You haven't made a mistake, (yet).
>
Thanks to all for the comments. I normally cook butts, and very
occasionally cook Boston Buttts. Even at my tender age, this was my
very first shoulder, and there was no bone in either, of course. I
finally pulled the shoulders out at 173-175f and let them cool down in
the house in my normal fashion. They were perfect, except for a little
bit of overdone crust at the tips and some of the incision area where
the bones had been removed. I'd tucked the meat all together well, but
didn't try trussing it. Instead, I was just careful and it worked out
well. In fact, the incisions let me put in just a little rub. Since
I'd not cooked a shoulder before, I wanted to be careful and not overdo
it with seasoning.

It is very apparent that the bone is a conductor of heat and carries it
into the middle of the meat. In the future, I suspect I'll go back to
just butts, since that's where I'm more comfortable.

The collagen was absolutely perfect and the meat pulled perfectly.
There was very little dripping and since I do it over a pan, any
drippings are returned to the meat, anyway. I did remove a bit of the
excess fat from the caps, but after scraping out the yellow/white fat,
returned the very outside to the meat in the bowl. Like the burnt
parts, I chopped this very fine, so it was distributed through the
interior meat for flavor.

When the meat had reached room temperature, we divided it into 1#
Foodsaver bag and it was vacuumed and placed into the freezer. . .
except for about a pound we left out for breakfast tomorrow and a couple
sandwiches.

I cannot say that the shoulders were superior or inferior to butts, but
sure as heck cooked slower and that produced a greater difference
between the brown and white. They did yield about 99%, since the only
waste was a few ounces of interior fat that I dumped. The flavor,
texture and all other results made me quite satisfied. The shocker was
the time it took. I was well prepared to follow the interior
temperature to determine when they were done, but it was also good to
get confirmation from the pros, since I was starting to panic. <grin>

Nonny

Tutall wrote:

>>
>
> Exactly, it's the temp, not the time. I understand your concern
> though. Blame it on the coffee, you know you're supposed to be
> drinking something else when you BBQ and now you know why. <g>
>
darned right. As you understand, even 10:00a is too early for me to be
hitting the martinis. <Grin>

Nonny

Nonnymus wrote:
> Tutall wrote:
>
>>>
>>
>> Exactly, it's the temp, not the time. I understand your concern
>> though. Blame it on the coffee, you know you're supposed to be
>> drinking something else when you BBQ and now you know why. <g>
>>
> darned right. As you understand, even 10:00a is too early for me to be
> hitting the martinis. <Grin>
>
> Nonny

It's always noon somewhere.....

--
Steve

On 1-Sep-2008, Nonnymus > wrote:

> Brick wrote:
>
> >
> > Well welcome to the club Nonny. I'm surprised that you're surprised.
> > I've been surprised in both directions. I no longer spend any time
> > trying to figure out what happened. It's done when it's done and that's
> > that. Oh yeh, pull them when they reach your target temperature. The
> > meat is just messing with your mind. You haven't made a mistake, (yet).
> >
> Thanks to all for the comments. I normally cook butts, and very
> occasionally cook Boston Buttts. Even at my tender age, this was my
> very first shoulder, and there was no bone in either, of course. I
> finally pulled the shoulders out at 173-175f and let them cool down in
> the house in my normal fashion. They were perfect, except for a little
> bit of overdone crust at the tips and some of the incision area where
> the bones had been removed. I'd tucked the meat all together well, but
> didn't try trussing it. Instead, I was just careful and it worked out
> well. In fact, the incisions let me put in just a little rub. Since
> I'd not cooked a shoulder before, I wanted to be careful and not overdo
> it with seasoning.

<snip a bunch here>

I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but you're confusing me with
you terminology of butts, boston butts and shoulders. I read it three times
and I can't figure out what you're talking about. I understand about the
deboning part. A butt is a butt is a butt. A Boston butt is a butt in Boston.
Sometimes a Boston Butt is just a piece of a butt, like three or four pounds.
A shoulder is the combination of the butt and the picnic. A shoulder ALWAYS
includes a joint. Otherwise it is not a shoulder. The picnic is the upper portion
of the front leg of a hog. The Butt is the part of the shoulder that the picnic
connects to. To put it into better perspective; a shoulder will weigh in the
neighborhood of 14 to 18 pounds. A butt or a picnic will weigh between
7 and 9 pounds with the bone in. That assumes that the portion is still
whole. All bets are off if the butcher kept some for himself or you found a
pygamy hog or a big old hampshire in the 450 lb range.
--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)

Brick wrote:

> I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but you're confusing me with
> you terminology of butts, boston butts and shoulders. I read it three times
> and I can't figure out what you're talking about. I understand about the
> deboning part. A butt is a butt is a butt. A Boston butt is a butt in Boston.
> Sometimes a Boston Butt is just a piece of a butt, like three or four pounds.
> A shoulder is the combination of the butt and the picnic. A shoulder ALWAYS
> includes a joint. Otherwise it is not a shoulder. The picnic is the upper portion
> of the front leg of a hog. The Butt is the part of the shoulder that the picnic
> connects to. To put it into better perspective; a shoulder will weigh in the
> neighborhood of 14 to 18 pounds. A butt or a picnic will weigh between
> 7 and 9 pounds with the bone in. That assumes that the portion is still
> whole. All bets are off if the butcher kept some for himself or you found a
> pygamy hog or a big old hampshire in the 450 lb range.

OK, what I thought was

Butt = front shoulder, including humorous and scapula of pit. It's what
I almost always cook and call a butt. It would be equivalent to the
upper arm and shoulder meat of a pig.

Boston Butt= same thing, less humorous. It's about like a butt, but
less bone.

Shoulder = butt, without any scapula or humorous = unboned shoulder.

I'm probably wrong in my terminology. What I got was the upper arm and
shoulder meat of the pig, less any bone. It was labeled as a
"shoulder." Two weighed in at just under 17 or so pounds and looked
like a butt with the bone removed.

Brick, help me out here. <seriously>

Nonny

"Nonnymus" > wrote in message
...
> Brick wrote:
>
>> I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but you're confusing me with
>> you terminology of butts, boston butts and shoulders. I read it three
>> times
>> and I can't figure out what you're talking about. I understand about the
>> deboning part. A butt is a butt is a butt. A Boston butt is a butt in
>> Boston.
>> Sometimes a Boston Butt is just a piece of a butt, like three or four
>> pounds.
>> A shoulder is the combination of the butt and the picnic. A shoulder
>> ALWAYS
>> includes a joint. Otherwise it is not a shoulder. The picnic is the upper
>> portion
>> of the front leg of a hog. The Butt is the part of the shoulder that the
>> picnic
>> connects to. To put it into better perspective; a shoulder will weigh in
>> the
>> neighborhood of 14 to 18 pounds. A butt or a picnic will weigh between
>> 7 and 9 pounds with the bone in. That assumes that the portion is still
>> whole. All bets are off if the butcher kept some for himself or you found
>> a
>> pygamy hog or a big old hampshire in the 450 lb range.
>
> OK, what I thought was
>
> Butt = front shoulder, including humorous and scapula of pit. It's what I
> almost always cook and call a butt. It would be equivalent to the upper
> arm and shoulder meat of a pig.
>
> Boston Butt= same thing, less humorous. It's about like a butt, but less
> bone.
>
> Shoulder = butt, without any scapula or humorous = unboned shoulder.
>
> I'm probably wrong in my terminology. What I got was the upper arm and
> shoulder meat of the pig, less any bone. It was labeled as a "shoulder."
> Two weighed in at just under 17 or so pounds and looked like a butt with
> the bone removed.
>
> Brick, help me out here. <seriously>


I'm not Brick, but I've been to his house and I do know my way around a hog.

A butt and a boston butt are the same thing. A boneless butt is obviously
different.

The butt contains the shoulder blade. (doesn't that make sense?)

The picnic ham as it was classically called is the lower foreleg.
Otherwise known as a picnic. Same limb, but the picnic has skin, more fat,
and a big round bone instead of a shoulder blade.

If you leave the picnic attached to the butt, you have a pork shoulder.
They weigh about 15 to 18 pounds *each*. They're about 20 inches long and
as big around as a normal man's thigh at the butt end. They taper down on
the picnic end to about the size of a hamhock. (picture a pig foot just
inches below that point)


Having cooked a bunch of all 3 (butt, picnic, shoulder) the shoulder is my
favorite simply by virtue of price.

If a butt is $1.39 at a given store, the picnic will be $1.09. The shoulder
will be the same price as the picnic, but you get the butt included.


If I can't get a whole shoulder I'll generally go for 2 picnics. The skin
and fat, when cooked properly make a great addition chopped into the rest of
the meat.

Addendum:
It appears it matters what part of the country you come from.
In Tennessee, the Motherland of BBQ, it is as I've said. Other places may
call a butt a shoulder.


TFM®

TFM® wrote:
>
>
> "Nonnymus" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Brick wrote:
>>
>>> I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but you're confusing me
>>> with you terminology of butts, boston butts and shoulders. I read it
>>> three times
>>> and I can't figure out what you're talking about. I understand about
>>> the deboning part. A butt is a butt is a butt. A Boston butt is a
>>> butt in Boston.
>>> Sometimes a Boston Butt is just a piece of a butt, like three or four
>>> pounds.
>>> A shoulder is the combination of the butt and the picnic. A shoulder
>>> ALWAYS
>>> includes a joint. Otherwise it is not a shoulder. The picnic is the
>>> upper portion
>>> of the front leg of a hog. The Butt is the part of the shoulder that
>>> the picnic
>>> connects to. To put it into better perspective; a shoulder will weigh
>>> in the
>>> neighborhood of 14 to 18 pounds. A butt or a picnic will weigh between
>>> 7 and 9 pounds with the bone in. That assumes that the portion is
>>> still whole. All bets are off if the butcher kept some for himself or
>>> you found a
>>> pygamy hog or a big old hampshire in the 450 lb range.
>>
>> OK, what I thought was
>>
>> Butt = front shoulder, including humorous and scapula of pit. It's
>> what I almost always cook and call a butt. It would be equivalent to
>> the upper arm and shoulder meat of a pig.
>>
>> Boston Butt= same thing, less humorous. It's about like a butt, but
>> less bone.
>>
>> Shoulder = butt, without any scapula or humorous = unboned shoulder.
>>
>> I'm probably wrong in my terminology. What I got was the upper arm
>> and shoulder meat of the pig, less any bone. It was labeled as a
>> "shoulder." Two weighed in at just under 17 or so pounds and looked
>> like a butt with the bone removed.
>>
>> Brick, help me out here. <seriously>
>
>
> I'm not Brick, but I've been to his house and I do know my way around a
> hog.
>
> A butt and a boston butt are the same thing. A boneless butt is
> obviously different.
>
> The butt contains the shoulder blade. (doesn't that make sense?)
>
> The picnic ham as it was classically called is the lower foreleg.
> Otherwise known as a picnic. Same limb, but the picnic has skin, more
> fat, and a big round bone instead of a shoulder blade.
>
> If you leave the picnic attached to the butt, you have a pork shoulder.
> They weigh about 15 to 18 pounds *each*. They're about 20 inches long
> and as big around as a normal man's thigh at the butt end. They taper
> down on the picnic end to about the size of a hamhock. (picture a pig
> foot just inches below that point)
>
>
> Having cooked a bunch of all 3 (butt, picnic, shoulder) the shoulder is
> my favorite simply by virtue of price.
>
> If a butt is $1.39 at a given store, the picnic will be $1.09. The
> shoulder will be the same price as the picnic, but you get the butt
> included.
>
>
> If I can't get a whole shoulder I'll generally go for 2 picnics. The
> skin and fat, when cooked properly make a great addition chopped into
> the rest of the meat.
>
> Addendum:
> It appears it matters what part of the country you come from.
> In Tennessee, the Motherland of BBQ, it is as I've said. Other places
> may call a butt a shoulder.
>
>
> TFM®

With that excellent explanaton, I don't even know what I bought and
cooked. It's good, and that's what counts.

From my "autopsy" before cooking, what I thought I had was the upper
arm and part of the shoulder of the pig, minus what in a human would be
the upper humorous and scapula.

Thank you for the information.

Nonny

On Sep 2, 12:21*am, Nonnymus > wrote:

> With that excellent explanaton, I don't even know what I bought and
> cooked.

Alright Nonny, if you're gonna fire off something like that, give some
warning, OK?

I just about spewed my tea all over the keyboard.

It was a pretty damn good explanation, wasn't it?

Robert

"Nonnymus" > wrote in message
...
> TFM® wrote:
>>
>>
>> "Nonnymus" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Brick wrote:
>>>
>>>> I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but you're confusing me with
>>>> you terminology of butts, boston butts and shoulders. I read it three
>>>> times
>>>> and I can't figure out what you're talking about. I understand about
>>>> the deboning part. A butt is a butt is a butt. A Boston butt is a butt
>>>> in Boston.
>>>> Sometimes a Boston Butt is just a piece of a butt, like three or four
>>>> pounds.
>>>> A shoulder is the combination of the butt and the picnic. A shoulder
>>>> ALWAYS
>>>> includes a joint. Otherwise it is not a shoulder. The picnic is the
>>>> upper portion
>>>> of the front leg of a hog. The Butt is the part of the shoulder that
>>>> the picnic
>>>> connects to. To put it into better perspective; a shoulder will weigh
>>>> in the
>>>> neighborhood of 14 to 18 pounds. A butt or a picnic will weigh between
>>>> 7 and 9 pounds with the bone in. That assumes that the portion is still
>>>> whole. All bets are off if the butcher kept some for himself or you
>>>> found a
>>>> pygamy hog or a big old hampshire in the 450 lb range.
>>>
>>> OK, what I thought was
>>>
>>> Butt = front shoulder, including humorous and scapula of pit. It's what
>>> I almost always cook and call a butt. It would be equivalent to the
>>> upper arm and shoulder meat of a pig.
>>>
>>> Boston Butt= same thing, less humorous. It's about like a butt, but
>>> less bone.
>>>
>>> Shoulder = butt, without any scapula or humorous = unboned shoulder.
>>>
>>> I'm probably wrong in my terminology. What I got was the upper arm and
>>> shoulder meat of the pig, less any bone. It was labeled as a
>>> "shoulder." Two weighed in at just under 17 or so pounds and looked like
>>> a butt with the bone removed.
>>>
>>> Brick, help me out here. <seriously>
>>
>>
>> I'm not Brick, but I've been to his house and I do know my way around a
>> hog.
>>
>> A butt and a boston butt are the same thing. A boneless butt is
>> obviously different.
>>
>> The butt contains the shoulder blade. (doesn't that make sense?)
>>
>> The picnic ham as it was classically called is the lower foreleg.
>> Otherwise known as a picnic. Same limb, but the picnic has skin, more
>> fat, and a big round bone instead of a shoulder blade.
>>
>> If you leave the picnic attached to the butt, you have a pork shoulder.
>> They weigh about 15 to 18 pounds *each*. They're about 20 inches long
>> and as big around as a normal man's thigh at the butt end. They taper
>> down on the picnic end to about the size of a hamhock. (picture a pig
>> foot just inches below that point)
>>
>>
>> Having cooked a bunch of all 3 (butt, picnic, shoulder) the shoulder is
>> my favorite simply by virtue of price.
>>
>> If a butt is $1.39 at a given store, the picnic will be $1.09. The
>> shoulder will be the same price as the picnic, but you get the butt
>> included.
>>
>>
>> If I can't get a whole shoulder I'll generally go for 2 picnics. The
>> skin and fat, when cooked properly make a great addition chopped into the
>> rest of the meat.
>>
>> Addendum:
>> It appears it matters what part of the country you come from.
>> In Tennessee, the Motherland of BBQ, it is as I've said. Other places
>> may call a butt a shoulder.
>>
>>
>> TFM®
>
> With that excellent explanaton, I don't even know what I bought and
> cooked. It's good, and that's what counts.
>
> From my "autopsy" before cooking, what I thought I had was the upper arm
> and part of the shoulder of the pig, minus what in a human would be the
> upper humorous and scapula.
>
> Thank you for the information.
>
> Nonny


I would assume from your description that you had boneless picnics then. A
rare cut indeed around these parts, but not unheard of.

Whatever they were, if they were good, it was all good.

I like bones. It's kinda like the difference between boneless chicken parts
and chicken parts with bones. I think the bones add flavor during long
cooks. Whether they accelerate the cooking or not is another story.

Added bonus: smoked hog bones make great stock.


TFM® - The *******s probably sold the bones as soup bones for $1.59 a pound!

On Sep 1, 3:52*pm, "Brick" > wrote:

> Well welcome to the club Nonny. I'm surprised that you're surprised.
> I've been surprised in both directions. I no longer spend any time
> trying to figure out what happened. It's done when it's done and that's
> that.

It seems to be more so with pork than with brisket to me. Pork can be
cranky. I now only cook pork on my WSM so that it can take all the
time it wants to get there.

It also allows me the luxury of time, which is a great thing to have.
Many years ago I was caught a couple of times when the meat was
( literally ) 4 hours or so past when it "should" have been done.

My guests were ****ed off, hungry and upset. Some went home without
eating as it was just getting late. So they go in the WSM, I go to
bed, and the butts and hams can take as long as they need. Late
Sunday lunch, or early dinner means that I can leave them in the WSM
18 - 20 hours if I need to with no strain at all. I just put them in
Saturday evening.

I think it is important to remember too, that not all meat is the
same. As you pointed out, it's all different so it will all act
different.

Oh yeh, pull them when they reach your target temperature. The
> meat is just messing with your mind.

I like that. I will keep a bit closer eye on the meat from now
on! ;^)

Robert

On Sep 1, 1:23*pm, Nonnymus > wrote:
> I bought a couple pork shoulders at Costco and decided to do an
> overnight smoke with them in the Bradley. *They weighed a total of 16+#
> and there was no bone to pull the heat into the center of the 2 shoulders..

Nonny,
In eastern NC, they wouldn't worry if it was done coming out of the
smoker. They would have thrown it in a dutch oven with a mixture of
water, cider vinegar and hot pepper flakes and thrown it in the oven,
or back in the smoker, at 300 F. until it was ready to be forked. Once
I overloaded the smoker with ribs and butts and even after 12 hours I
had to "finish" everything.The ribs went into foil with sauce and back
into the oven. The buts were finished in dutch ovens. The results were
remarkably good. Not purist, maybe, but the guests didn't starve.

David

wrote:
t, it's all different so it will all act
> different.
>
> Oh yeh, pull them when they reach your target temperature. The
>> meat is just messing with your mind.
>
> I like that. I will keep a bit closer eye on the meat from now
> on! ;^)
>
> Robert
>

This messed with my mind quite a bit, but man was it good when pulled.

Long ago, they used aluminum nails to place into baked potatoes to help
them cook from the inside as well as the outside. I wonder if that
could be done with a "whatever" like I cooked? I'm sure that what
caused the incredibly long cook time was the missing bones to conduct
heat to the center and speed cooking.

I'll most likely revert to my plain old butts in the future, but if I
do get more of the "shoulders" from Costco (their name for them), I
wonder what would happen if I were to insert an empty beer can into the
cavity left by the bone removal, permitting the heat to also reach the
center and cook outward.

In fact, what would happen if I'd insert some rolled up screen wire
instead of a beer can? That'd also permit the smoke to reach inside meat.

Has anyone tried this with a boneless large cut of meat?

Nonny

wrote:
> On Sep 1, 1:23 pm, Nonnymus > wrote:
>> I bought a couple pork shoulders at Costco and decided to do an
>> overnight smoke with them in the Bradley. They weighed a total of 16+#
>> and there was no bone to pull the heat into the center of the 2 shoulders.
>
> Nonny,
> In eastern NC, they wouldn't worry if it was done coming out of the
> smoker. They would have thrown it in a dutch oven with a mixture of
> water, cider vinegar and hot pepper flakes and thrown it in the oven,
> or back in the smoker, at 300 F. until it was ready to be forked. Once
> I overloaded the smoker with ribs and butts and even after 12 hours I
> had to "finish" everything.The ribs went into foil with sauce and back
> into the oven. The buts were finished in dutch ovens. The results were
> remarkably good. Not purist, maybe, but the guests didn't starve.
>
> David

If I've had it that way, David, I didn't realize how it was made.
However, that's the sprinkle I always put on my sandwiches or the pile
of pig on my plate. Our son went to college in Greenville and when we'd
motor over to visit, he'd take us to some of his favorite discoveries.
IMHO, the ECU students eat far better than most students. <grin>

Nonny

On Sep 2, 11:34*am, Nonnymus > wrote:

I don't know why yours took so long to cook, these Costco ones are the
ones I've used 90% of the time, at lower temps (250ish) they finish
between 6-9 hours typically. Sometime up to 12 hours, but not too
often.

I suspect your cooker temps are lower than you think.

Nonnymus > wrote:
> TFM® wrote:
> > "Nonnymus" > wrote in message
> >> Brick wrote:
> >> [excellent explanation and leadup thereto snipped]
> With that excellent explanaton, I don't even know what I bought and
> cooked. It's good, and that's what counts . . . .

Dayum! That hillbilly sure knows his pork!

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"Nonnymus" > wrote

> In fact, what would happen if I'd insert some rolled up screen wire
> instead of a beer can? That'd also permit the smoke to reach inside meat.
>
> Has anyone tried this with a boneless large cut of meat?


Just make a few additional cuts and lay her out flat if you want to go to
such extremes. Don't use galvanized if you decide to do the screen roll
thing.

I'd just go with the tried and true BBQ with the bone in it.


TFM®

TFM® wrote:
>
>
> "Nonnymus" > wrote
>
>> In fact, what would happen if I'd insert some rolled up screen wire
>> instead of a beer can? That'd also permit the smoke to reach inside
>> meat.
>>
>> Has anyone tried this with a boneless large cut of meat?
>
>
> Just make a few additional cuts and lay her out flat if you want to go
> to such extremes. Don't use galvanized if you decide to do the screen
> roll thing.
>
> I'd just go with the tried and true BBQ with the bone in it.
>
>
> TFM®

You're probably right. It was just a thought.

Nonny

Tutall wrote:
> On Sep 2, 11:34 am, Nonnymus > wrote:
>
> I don't know why yours took so long to cook, these Costco ones are the
> ones I've used 90% of the time, at lower temps (250ish) they finish
> between 6-9 hours typically. Sometime up to 12 hours, but not too
> often.
>
> I suspect your cooker temps are lower than you think.
>

I suspected that as well, but the two digitals were within a degree of
each other. I also suspected that the shoulders might have been colder
than I normally cook, but don't know. All I know is that in my tenure
as chief cook and bottlewasher here at the Nonnyhouse, I've never taken
this long to do pulled pork. <grin>



--
Nonny

Nonnymus- this space is
reserved for a .sig, but only
when I can write one that isn’t
insulting to politicians.

Nick Cramer wrote:
> Nonnymus > wrote:
>> TFM® wrote:
>>> "Nonnymus" > wrote in message
>>>> Brick wrote:
>>>> [excellent explanation and leadup thereto snipped]
>> With that excellent explanaton, I don't even know what I bought and
>> cooked. It's good, and that's what counts . . . .
>
> Dayum! That hillbilly sure knows his pork!
>
I wish I knew as much as he does. He's darned good.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus- this space is
reserved for a .sig, but only
when I can write one that isn’t
insulting to politicians.

"Nonnymus" > wrote in message
news
> I bought a couple pork shoulders at Costco and decided to do an
> overnight smoke with them in the Bradley. They weighed a total of 16+#
> and there was no bone to pull the heat into the center of the 2 shoulders.
>
> They went into the Bradley at 5:00p last night at 225f and the digital
> target temp of the Pitboss set at 185f. This AM, I fully expected to
> see the smoker shut down and the shoulders ready to take out for one of
> my classic breakfasts. I even got the hoagie rolls out and told Mrs.
> Nonny to get ready.
>
> I never even checked the remote read internal temp, but when I went
> outside, I saw that the Bradley was STILL COOKING. That was 15 HOURS!
> The hood temperature was precisely 225f by a temperature probe and
> also the Pitboss's clip-on rack probe. Likewise the meat's temperature
> by 2 different probes in 2 different points was 167f. The blasted thing
> hadn't even started to ramp the temperature.
>
> I've been cooking butts for a little while, now, and have never
> experienced this before. 3 hours LATER, internals were just > 171f. I
> peeked inside and all seems good- the Mr. Brown was incredible, but
> don't tell Mrs. Nonny- she was eating leftover Chinese for breakfast.
> <grin>
>
> 1) What in the world happened? is it the lack of bone to conduct heat
> inside, coupled with a lot of collagen?
>
> 2) Have any of you had a mysterious "failure to cook" like this happen?
> Since the temp finally broke > 170f, I assume that the collagen is
> finally liquified. Right?
>
> 3) At what point do I pull the 2 shoulders out and call them ready?
>
> Nonny

Certain laws apply, Murphy's or otherwise. What was the internal temp of the
meat when it was first put on the pit?
Not completely thawed, Maybe?