6 Hour Pork Shoulder on Smokey Joe Platinum


 

Mark Turner

New member
I just finished a 6 hour cook on the SJP and I wanted to write some details down so that if I decide to try this again I will have some notes to start with. I don't use the SJP as much as I'd like to - I bought it when I was living in a company paid apartment and after a few fits and starts I learned to cook pretty much anything in it. I used the Reknown Mr Brown recipe off of the main site.

The main comment I have regarding air flow control in the SJP is that I rarely close the vents more than 1/2 way, and I almost always pile my lit coals (1/2 a Weber chimney at a minimum, more likely 3/4) in a single pile in the back of the chamber between the vents. I usually regulate the temperature by placement in front of the pile of coals. I mention this because I was successful today piling a large mound of unlit coals in a "C" shape around the side of the chamber, then I put my usual 1/2 a chimney of lit coals in the back edge completing the "C". A couple of chunks of hickory were mixed in for some smoke. I didn't add a drip pan, water pan or even fire brick. The 7 pound shoulder was placed in the middle of the "C" so that any grease dripped down the middle.

Temperature was regulated using the side vents - the top vents were wide open and the side vents were around 1/2 open. I had one of my old Genesis grill thermometers dangling through one of the top vent holes so that I could watch the internal air temperature, and I was targeting the low to mid 200's, without any expectation of precision.

I over-reacted to rising temperatures at the end of the first hour and closed the side vents down more than 1/2 way. This killed the temps - they plummeted down to about 150 deg before I got it going again with a few thumb-diameter sized willow branches I keep laying around just for this. I think the trick is that the circular vents are too non-linear - even a very small closing of the vents once you are below 1/2 way closes off too much air.

Anyway, aside from that one problem, from the second through the sixth hour I didn't do any adjustments; it was very stable between 225 and 240 deg. I opened up the lid a couple of times in the final 2 hours to mop and measure more accurate temps of the meat. At 5 hours I shoved it to the side and added a covered pot with some apples and raisins. At 6 hours everything was above 190 deg so I went ahead and pulled everything off the grill.

I need to look at the coals tomorrow in the daylight, but I don't think I used up much of the unlit charcoal - I think this could have cooked much longer without too much fuss.

Man, I always forget how much meat you can get off of a 7 lb shoulder... That's good stuff.

I'm not sure what I would change next time. I don't need to add so much unlit charcoal, and I might cook it just a little longer and try around 200 deg for the meat. Otherwise I am very happy with how everything turned out.
 

 

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