10 lb Pork Shoulder Overnight Smoke Advice


 
T

TMannion

New member
Hi all,

I'm having a going away party for one of my friends next weekend and want to smoke a 10 lb shoulder in my Mini WSM overnight. I'm curious as to how to pull the overnight smoke off. I'm thinking that 10 lbs at 2 hrs a lb will be roughly a 20 hr cook? Can I simply dial in my temps, add the meat and go to sleep, or will I have to check on it every hour? I'm hoping to have the mini set up and at temps by 7 pm the night before and be serving by 2 pm the next day, is this feasible? Any advice or tips on how to make this work would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
I just did a 10 lbs in my 18"
I wouldn't try it in my mini, can't go that long
 
What's your expeirience with the mini? Can it last all night? I know I can sleep like a baby with my 18.5 WSM.
 
I've done a few 10# butts on my 18.5" WSM
Can a 14.5" WSM even fit a whole shoulder?
Edit: never mind, 10 # is a butt not a whole shoulder.:)

Tim
 
V_Rocco, I guess that is my real question. The only other cook I have done on my mini was a 6 lb pork butt and it worked great for that roughly 7 hr cook...Anyone here have experience using the mini with a larger butt?
 
Milt DuCharme said:
Cut it in half. It will be just as good and the cooking time will be cut in half.
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Not in my experience, although I would suspect that halving would make a big difference as long as each half was foiled fairly early during the cook. In any event, thickness, not weight, is the biggest factor in cook times. If cutting a pork butt in half cut the cook time in half, then a whole shoulder would take twice as long as a pork butt. Butts cut in half have more bark, but they are also more prone to moisture loss. As I mentioned though, foiling would be a good idea if going that route.

But to the OP, I've never had a pork butt take any longer than 18hrs. Seems to me like the 2hr a pound rule is more for 7-8 lb pork butts. At 225-250 it shouldn't take any longer than 18 hrs. If it's done early, let it lose it's steam for 10 or 15 and then foil and cooler. If it's running behind schedule, foil while on the cooker.
 
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I don't have a mini, so I can't speak of that. I guess the biggest question would be would you have to reload coal before the butt was done. I usually cook butts that are between 8 and 9 pounds. Cooking them around 270-280*, they take about 9 hours. In your case, you are probably looking at 10 - 11 hours plus an hour or two to rest. Worst case, if your coals ran out and you didn't want to fire up more, you could foil it and put it in the oven to finish...
 
ChuckO said:
I just did a 10 lbs in my 18"
I wouldn't try it in my mini, can't go that long
Click to expand...

Mini is easier to add coal, just take a half chimney of lit coals and lift smoke chamber and add coals... I've got 8 hours from one chimney full...
 
1.25-1.5 per lb of meat @ 250 is usually the time table for pulled pork. If you foil it, it will help speed up.
 
Alright guys, I've got the butt on and have been cruising pretty steadily at 250 for the past 5 hours. My plan is to go to bed for roughly 4 hours soon and wake up and check my progress. From what everyone has been saying, it looks like it may be done way earlier than I expected. If that's the case, how long can I keep it in the cooler? Should I cool it down then reheat then pull it? Oven it? People won't be arriving for the party until early afternoon and I'm not sure what to do if I'm done super early. As always, any help or insight is greatly appreciated.
 
I've had my briskets and butts wrapped in foil and towels in my cooler for as long as five hours and when I pulled them out they were still hot!!!!
 
Not sure where you guys are getting these 17 to 20 hour times.... The last 4 10-12 lb butts I've done at 250 have taken within 30 minutes of 12 hours plus or minus.
 
Last weekend I did an overnight with an 8.5 lb'er and it cooked faster than I anticipated. I normally figure around 10-11 hours for that size. My guests also showed up later than expected... The butt sat in the oven (which was off) wrapped in a huge towel for almost 7 hours. Still hot when I pulled it. I typically only hold it 3-4 hours though.

Probably would have been warmer in the cooler, but that was being used to chill some adult beverages...
 
I've done lots of 9- 10# butts in my mini. I run 275 and foil and they are always done inside of 10 hours and my mini will just barley run that long without a reload. But keep in mind a reload at that time will take a clean out of the ashes because there is just no more room in the bottom and adding coals will just cut off the air intake.
 
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