11 lb. Picnic..how long should it take to smoke
- Thread starter Rene Roy
- Start date
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rene R.:
Just purchase my first picnic its 11 lb.s and this my first smoke in the wsm...how long do you think it will take? smoker temp 225 temp of done picnic..190's Skin side up? do I need to cut the skin off?..do I need to turn it at all during cooking? Do I use the minion method? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Figure on 1.5 - 2 hrs per lb as a guide. Some Butts have been known to exceed the 2 hrs per lb but i find the picnics cook faster than the Butts so ....... I remove the skin with a very sharp filet knife only takes a min.You get more bark this way. When you skin it cut towards the skin not towards the meat. That way you won't loose any meat. It will get easier the more of them you skin. I never flip but you can at about the 1/2 way mark. Yes i always use the MM. After adding the lit to the unlit assemble the WSM add the meat and your off. Keep us posted.
Just purchase my first picnic its 11 lb.s and this my first smoke in the wsm...how long do you think it will take? smoker temp 225 temp of done picnic..190's Skin side up? do I need to cut the skin off?..do I need to turn it at all during cooking? Do I use the minion method? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Figure on 1.5 - 2 hrs per lb as a guide. Some Butts have been known to exceed the 2 hrs per lb but i find the picnics cook faster than the Butts so ....... I remove the skin with a very sharp filet knife only takes a min.You get more bark this way. When you skin it cut towards the skin not towards the meat. That way you won't loose any meat. It will get easier the more of them you skin. I never flip but you can at about the 1/2 way mark. Yes i always use the MM. After adding the lit to the unlit assemble the WSM add the meat and your off. Keep us posted.
1.5-2 hours per pound is a good guide, but pork shoulders can be tricky. They tend to get up to a certain temp (usually 165-175) and then stick there for hours. Bottom line is that it's done when the internal temp is 190-195 (assuming you want to pull it) and not before no matter how long it takes.
adam clyde
TVWBB Pro
Rene - good to see another CT person on the board, albeit at different sides of the state.
Bryan's advice is right on. Like Rich said, don't be alarmed if your meat temp sits at the same place for a while (I mean sometimes like 5 hours). Sometimes that just happens.
The good thing about picnics, is you have that massive bone in it. Its sort of like those little pop-out thermometers they put in turkeys. When you are able to pull that bone out of the meat without any resistance (it comes out like it is sitting in soft botter), you know it is done.
My picnics take a long time. At 11 pounds, I'd plan on anywhere from 15-19 hours. But my cooks seem to take longer than others.
Will this be your first overnighter? If so, one thing I learned the hard way a while back was when doing the minion methond, don't just fill the charcoal ring... you want to fill it to almost overflowing. In fact, a smart thing to do is fill the whole thing (burying some woodchunks throughout) until no more charcoal can sit on top. Then remove 20 briquetts. Use 15 to light in the chimney to start out the minion method and throw the other five back in the bag (taking a few away gives you room to put some wood chunks on the top to get smoke going immediately).
One last thing. If you are into mexican food... that skin and the fat underneath that you trim away is perfect for rendering lard and making chicharron. Just a thought.
Anyhow, good luck.
Bryan's advice is right on. Like Rich said, don't be alarmed if your meat temp sits at the same place for a while (I mean sometimes like 5 hours). Sometimes that just happens.
The good thing about picnics, is you have that massive bone in it. Its sort of like those little pop-out thermometers they put in turkeys. When you are able to pull that bone out of the meat without any resistance (it comes out like it is sitting in soft botter), you know it is done.
My picnics take a long time. At 11 pounds, I'd plan on anywhere from 15-19 hours. But my cooks seem to take longer than others.
Will this be your first overnighter? If so, one thing I learned the hard way a while back was when doing the minion methond, don't just fill the charcoal ring... you want to fill it to almost overflowing. In fact, a smart thing to do is fill the whole thing (burying some woodchunks throughout) until no more charcoal can sit on top. Then remove 20 briquetts. Use 15 to light in the chimney to start out the minion method and throw the other five back in the bag (taking a few away gives you room to put some wood chunks on the top to get smoke going immediately).
One last thing. If you are into mexican food... that skin and the fat underneath that you trim away is perfect for rendering lard and making chicharron. Just a thought.
Anyhow, good luck.
Yes Rene, Just use a very sharp knife (that's key) and skin it out. Always angle the blade towards the skin side so you don't cut into the meat. Start from the otherside that hardly has any skin. I start at the shank and make a slice down into the meat but not too deep, from the big picture side. You can use a paper towel to open up your slice then just skin it out. Hard to explain but if you have anymore questions i'll do my best to answer.
Al Silverman
TVWBB Pro
Rene,
That looks like a Swift Premium product which means its been enhanced. So it might be on the salty side. Be a little cautious on the amount of salt in your rub.
Al
That looks like a Swift Premium product which means its been enhanced. So it might be on the salty side. Be a little cautious on the amount of salt in your rub.
Al
Rene,
Goodluck with your smoke. I do Picnics all the time. Inject a lot of them also.
I rinse them off really well, and then on the non skin side, I push down/squeeze on them in the sink and you will see some blood coming out of the vein on that side. It may be anal to do it, but I don't like the color you sometimes get on the inside from to much blood remaining in there.
When I skin, I start at the one corner and slice enought to grab onto, then pull on that corner like I was trying to lift the Picnic up. Make light slicing motions where the skin/membrane meats the meat, and the weight of the Picnic will pull away from the skin, and you will have an easy time of it. I hope I explained that so you understand it lol, I do!
I have done a lot of 11-12 pound Picnics, and I plan on a 20 hour smoke for them. I have never had a large one like that hit the mark in 1.5 hours per pound. (230 pit target temp)
I did 2 8.5 pounders on Wed., put them on at 0700, puleed one at 10:30 that night, the other one took another hour. I pull between 190-195, and rest for at leaast 2 hours, but prefer 4. Have held for 5 hours before with no problems.
Doing 4-5 more for a Sunday picnic and trying Lump this time. (Thanks Bryan!)
Goodluck with your smoke. I do Picnics all the time. Inject a lot of them also.
I rinse them off really well, and then on the non skin side, I push down/squeeze on them in the sink and you will see some blood coming out of the vein on that side. It may be anal to do it, but I don't like the color you sometimes get on the inside from to much blood remaining in there.
When I skin, I start at the one corner and slice enought to grab onto, then pull on that corner like I was trying to lift the Picnic up. Make light slicing motions where the skin/membrane meats the meat, and the weight of the Picnic will pull away from the skin, and you will have an easy time of it. I hope I explained that so you understand it lol, I do!
I have done a lot of 11-12 pound Picnics, and I plan on a 20 hour smoke for them. I have never had a large one like that hit the mark in 1.5 hours per pound. (230 pit target temp)
I did 2 8.5 pounders on Wed., put them on at 0700, puleed one at 10:30 that night, the other one took another hour. I pull between 190-195, and rest for at leaast 2 hours, but prefer 4. Have held for 5 hours before with no problems.
Doing 4-5 more for a Sunday picnic and trying Lump this time. (Thanks Bryan!)
Thank you all for the help..I think I figured out from all of your decriptions what to do...
I just have to do some reading up on how to reload the WSM once it burns down..Do I need a drip pan or is the waterpan ok to catch the drippings...I don't plan to use them... I will take pictures of the results...
Just let the water pan catch the drippings. Don't let it go dry though. If I am using water, I give the pan a lite spray of Pam before hand to help with cleanup.
Reloading the bin..some use the door to let it slide down and into the basket. I have a very long handled digger for the flower bed I use to put the fresh charcoal in a pile on one of the sides of the basket. This will help "continue" the M-Method.
Reloading the bin..some use the door to let it slide down and into the basket. I have a very long handled digger for the flower bed I use to put the fresh charcoal in a pile on one of the sides of the basket. This will help "continue" the M-Method.
I use one of the Diet Coke Soda 12 pack fridge pack cardboard things(or Coke Zero). Just tear the lip off of the front that holds the soda cans from falling out, fill it up with charcoal and dump it in. They are long and narrow and fit perfectly through the access door. They hold a good bit of charcoal too.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
I use one of the Diet Coke Soda 12 pack fridge pack cardboard things(or Coke Zero). Just tear the lip off of the front that holds the soda cans from falling out, fill it up with charcoal and dump it in. They are long and narrow and fit perfectly through the access door. They hold a good bit of charcoal too.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I take it you don't light the charcoal before dumping it in. I always light off my reloads (maybe I shouldn't?) and I hold the door at a 45 degree angle to the smoker and dump the lit coals onto the door and they slide into the charcoal basket. Then I spread them out with a stick.
I use one of the Diet Coke Soda 12 pack fridge pack cardboard things(or Coke Zero). Just tear the lip off of the front that holds the soda cans from falling out, fill it up with charcoal and dump it in. They are long and narrow and fit perfectly through the access door. They hold a good bit of charcoal too.
I take it you don't light the charcoal before dumping it in. I always light off my reloads (maybe I shouldn't?) and I hold the door at a 45 degree angle to the smoker and dump the lit coals onto the door and they slide into the charcoal basket. Then I spread them out with a stick.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rich_S:
I take it you don't light the charcoal before dumping it in. I always light off my reloads (maybe I shouldn't?) and I hold the door at a 45 degree angle to the smoker and dump the lit coals onto the door and they slide into the charcoal basket. Then I spread them out with a stick. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
No i don't lite the refill. It's no different than starting out with the MM.
I take it you don't light the charcoal before dumping it in. I always light off my reloads (maybe I shouldn't?) and I hold the door at a 45 degree angle to the smoker and dump the lit coals onto the door and they slide into the charcoal basket. Then I spread them out with a stick. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
No i don't lite the refill. It's no different than starting out with the MM.
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Looks great, Rene.
I'm assuming with a 2:40am start you're not planning this for an early dinner. I doubt you'll need to add more fuel late in the cook but you will water (sooner) if you're using the stock waterpan. You'll have ash build-up later in the cook as well which will block air intake and cause the temps to drop. A good but gentle stir, or tapping on the legs, will dislodge accumulated ash and fix that problem.
Good luck.
I'm assuming with a 2:40am start you're not planning this for an early dinner. I doubt you'll need to add more fuel late in the cook but you will water (sooner) if you're using the stock waterpan. You'll have ash build-up later in the cook as well which will block air intake and cause the temps to drop. A good but gentle stir, or tapping on the legs, will dislodge accumulated ash and fix that problem.
Good luck.
Mmmmm, Pork.
Looks good Rene. Your going to have a hard time having that puppy done by supper today, if that was your goal. For a 11 pounder to be done for a 5 pm supper, I would put that on around 5 the day before. 19-22 hours to cook at 230, a few hours to rest. I just got in the house from buying 4 of them in the 8.5 pound range.
Can't wait to hear how you like it!
Looks good Rene. Your going to have a hard time having that puppy done by supper today, if that was your goal. For a 11 pounder to be done for a 5 pm supper, I would put that on around 5 the day before. 19-22 hours to cook at 230, a few hours to rest. I just got in the house from buying 4 of them in the 8.5 pound range.
Can't wait to hear how you like it!
I have the larger water pan installed, so I am not to worried.. It's 11:30 now and it's held a internal temp of 167 for over two hours.... I might not get to eat it for supper...but there's always a midnight snack.
This is weird..it's now 11:40 and the internal temp just dropped to 165..is this normal? the lid temp is has been between 225-230.
This is weird..it's now 11:40 and the internal temp just dropped to 165..is this normal? the lid temp is has been between 225-230.
Pat Trammell
TVWBB Fan
Hi Rene,
If you're at 165 now and depending on how you define "supper" (it's at about 7:30 in the South, as opposed to dinner, which is about 6:00) you should be fine. I make a prediction it will be at 185 to 190 at around 5:00-6:00 Eastern, which should about be perfect.
My experience with the one picnic I cooked is that once it gets past the plateau, it finishes up pretty quickly.
Good luck with it. And let us know!!!
If you're at 165 now and depending on how you define "supper" (it's at about 7:30 in the South, as opposed to dinner, which is about 6:00) you should be fine. I make a prediction it will be at 185 to 190 at around 5:00-6:00 Eastern, which should about be perfect.
My experience with the one picnic I cooked is that once it gets past the plateau, it finishes up pretty quickly.
Good luck with it. And let us know!!!
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">This is weird..it's now 11:40 and the internal temp just dropped to 165..is this normal? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes it is. The rendering fat will cause a temp drop. Personally, I'd up the cooker to 250 lid.