First Time Picnic

[Guest]

I'm cooking a 7 1/2 pound picnic tomorrow. Its the first time I've tried one. A few questions: How much of the fat if any should I trim off? The whole piece has 1/4 -1/2" of fat on it. Also, what's a rough idea of cooking time? I'm figuring 9-11 hours.

 

[Paul G.]

Jeff

It sounds like you got a cut similar to one I got about 1 yr ago. It's from the lower portion of the shoulder, into the shank but has the skin removed. I treated mine just like a butt and trimed the same way. Were I to do it again, I wouldn't trim as close. The meat seemed to come out slightly drier than a butt, but still very good. Maybe a little additional fat on the outside would have helped ?

I think you're cutting the time too short. My guess would be 14 to 18 hours which makes it difficult to do a daytime cook with plans to eat that night. I believe an overnighter and holding in a cooler with HD foil and towels would be better.

Good luck on the cook.

Paul

 

[Bryan S]

/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gifJMO, i never trim the fat off. You can do that when it's finished. More fat = more moisture & more flavor. Fire that smoker up and make the neiborhood smell good. Bryan

 

[Guest]

Update: I'm into hour 13. Cooker temp held steady at 225 for 7 hours (bottom vents closed)then went down gradually to 175 (I fell asleep). Opened the vents all the way and got it back to 210 before I caught 2 more hours of shuteye.

Added coals at hour 10. Finally checked the meat temp at hour 12. It was 163. Right now (hour 13) it's 168. Cooker temp 240 and holding steady. Looks and smells great!! Chickens go on in 3 hours.

 

[Paul G.]

I trim the fat on a butt because I feel there's enough internal fat, along with what I leave, to supply moisture as it renders. Also, I feel the rub cannot penetrate a fat cap and thus the seasoning is better with some triming.

However, I've never tried not triming, so I really can't give a valid comparison from experience.

Paul

 

[Brian L.]

I trim all the fat/skin of the outside of picnics and butts, never had a problem with it being dry. I believe there is enough internal fat to keep it moist and I like to get the maximum amount of bark. I have notice picnics seem to be a bit drier than butts in general. My guess it because of the internal structure of the meat. My favorite is to do a picnic and a butt at the same time to simulate doing a whole shoulder. I haven't found a supplier to get a whole one. Would it fit?