Overnight Pork Shoulder


 
D

Derrick H

TVWBB Fan
Trying out an overnight cook on the Searwood. A single butt at 220 all night long. I put it on at 10 p.m., won't touch it until the morning. I debated between 200 and 220, but 220 should be fine. Not wrapping and using the pan to catch drippings. One thing I am noticing is how much smoke the Searwood is producing even without the smoke boost. I will update this post in the morning. I am really resisting the urge to open the smoker and sneak a peek, lol.

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Pretty much the same thing I do. KISS keep it simple stupid. I think you will be very pleased just keeping things simple.
 
Update -

The pork turned out good. Not as tender as I wanted but it was good. One thing I think I figured out about the Searwood is that it does not like drip pans. It was in the stall for hours, I mean like 3-4 hours. Then once it got out of it, it was very slow to climb in temps. I was trying to be patient, but I did pump up the temp from 220 to 250, no change. After a few hours, I removed the drip pan and it pretty much immediately started climbing. I am still learning the Searwood and if I can't use a drip pan it's no big deal as it is easy to clean. But again, it was good, but just not as fall apart as I was looking for.

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Was the meat in the drip pan? If not as long as it wasn't terribly high sided it should not have really interfered much if at all. I Always put a shallow pan of some sort under a long fatty cook like that. And have never had an issue. FWIW I do not use any liquid in the pan (which perhaps if you did may have had an effect)
 
LMichaels said:
Was the meat in the drip pan? If not as long as it wasn't terribly high sided it should not have really interfered much if at all. I Always put a shallow pan of some sort under a long fatty cook like that. And have never had an issue. FWIW I do not use any liquid in the pan (which perhaps if you did may have had an effect)
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There was a very little liquid in the pan, but not enough to affect anything.

Timothy F. Lewis said:
How long did you let it rest? That can be a significant help with more tender pulling. I like three to five hours.
Just a question.
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I only let it rest about 2 hours, but after eating, it was fine. Just the pull was not fall apart at all. For all I know it was the cut of meat that I got. The good thing about this hobby is practicing and experimenting bring some delicious results!
 
Then I seriously doubt the pan affected your cook. Every piece of meat you buy behaves a little differently. So it may have just been an anomaly of that hunk of meat more than your cook or how you outfitted the grill. Like I noted. I use catch pans all the time on those long cooks. Not because I think they do anything to affect the cook, but so afterward I don't have a ton of cleanup. I simply take the disposable pan and toss it
 
A couple things I would try changing. First, I would move the pork butt to the center of your grill to help with airflow on both sides. I would use a shorter drip pan. Most of the time I just use the lids to the steamer pans. As shallow as the lids are, I can still add a small amount of water if needed. And they are super cheap. Your finished photo off the butt in the foil pan, looks like it needs more cooking time. I don’t see much pull back in the different muscle groups. Running at 220 will allow more time for smoke penetration in the early part of the cook. But as you found out, it takes forever to push through the stall and longer to reach finishing temps. Just like my brisket cooks, I like to bump temp to 250-260 when it reaches the stall. None of the above are major changes. Just small suggestions to try. Your shredded finished photo looks fantastic.
 
Darian Hofer said:
A couple things I would try changing. First, I would move the pork butt to the center of your grill to help with airflow on both sides. I would use a shorter drip pan. Most of the time I just use the lids to the steamer pans. As shallow as the lids are, I can still add a small amount of water if needed. And they are super cheap. Your finished photo off the butt in the foil pan, looks like it needs more cooking time. I don’t see much pull back in the different muscle groups. Running at 220 will allow more time for smoke penetration in the early part of the cook. But as you found out, it takes forever to push through the stall and longer to reach finishing temps. Just like my brisket cooks, I like to bump temp to 250-260 when it reaches the stall. None of the above are major changes. Just small suggestions to try. Your shredded finished photo looks fantastic.
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Thanks. When it hit 150, it stayed there for about 3-4 hours. I pumped it up to 250, then 270 to push it through. We had a quick power outage When it hit 192 and that put the grill into shutdown mode. I had guests coming a couple of hours from that time so I just decided to take it off, let it rest and then pull it. The power was flickering off and on because of a storm so there was no way I could keep it on the smoker anyway. The finished product was fine once it was pulled, but as you noted the pull back wasn't there. This wasn't a huge pork butt, so the 14 hours it took was unexpected.

I did contact Weber for their advice on a whim. They actually got back with me and said they would recommend no drip pan for the Searwood, but if I used one, make sure it is really shallow, as you have noted. The taller ones seem to affect long cooks. As LMichaels pointed out, every cut of meat is different and every cook has it's story. I'll try all the suggestions I am getting. Thanks everyone.

With all that said, my guests thought it was perfect, so I guess that is what matters more than anything. It tasted great as part of my lunch today and I had fellow employees asking where I got it, so it was a success.
 
Derrick, I would change a couple of things, maybe do three butts, use two “full size” foil pans, start two hours earlier, and rest two hours longer.
Honestly, the rest of your cook looks just fine. You have ample airflow, depth of drip pans is unimportant, catching grease is more important, don’t bother with liquid. I’d bump heat to 250-275. Pork butts are very forgiving and all you get with 220-225 is seven more hours of frustration.
But,
I’ve stated many times before, I’m lazy and like to touch fire off at 22:00 and go to bed. I’ve learned to just let the cooker roll. With a Searwood? Light it and go to bed.
It will be done when it’s finished and give a LONG rest to make sure the beer cooler is properly iced down, salads, sides and tables are ready for the feast. Pork butts are the best for that!
It’s barbecue, it has its own time management demands, don’t irritate the feasting with micromanaging!
It’s for fun!
To be clear, I am old school, charcoal, hand loaded in a WSM, pellet poopers are different but, I play bluegrass music, refuse to become “socially involved(aside from this gem among media)”, I hate cell phones, and am usually contrary! Just ask LMichalels!🤣🤣😉
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Derrick, I would change a couple of things, maybe do three butts, use two “full size” foil pans, start two hours earlier, and rest two hours longer.
Honestly, the rest of your cook looks just fine. You have ample airflow, depth of drip pans is unimportant, catching grease is more important, don’t bother with liquid. I’d bump heat to 250-275. Pork butts are very forgiving and all you get with 220-225 is seven more hours of frustration.
But,
I’ve stated many times before, I’m lazy and like to touch fire off at 22:00 and go to bed. I’ve learned to just let the cooker roll. With a Searwood? Light it and go to bed.
It will be done when it’s finished and give a LONG rest to make sure the beer cooler is properly iced down, salads, sides and tables are ready for the feast. Pork butts are the best for that!
It’s barbecue, it has its own time management demands, don’t irritate the feasting with micromanaging!
It’s for fun!
To be clear, I am old school, charcoal, hand loaded in a WSM, pellet poopers are different but, I play bluegrass music, refuse to become “socially involved(aside from this gem among media)”, I hate cell phones, and am usually contrary! Just ask LMichalels!🤣🤣😉
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First thing I am going to do next time is bump the temp to 250 to start the cook. Maybe bump it to 275 when the stall hits. 220 was just torture.
 
Weird. I do them on 220 all the time. Actually my typical MO is night before on Super Smoke, then up to 235 until finished the next early AM. If I need it earlier in the day, I'll start it at 225, and up it to, 235-240 next AM
 
Derrick H said:
Thanks. When it hit 150, it stayed there for about 3-4 hours. I pumped it up to 250, then 270 to push it through. We had a quick power outage When it hit 192 and that put the grill into shutdown mode. I had guests coming a couple of hours from that time so I just decided to take it off, let it rest and then pull it. The power was flickering off and on because of a storm so there was no way I could keep it on the smoker anyway. The finished product was fine once it was pulled, but as you noted the pull back wasn't there. This wasn't a huge pork butt, so the 14 hours it took was unexpected.

I did contact Weber for their advice on a whim. They actually got back with me and said they would recommend no drip pan for the Searwood, but if I used one, make sure it is really shallow, as you have noted. The taller ones seem to affect long cooks. As LMichaels pointed out, every cut of meat is different and every cook has it's story. I'll try all the suggestions I am getting. Thanks everyone.

With all that said, my guests thought it was perfect, so I guess that is what matters more than anything. It tasted great as part of my lunch today and I had fellow employees asking where I got it, so it was a success.
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Sounds like you overcame all your obstacles perfectly.
Everyone has their own preferences on using or not using drip pans. Then of course you have preferences on what type and size.
There are some differences in grills such as amount of space between upper and lower racks. And how tight you trim the fat on your pork butts and brisket. I like to trim fairly tight, so I might have less drippings than others. Throw in a fatty prime or Wagyu brisket and that changes everything.lol
 

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Tony Coloma said:
You can always finish in the oven. If power goes out,...well some ovens, most, would also jave troubles
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Yeah, I think 99% of all gas ovens would fail to work. Because there is no pilot. And modern gas ovens regulate only by turning off the burner, then using the hot rod to reignite. (big reason I hate gas ovens) Unless you want to stick your head in it and relight every few minutes :D
 
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