Pork Shoulder - Newbie

[Phil D.]

I picked up a nice looking piece of 6 pound pork shoulder and I thought I'd try smoking it (rather than a pork butt). Should I smoke it in my WSM as though it was a pork butt? Should I leave the skin in tact, score it (like a ham) or try to remove as much of the skin as possible before smoking it?

 

[David Prince]

cook it just like a butt..i would cut the skin off so bark would form on that side, but you could leave it on too.

 

[Mike Provance]

Phil,
I'm assuming you got a picnic.
Little different taste then the Butt, but still excellent.
If this is one of your first smokes, I would just throw the bad boy in and smoke it like a Butt.
Forget all the intricacies of rubs/ bastes etc. Just enjoy the flavor of the meat slowly smoked with hickory. I promise you that alone will be great!
Plenty of good info here to learn, and a lot of guys who know a lot more then I do will help you along

 

[Graham M]

Phil
I recently smoked a 7lb Pork Shoulder for my first cook.
I cut all the skin off and most of the fat from the outside. Followed the Mr Brown recipe found on the cooking topics section of this site (although next time I'll use 1/2 the amount of pepper).
Came out pretty good (even if I say so myself!)

 

[Jason M. Park]

I cooked 2 butts and a picnic at the same time once, and I tasted virtually no difference in the meat. I trimmed the fat and skin off the picnic, and was glad that I did. It would have definately been way too fatty for my tastes if I had left it on. There is plenty of internal fat to keep things moist, so trim away and enjoy more edible bark.

And yes, the Mr. Brown is very peppery, it will remind you that pepper is indeed a strong spice.

 

[Phil D.]

OK, thanks for all the helpful posts. It's in the WSM cooking away.