Whole Shoulder


 
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Bruce Cook

Bruce Cook

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I have a whole shoulder from a recently butchered pig. The pig was a feral type and was raised free range on scraps w/o antibiotics and all that stuff. I got it from Bob in GA for those of you are aware of his reputation.

Anyway, there is a nice covering of fat and skin on this piece with a smaller amount of meat. I'm wondering whether I should cook this skin up or down using the water pan. My thinking is skin down so that all the fat will render and flavor the meat for a couple of hours and then flip skin up to baste for the rest of the cook. Opinions?
 
How big is that whole shoulder? I'm surprised that you could fit a whole shoulder in a WSM unless it is a small one. Tell Bob I said Hi. I haven't talked to him in a while.
 
Bruce,

That sounds pretty small for a "whole shoulder".
I just did an overnighter this past weekend with a whole shoulder weighing 15 lbs. It barely fit on the top rack.
I generally followed Chris' Mr. Brown recipe.
I started with the fat side up and flipped it about 6 hours in and flipped it back after another 6 hours. It took another 5 hours to hit an internal temp of 180 F (total 17 hours). I ran the WSM between 225 to 250 F at the top grate and used apple and pecan smoke wood.

Results were excellent with a nice dark bark and very tender and moist pullable pork.
 
Yeah, I always thought typical "smoking" size whole shoulders weigh between 15-25 lbs.
 
I got this shoulder from Bob in GA. The pig it came off of was probably about 60-75lbs live weight. They are not commercially raised. They are feral pigs, fed scraps and allowed to roam around. I've cooked direct with Bob twice and there is no comparison in the pork. His beat anything I've tasted hands down. The meat has good fat content.

If you would like to read a little more about it check this link out.

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/whole_hog.htm
 
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