Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Nobody's posted yet, so let me be the first.

Put a 9 lb shoulder on early this morning. Using a favorite Carolina rub recipe I found on the net. Using basic oak pellets - can anyone really tell the difference in meat flavor? Set it at 230 degrees. Once it hit 160 (about 7 hours) I foiled with a little butter and apple juice. 4 more hours then I will put it in a cooler for an hour to rest. Will pull it after that. Dinner is at 4. Should be ready in plenty of time.

Thoughts?

I have not used pellets, but I assume what we do with sticks translates. I can definitely tell the difference when using just oak vs. oak plus a fruit wood. And can definitely tell the difference in meat flavor when using pecan vs. oak. Not that I could necessarily eat some ribs and say this was pecan vs. mesquite, the 98 vintage, or anything. But in a blind taste test you will notice a flavor difference. None bad, just different.

Curious as to what the butter brought to your pork shoulder when you wrapped it. I usually rub, smoke and then foil or foil and pan after I get the color I want. Maybe add a squirt of mop to keep pushing the flavor. Always wondered what the benefit of adding the butter was, accounting for the leaner meat in the shoulder maybe?

Thanks

Does the shoulder react like a butt when smoked? Does it pull and shred or is it more like a pork chop? How are you serving it?

TcircleT wrote:I have not used pellets, but I assume what we do with sticks translates. I can definitely tell the difference when using just oak vs. oak plus a fruit wood. And can definitely tell the difference in meat flavor when using pecan vs. oak. Not that I could necessarily eat some ribs and say this was pecan vs. mesquite, the 98 vintage, or anything. But in a blind taste test you will notice a flavor difference. None bad, just different.

Curious as to what the butter brought to your pork shoulder when you wrapped it. I usually rub, smoke and then foil or foil and pan after I get the color I want. Maybe add a squirt of mop to keep pushing the flavor. Always wondered what the benefit of adding the butter was, accounting for the leaner meat in the shoulder maybe?

Thanks

what he said...

Tyro20 wrote:Nobody's posted yet, so let me be the first.

Put a 9 lb shoulder on early this morning.....Using basic oak pellets - can anyone really tell the difference in meat flavor? ....

Thoughts?

I put some cherry in just about everything I smoke because I like the pink color it gives whatever I'm cooking and it's a mild flavor addition and won't change the profile of the other wood you're using too much. I don't always add it for fish, but just about everything else... I agree with the others that you'll notice more of a flavor impact with hickory or pecan. Mesquite is very strong if you want even more of a smoke taste, but it's a little too powerful for my family's palate, typically (although, it absolutely MADE the jalapeno and bacon wrapped dove breasts I smoked with a friend from TX after a dove hunt! never say never!) My favorite mix (which I learned from Herb a few years back... credit where credit is due! ) is 50% pecan (or hickory if pecan not available) and 50% cherry.

njsmoker wrote:Does the shoulder react like a butt when smoked? Does it pull and shred or is it more like a pork chop? How are you serving it?

By "shoulder" I assume you're referring to a picnic shoulder rather than a Boston Butt, which is also a shoulder cut. Once it's off the bones on each cut, the pork is identical and indistinguishable. Yield is a bit higher on a butt too in my experience. I usually just buy the cheaper cut at Restaurant Depot or grocery store/butcher, etc. if I'm doing a small cook. On larger cooks, I can fit way more Butts in my 640 than picnic shoulders, so the higher capacity and yield make for a lot more pork w/ butts. Not like a loin (or pork chop) at all. Serve it just as you would a butt. Pulled, chopped, sandwiches, etc.