Pellet Fan

All Things Considered => General Discussion--Food Related => Topic started by: ICIdaho on July 20, 2018, 10:28:28 AM

Title: Small Boneless Pork Picnic Roasts
Post by: ICIdaho on July 20, 2018, 10:28:28 AM
My wife brought these home from the store the other day and wants pulled pork.  They are labeled a little different than I am accustomed to seeing, but I assume they are pork shoulder.  They came in a package of two, with the total weight being 3.3 pounds.  I have not cooked that small of meat for pulled pork.  I assume the same 1.5 to 2 hr per pound at 225 degrees applies, but I cannot decide if I should tie the two together to cook them so they will be less likely to dry out or just leave them separate.  Any thoughts?
Title: Re: Small Boneless Pork Picnic Roasts
Post by: Craig in Indy on July 20, 2018, 01:04:59 PM
Picnic roasts like that were the second cook I tried on my smoker when I got it two years ago (ribs were first). I saw a sale circular from a local grocer, and didn't understand yet exactly what a pork butt/shoulder was, and thought this was what I was looking for to do pulled pork, even as small as they were. Turned out they weren't so appreciably different from actual shoulders that they caused any problems for us. We kept them separate, and used the opportunity to experiment with a couple of different rubs to see which we preferred. Everything about the cook was just the same as for a shoulder - same prep, same temperature, same target IT (203 +/-), and they came out fine. If I recall they worked out pretty close to 1.5 hours/pound, where all my subsequent full shoulder cooks have been closer to 2 hours/pound. But to be honest, cooking times have been so all-over-the-map for me, I give myself at least a couple of hours cushion when I plan - the meat can always be kept wrapped in a cooler for that long if it gets done early.