Greetings all
I'm planning on doing a pork shoulder this weekend. This will be the 8th on my MAK and I've had great results with prior butts/shoulders. They have all been small compared to this one though. Previously I've done a couple around 9#, one or two around 6# and the rest around 8#. This monster from Snake River Farms is 19.1#!
The seven previous ones have averaged 2 hr/#. Quickest was just over 1 hr/# slowest nearly 2.5 hr/#. Should I expect the roughly 2 hr/# formula to remain for a shoulder this large? I don't know if you get to a point where either size no longer increases the overall time or size increases the time per pound? Am I really looking at a potential 38 hr cook? The fact that this shoulder is longer than the rest, rather than twice as thick, has me thinking/hoping I would be closer to an 18-20 hour cook.
I should add that I've never wrapped and I go low and slow, "smoke" until IT hits ~160F then crank to 250F for awhile then 300F or so to set the bark when I think I'm getting close.
My current game plan (subject to change based on input here) is to "smoke" for ~3 hours, then bump to 250F and be prepared to crank temp to ~300F and wrap if the stall is extended. Figure to start Saturday morning (around 8-10 am, when/if I get a break in the rain) and hope to be ready to pull sometime Sunday afternoon. The good news is I am not trying to work around a set serving time. This is a test cook for a shoulder this large as well as to restock my freezer with pulled pork.
Thoughts?
