Test run from the new butcher and weekend smoking project

[one100grand]

Well, I went in to a new butcher today to pick up a Berkshire pork shoulder I'd ordered yesterday. When I was there, I got to chatting with the owner, who was very passionate about meat (a very good sign as far as I'm concerned). I ended up buying a couple of pounds of dry aged Wagyu beef which he happily ground for me for burgers. This is my first experience cooking with wagyu burger and it was definitely different - he told me this cattle was grass fed (so the cook would be a little different). Handling it, it was MUCH easier to handle than any other beef I've ever used - it bound together very well and as a breeze to work with.

I ran a simple 2 minutes on each side at 600, then closed the dampers, burped the hottest air out of the egg, and let the burgers finish for 4 more minutes at around 400. The finished burgers were crispy, but super tender; I won't say they're my best work ever, but I think they were very good.

My second post is my pork shoulder, which will probably hit the smoker around 10:00 PM on Saturday night.

 

[one100grand]

This is the pork shoulder I got. They butterflied it, exposing the money muscle the same way I'd do it myself, that was was a nice surprise.

I seasoned it and wrapped it back up, it should hit the smoker around 10:30 on Saturday night. I'll post more pics as it happens.

 

[gumbo860]

Ugh, the fat content in that wagyu makes me want to eat it raw! Looks perfect

 

[Jim]

Awesome man! Talk to me about the butt cut? Money muscle?

 

[Buddychrist]

Makes me want to hunt around the half a cow in my freezer and fire up the grill!

Man that looks delicious! You sure you aren't a chef?

 

[one100grand]

Here are some updated pics, sorry for the slow upload, just came out of my pork-induced coma. This was literally the best pulled pork I have ever eaten; I highly recommend finding yourself a Berkshire hog. In my brisket guide, I left out a step that I do when I make a pulled pork - using a test piece. I cut a small piece of the pork, season it and cook it along side the big piece - I do this so that I can check what temp the whole shoulder will be done. Every pig is different and so every one of them will be finished at slightly different temps (the other benefit is that I get to eat a little bit before the whole thing is done); this enables me to have a piece I can test pull and will be done before the big portion.

The pork went on at around 10:30 PM on Saturday night, went all through the night at a steady 225. The smaller test piece served as breakfast :twisted: and the temp on the shoulder hit the magic point of 190 at right around 1:00 PM on Sunday. I pulled the pork and added a simple vinegar sauce to the meat just after pulling so it absorbs into the meat; then I served with 2 types of mustard bbq and a spicy tomato based bbq sauce.

I used 3 types of wood chunks as shown & stated in the pics.

 

[one100grand]

Awesome man! Talk to me about the butt cut? Money muscle?

Pork shoulders are sold in a couple of different names, but it breaks down to 2 pieces - the boston butt or the picnic ham. For a "true" pork shoulder, it should be sold as a shoulder (I generally prefer bone-in, so when these guys told me it was boneless I was a little apprehensive until I saw the meat), not as just a butt/picnic ham. If you don't have a pork shoulder available, a Boston Butt is the slightly better cut for pulled pork in my opinion.

The money muscle is the muscle that runs near the bone that's kind of an oval shape; it's a different consistency than the rest of the meat; in competition, folks serve the pork shoulder as a pulled & sliced style to show off their cooking technique. I've learned about that and have started slicing it and serving it in addition to the pulled pork with just a little of the vinegar sauce on it.