Pork Shoulder - How to Trim & How to Tie

[weekendsmoker]

The last shoulder I bought was butcher prepaired so all I had to do was season and toss it in.  I saved some $ this time and bought the whole one with all the fat and eveything, I think there is even a bone in there.  How should I trim it please and when done.... do I need to tie the roast with butcher string before smoking?

Thanks.

Jason

[owrstrich]

i would trim it down to no more than 1/4 of pig fat...

if its tied up cause its not one solid chunk of pig i would retie it to get it all uniform and all... if its tied up for no apparent reason i would remove the ties and use them for dental floss on your dog...

you know its done when the bone pulls out with little effort... it wont need no trimming... just grubbing...

j o

[KyNola]

WESmoker,
Is it an entire shoulder?  If it is and it is quite large, you may want to consider cutting it into two halves.  Otherwise, you are going to have an extremely long cook time.  Don't worry about removing the bone.  As for trimming, I'm with the Big O on this one.  Trim it down to about 1/4 inch.  Slather that boy with mustard, put your rub on it , wrap it in plastic wrap in the fridge for a day before you put it in the smoker.  More info than you asked about I understand.

Smoke on!
KyNola