Ramping up for 1st smoke this weekend

azamuner73 · April 01, 2010, 04:46:16 AM

I wasn't able to get my hands on pork butts, but they had pork leg shanks with the bone-in so I grabbed the last 2.

I need to get some biquettes from crappy tire but I am wondering which flavor/flavors I should use if I want to end up with pulled pork.
Should I use apple or a mixture of apple and something else like maple? Would hickory be too strong?

And...should I remove the skin from the pork legs to help the smoke penetrate? I am thinking yes but I just want to confirm with the pros.

Tenpoint5 · April 01, 2010, 06:27:45 AM

I would remove the skin.

The pork leg shank is from the back leg and is cut off the bottom of a ham. So i would leave as much fat on it as possible to maintain moisture adn even lay a few strips of bacon over the top. The back leg doesn't have as much fat marbling in it as the front.

azamuner73 · April 01, 2010, 06:55:19 AM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on April 01, 2010, 06:27:45 AM
I would remove the skin.

The pork leg shank is from the back leg and is cut off the bottom of a ham. So i would leave as much fat on it as possible to maintain moisture adn even lay a few strips of bacon over the top. The back leg doesn't have as much fat marbling in it as the front.

I was thinking of just trimming off the skin. You don't think that will be enough for it not to dry out, or is the bacon a must?
The legs looks like they have a decent amount of fat on the perimeter under the skin.

classicrockgriller · April 01, 2010, 07:06:10 AM

Thae part you have (the picnic) lacks the collegen and fat on the inside to make it act like a Butt.

You can cook the same as a butt maybe even inject it first.

You will be able to pull some of it, but you may have to Chop the finsh meat.

Nothing wrong with that, is still good eats..

I had a post where I did one a while back and got some great info from others.

I will look for it.

azamuner73 · April 01, 2010, 07:21:50 AM

Quote from: classicrockgriller on April 01, 2010, 07:06:10 AM
Thae part you have (the picnic) lacks the collegen and fat on the inside to make it act like a Butt.

You can cook the same as a butt maybe even inject it first.

You will be able to pull some of it, but you may have to Chop the finsh meat.

Nothing wrong with that, is still good eats..

I had a post where I did one a while back and got some great info from others.

I will look for it.

Thanks CRG. I've never seen pork butts at the local grocery stores. I bet I will have to get them from a meat shop...same goes for brisket. Not even Costco had anything. I was hoping these legs would work for pulled pork. :-[
But even if I can make something delic, I'm sure I will be happy. If you find that post, yes, please link it. :)

Tenpoint5 · April 01, 2010, 08:06:36 AM

Azamuner,
You might not see it labeled as "Boston Butt" or "Pork Butt" you might see it labeled as a pork shoulder roast. The cut you have is not a picnic that is from the front leg you have a section off the back leg. Which is the bottom shank section of the ham.
The Bacon is not a must.

azamuner73 · April 01, 2010, 08:15:08 AM

Yeah...it seems like the cut names differ depending on where you live. Canada has different names than the US for some cuts and so does the UK. Makes it a pain in the arse really.

These shanks look pretty good so I'm guessing no matter what I do, it will probably be tasty. I will post some photos later (at work right now). I want to rub and wrap them tonight and maybe smoke em Friday night into Saturday.

I'll check the weights on them to so I can hopefull get a ballpark cook time so I will know when to start em and when they might be finished.

Should I do foil wrapped bricks? I remember reading that this helps with heating/maintaining temp. I have to read some more too because I don't recall if I should pull the water bowl after the smoke or change it and put it back in.

OU812 · April 01, 2010, 08:52:32 AM

Quote from: azamuner73 on April 01, 2010, 08:15:08 AM
Should I do foil wrapped bricks? I remember reading that this helps with heating/maintaining temp. I have to read some more too because I don't recall if I should pull the water bowl after the smoke or change it and put it back in.

The bricks will act like a heat sink and will help with the heat recovery when you open the door. I dont see the reason to cover with foil but to each there own.

After the smoke pull the water bowl dump the spent bisquetts and refill with HOT water, you will need to check the water bowl about every 4 hr thats why some people put in bigger water pans.

I put a pan, half full of warm beer, on the rack under the stuff I'm cookin to catch the drippins. Then after the cook and when your doin the FTC thing put the drippins in the fridge the let the fat become solid, scrape off the fat and discard. What you have left is some mighty tasty juice that you can put back in the meat if you feel its a little dry or make some killer gravy.

azamuner73 · April 02, 2010, 09:23:43 AM

Sounds great! I don't have a larger pan atm so I guess I will have to check it ever 4 hours. :-[

I bought the variety pack of bisquettes and I am wondering what ones to use.

The pack has Alder, Cherry, Hickory, Maple and Special blend.

I was thinking of doing 2 hours of Aldor and 2 hours of Hickory. Would that make a good flavor for pork shanks?

FLBentRider · April 02, 2010, 09:33:27 AM

I like Hickory on Pork.

azamuner73 · April 02, 2010, 01:00:39 PM

Got it all seasoned up and now the pork shanks are in. I'm going to smoke them for 4 hours (2 aldor and then 2 hickory) with a temp of 200-210. Don't have a PID yet so I'll tinker around with it.

I have 2 pork shanks and they are about 15 pounds total. No idea how long they will take to cook. I'm sure it will be well over 12 hours anyway....sometime Saturday. ;D

azamuner73 · April 06, 2010, 08:55:04 AM

These babies were ready in the morning and looking great. I did have to so a little improv when I was making the dry rub. I didn't have enough of some ingredients to go with Habs recipe and I was missing some ingredients from tsquared's recipe so I combined them.

Now I know what the fuss is all about. It tastes delicious!

I took some pics but they are on my home PC so I can't post em until I get home.

I can't wait to try a brisket! If I can find a place to buy em that is.

Thanks for all of the help. :)

Tenpoint5 · April 06, 2010, 08:58:10 AM

Glad everything worked out for you. See it all tastes good so no need to fret a whole lot.

OU812 · April 06, 2010, 09:41:35 AM

Good to here your picnic's were delicious, cant wait to see the pictures.

oakville smoker · April 06, 2010, 09:47:56 AM

Aza

As a fellow Cannuck in Ontariarario, it does seem difficult to find readilly available butts and brisketts
I managed to find a packing house with a retail outlet and I get most of mys stuff from there
You name they have it and if they dont, they cut it for me
They even give me wholesale pricing as I am a regular

Hopefully you can find something out there close to the same