Smoked pork shoulder

[jaydeestude]

Quick question. I have smoked many pork butts and shoulders and usually smoked for many hours (10-16) and still have had to Finnish in the oven. What would happen if I started in the oven overnight at 200 deg and then went into the smoker to continue until finished?  Would the smoke still penetrate after cooling several hours in the oven? Any problems you might think of. Just curious. Thanks for any input.

[Habanero Smoker]

Smoke reacts to meat in two basic ways; smoke penetration, and smoke adhesion.

Smoke penetration is when the compounds in the smoke will interact with the meat proteins and sugars, and actually penetrate the meat. At a certain temperature, the meat will no longer absorb the smoke compounds. Most say this temperature is 140F, at the surface. Under ideal conditions, you may get 1/4-inch smoke penetration. My theory is; that since there is a chemical reaction going on, there will definitely be a slight change in flavor, then if the smoke just adhered to the surface. Just a side note; there is one school of thought that when you apply rubs, that will hinder smoke penetration

Smoke adhesion is when the smoke compounds adhere to the surface of the meat. Though smoke will not penetrate more than 1/4-inch, you can still have smoke adhere to the surface of the meat; as long as the surface has moisture. Other than just bonding to the surface, there is no other chemical reaction, between the meat and smoke. Keep in mind that smoking meat too long will create a bitter acrid taste.

To answer your question, will the smoke penetrate; that answer would most likely be no. The surface of the meat would be beyond 140F. At 140F, the structure of the protein molecules changes. After several hours in the oven, the meat surface should still be moist, so when you place it in the smoker the smoke should adhere to the surface, and that should give you some smoke flavor. If it is not moist, the smoke will not adhere as much.

When I smoke pork butts, I smoke them fully in the smoker. Before I pull the meat, I shave the bark off, chopped that up and mix it in with the rest of the pulled pork. The bark has a lot of smoke flavor, and doing it this way, distributes the smoke flavor throughout the pulled pork.

So if you apply smoke at the end of the cook, and that smoke adheres to the surface of the butt, you should have some smoke flavor, but it would most likely be less and have a slightly different taste.

Another way you can smoke your butts fully in the smoker, and cut down on the cook time is to foil your butts after the bark is set. What I mean, when you can scrape the surface of the meat with the back of your fingernail, and the bark doesn't come off, it is set. This is generally with the internal temperature reaches the 165F - 170F mark. At this point you can wrap it in foil (or butcher paper if you prefer), and this will cut down on the overall time it will take to finish. If the bark is not set, and you wrap it, all your seasonings will be "washed" off.

[jaydeestude]

Thanks.  Lots of good information. Might still try, just as a experiment.

[Habanero Smoker]

I would be interested in the outcome.

The key is a moist surface. If by chance, the surface is not most when you take it out of the oven to place it in the smoker, you should spritz it. Plain water will be fine.

I have a few types of charcoal and pellet cookers, but I will only use my Bradley when I make pulled pork. :-)