The Grill and BBQ thread

Just finished pork shoulder cook and it came out dry. This is the second time in a row (both on my Rec-tec). Cooked this one at 235 to 187 then my grill had a malfunction so I moved it to the oven at 250 then 350 to take it to 200. It was on the smoker for about 7-8 hours, in the oven for another 3. 7 pound butt. Rested for an hour wrapped in a cooler. Pulled quite easily but it's dry.

A couple other oddities for this one - 1) the fat cap had what looked like a layer of skin (like a sheet of 1/4 inch rubber and pink/yellow). Have never seen that before - removed the rubber part. 2) the bone was an actual shoulder joint rather than the weird T-shaped one I'm used to seeing.

Other notes: didn't wrap until it went in the oven, no water pan, no mop or spritz. I've done them on a charcoal grill, in a BGE and in an electric smoker all basically the same technique. These 2 on my pellet smoker have come out dry.

Any theories would be appreciated.
 
Just checked my temp history for the cook. This was all from 11pm to 6am and with temps outside in the low-mid 30s. Looks like the butt went for a wild ride.

IMG_3635.PNG
 

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Just finished pork shoulder cook and it came out dry. This is the second time in a row (both on my Rec-tec). Cooked this one at 235 to 187 then my grill had a malfunction so I moved it to the oven at 250 then 350 to take it to 200. It was on the smoker for about 7-8 hours, in the oven for another 3. 7 pound butt. Rested for an hour wrapped in a cooler. Pulled quite easily but it's dry.

A couple other oddities for this one - 1) the fat cap had what looked like a layer of skin (like a sheet of 1/4 inch rubber and pink/yellow). Have never seen that before - removed the rubber part. 2) the bone was an actual shoulder joint rather than the weird T-shaped one I'm used to seeing.

Other notes: didn't wrap until it went in the oven, no water pan, no mop or spritz. I've done them on a charcoal grill, in a BGE and in an electric smoker all basically the same technique. These 2 on my pellet smoker have come out dry.

Any theories would be appreciated.

I think shoulders are a bit leaner than butts. And they do have a "skin" on it that's a bit tough. If I all I can find are shoulders I brine them overnight to get more moisture in them. The pics looked good. Just throw some vinegar sauce on it.
 
I think shoulders are a bit leaner than butts. And they do have a "skin" on it that's a bit tough. If I all I can find are shoulders I brine them overnight to get more moisture in them. The pics looked good. Just throw some vinegar sauce on it.

i thought shoulders were butts. that said, the bone was definitely different.

EDIT - found this and it explains the difference. I definitely had shoulder rather than butt. Won't make that mistake again
 
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