I started smoking a 7 lb pork shoulder (pork butt) at 7:10 AM. I used apple wood for the cook. It took 8.5 hours to get the butt to 195 degrees which is the minimum internal temperature for the collagen and fat and connective tissues to breakdown. I decided to go as high as 206 degrees before stopping the cook. Total time was 9 hours 20 minutes!
I had switched the charcoal ring on the 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain smoker with the 18.5" charcoal ring. I put perhaps a full ring of charcoal in it using the minion method. I was able to keep the smoker between 245 and 260 degrees for 6 hours. As the temperature of the pit started to drop to 225 degrees, I decided it was time to put in more charcoal to finish the cook. I used a hotter and longer burning version of Kingsford to get the coals back to the 255 degree mark. I also had to add more water in the water pan. I had filled it up 3/4 of the way up, but after 6 hours, most of it was already evaporated.
After letting the meat rest for at least 20 minutes, I pulled the pork. It pulled easily! It was literally falling apart! I probably didn't even need the pork shredders! My past cooks never had the internal temperature go beyond 190 degrees. Because of this, it would not pull apart like this one did. Going forward, I'll always put in more time and get the internal temperature to go higher than 195 degrees! I've heard 203 degrees is a good goal to hit.
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