On Thu, 3 Jun 2004, it was written:

> Jeneen Sommers wrote:
>
> > I'm planning on having them on the K tomorrow for BBQ
> > on Saturday afternoon. My question is, should I remove
> > the bones? Leave them on and cook the pork 1.5 hours per
> > pound still (they're 11-12 pounds each, with the bone)?
> > Leave them on and cook the pork 1.5 hours per pound of
> > meat, figuring the bones are a couple of pounds?
> > Would the bones make the end result more flavorful?
>
> I prefer to have them with the bone in. Cook according to gross weight. The
> bone is a good clue to the doneness of the pork, as it pulls out of the meat
> easily when the pork reaches the pullable stage. IMO, it can make the 'Qing
> go a bit quicker due to the bone acting as a heat sink, but 1.5 to 2.0 hours
> per pound is still a good rough guage.
> Dave

Update: The pork temperature was up to 195F after about 12-13 hours at
220, much sooner than I expected. I thought they still could have been cooked
longer because there was more fat in the meat than I usually get,
especially for 195F (temperature was taken in a big meaty part). I don't know
if that had anything to do with the bone or not.

I'm not sure what I would do different in the future - probably get the
pork shoulders without bone since I haven't had trouble with that in the
past. If I do get bone-in meat again, based on this experience, I'll
probably try cooking it to a higher internal temperature, and risk having
it overdone...just to see what happens. Or do you think that would be a
huge mistake? Live and learn!

Thanks for the help -

Jeneen