Smoked Pork Picnic Recipe
The Whole Pork Shoulder is comprised of two parts the upper half commonly known as the “butt” portion and the lower half called the Pork Picnic. This cut is often overlooked in the bbq world because there’s more meat on the Butt portion but don’t count the Pork Picnic Shoulder out. It cooks just like a pork butt and is easily turned into mouth-watering, pulled pork. The picnic contains the arm bone and the shank, and typically has most of the skin still attached. The muscles in the picnic have a different texture than the butt roast and the meat is lighter in comparison. Whenever I’m cooking a picnic, I take the extra time to cook it slow and preserve the collar (skin). This gives the roast a beautiful presentation and will really impress your guests when you serve it. For this recipe I’m starting with an 11lb pork picnic. Place the picnic skin side down on a platter and spray the collar with cooking spray (Canola, Vegetable, or Olive Oil) then apply bbq rub directly to the meat.
I’m using a 50:50 blend of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub and Killer Hogs Hot Rub. Let the picnic hang out for a few minutes at room temperature while you fire up the smoker.
I’m cooking on my Big Green Egg for this cook, but any grill/smoker set up for indirect heat will do the job. Run the pit at 250⁰ and add several chunks of GrilleWood.com Hickory and Cherry wood for smoke.
Once the Egg stabilizes, place the picnic on the cooking grate, cover the collar with a dry cotton towel, and close the lid. Every hour open the cooker and spritz the outside with an equal part mixture of Apple Juice, Pineapple Juice, and Red Wine Vinegar (about 8oz of each).
Also, remove the towel from the collar and reapply cooking spray. This step prevents the collar from turning dark during the process. Repeat this step every hour until the outside starts to turn dark. At this point the bark will have plenty of smoke flavor and adding more will only make it bitter.
Now it’s time to wrap the picnic: I use a double layer of aluminum foil and a cooling rack for this step. Tear off enough foil to completely surround the picnic, lay the foil out in a cross shape on a table and place the cooling rack in the center (this makes moving the picnic easier when it’s done).
Place the picnic on the cooling rack, remove the towel from the collar and reapply cooking spray, spritz the bark one final time, and wrap the foil around the picnic. Place it back on the smoker and insert a probe thermometer to monitor internal temperature. The target here is 198⁰ and it’ll take about 3.5 hours to get there.
Once the alarm goes off, remove the picnic from the smoker and carefully open the foil to vent off the steam. At this point it should be looking pretty good but we’re not quite done.
To really make some great tasting bark it needs a glaze. Mix 8oz of Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce with 2oz Molasses and 2oz Apple Juice. Heat this mixture over medium heat until the molasses melt and brush over the outside of the picnic. Now it’s ready to go back on the smoker for 15-20 minutes or until the glaze has set.
Finally the picnic is completely done and ready for a short rest before serving. This is a great time to let folks take pictures of your final product!
To serve start by removing the shank bone; it will slide right out of the end. Then dig into the middle and grab the arm bone. Lay these to the side and break the meat up with ease into pulled pork.
Serve the picnic with the remaining glaze and get ready to enjoy some outstanding pulled pork.
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Smoked Pork Picnic Recipe
Ingredients
- Pork Picnic (around 10-11lbs)
- Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub (your favorite sweet rub can be substituted here)
- Killer Hogs The Hot Rub (your favorite hot rub can be substituted here)
- Cooking Spray
- 10oz Apple Juice
- 8oz Pineapple Juice
- 8oz Red Wine Vinegar
- 8oz of Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce (your favorite sauce can be substituted here)
- 2oz Molasses
Instructions
- Place the picnic skin side down and spray the collar with cooking. Apply a combo of equal parts sweet rub and spicy rub directly on the meat.
- Bring your smoker up to 250 for indirect cooking using Hickory and Cherry wood for smoke.
- Place the pork picnic directly on the cooking grate.
- Mix 8oz of the apple juice, pineapple Juice, and red wine vinegar together in a spray bottle. Every hour spritz the meat with the apple juice mixture.
- After 4-5 hours of cooking, remove the pork picnic from the cooker. Spritz the bark one final time with the apple juice mixture and wrap a double layer of aluminum foil around the pork picnic.
- Place the pork picnic back on the smoker and insert a probe thermometer to monitor internal temperature. The target is 198⁰ – about 3.5 additional hours of cooking time.
- Once the alarm goes off, remove the picnic from the smoker and carefully open the foil to vent off the steam.
- Mix 8oz of Killer Hogs Sauce with 2oz Molasses and 2oz Apple Juice. Heat this mixture over medium heat until the molasses melt and brush over the outside of the picnic.
- Place the pork picnic back on the smoker for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the pork picnic from the smoker and allow for a short rest.
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Thanks for all the info. I’ve tried your recipes for ribs and they turned out great. Took some to deer camp last fall and there was nontalking during dinner. Everyone was feeding their faces. I used the honey and parsley step it’s great! I want to try your hog rub sometime.
Thanks for the tips. Looking g forward to more.
Malcom i have tried many of your recipes & cooking techniques just want to say thanks you truly have a gift when it comes to cooking & smoking .
Malcolm i am new to smoking and find your recipes and directions to be fantastic. I’m yet to ruin a piece of meat and touch wood i wont anytime soon. Other guys charge for their ideas when you are passing out knowledge for free.
I can tell you are truly passionate about what you do and are happy to see others succeed as well.
As we say down under “Thanks mate, and keep up the good work”.
Hi Malcolm. I love your videos about smoking meats.
We use a Weber Gas Grill with a Steam-and-Chips Smoking Kit. Works pretty good, but it’s tough to regulate the temperature.
I just watched the video about smoking a Pork Shoulder Picnic. I want to try it for a family party of about 20 adults. How many servings of pulled pork would an 11 lb piece of meat provide?
Thank you again for making the videos. You’re awesome!
PS. Can the smoking process be done one day & the cooking in foil process be done the next day?
Ideally I want to keep the temp steady throughout the entire cooking process. If you stop it, cool it and then start cooking it again it won’t give you the best product. But you can cook it fully and then re-heat it the next day.
11lb pork butt should yield 6lb of cooked meat. That would feed 18-20 people.
I used your recipe for the pork picnic.. came out superb, thanks for the heart and great instructions!.. melts in your mouth..
Btw, I used my webbet smoker. 8hrs total.. so freaking happy!
This is a very well documented procedure. Thanks!
I cooked a 7.5# picnic following the recipe exactly with the exception of using a green chili rub (I live in northern New Mexico) and my own barbecue sauce. I also put a thermometer in from the start to log temperatures and cook times for the the future. It took 8.5 hours to go from 37 degrees to 198.
The results were exceptionally. The flavor, texture, and moisture of the meat were exceptional.
I used this recipe yesterday. It turned out great. I made a few adjustments as I didn’t have all ingredients. I used Pecan and Apple for smoke. For the spritz, I used apple juice and apple cider vinegar. I tried a new rub that didn’t impress me (not Killer Hogs). Thank you for sharing your videos and tips. I am new to smoking and trying different things.
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Dear Malcom,
I have tried many of your recipes and they have ALL turned out great!! You are a Gifted Cook & Communicator and I Thank you! Your generosity is much appreciated in giving easy to understand instructions that can be used to watch and follow as I cook along with your videos. I have used the products from your online store such as “The BBQ Rub”, “The AP Rub” and “The Hot BBQ Rub” which produces a unique flavor I just can’t match from my own Rubs. I’m smoking 2 Picnics today and look forward to smoking a Brisket next week! BTW, the neighborhood here in Northern Wyoming sure is smelling Good today!! Not my words but 2 of my neighbors!!
Thanks again Malcom!
I love your recipes. I usually get picnics they are my favorite to make porchetta with.
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I made a Pork Should Picnic yesterday on a simple charcoal grill in South Florida. I am telling you the location because although we are normally in the 70’s and 80’s, while I was cooking the outside temperature was in the 50’s and there was a 15-25 mph wind. My question is more towards what should I have done to maintain the fire as the briquets (and I used a good amount each time) burnt down to gray after about an hour and a half and the temperature of the fire dropped below 200 so I needed to create a new fire twice during the next 3 hours. I am assuming that keeping the vents open (on top and bottom) with that type of temperature and wind is probably what caused the problem, but I am seeking some advice here. As for the Pork Should Picnic, I followed most of the directions in your video but needed to finish the last 3 hours in the oven in the kitchen and by the time we needed to eat we had only hit about 188 degrees. Taste was great and it was tender to be able to cut with a fork, but never got tender enough to “pull apart”.
We’re making this in Sunday. Do you eat the skin? Shred it into the pork for sandwiches?
Thanks!!
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Thanks for the great information here. My store didn’t have any Boston butts after Independence Day, Picnic Roast was the only choice. This recipe is awesome…
I removed the skin and smoked it for 2 hours (until midnight), then pulled it off the smoker and into the oven until temp hit 200. GREAT bark (I don’t wrap mine)…and the texture of the meat is very cool…longer strands than a Boston.
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