Decided between bone-in and boneless for my shoulder special last week

I always went bone-in for flavor but switched to boneless to save time for a big order. Ended up selling out an hour quicker, but a customer said the meat was a little drier. Has anyone else dealt with that tradeoff?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_chen8110d ago

Oh man, totally been there. I swear boneless is a straight up trap if you don't adjust everything. Gotta drop that temp and wrap way earlier like sean_barnes24 said, or you're basically just making expensive jerky lol. The heat sink thing from that barbecue guy makes sense too, the bone really does slow things down on one side. I'd rather just deal with the extra time for bone-in honestly, the flavor and moisture payoff is worth it for me.

sean_barnes2410d ago

You keeping the temp the same when you switched over? I did the same thing and learned quick you gotta drop it like 15-20 degrees with boneless. Also try wrapping it a little sooner than you normally would, once that bark sets but before it stalls. That extra moisture from the wrap can really help even things out.

taylor95710d ago

I read something the other day from a barbecue guy online who said the bone actually helps keep the meat moist because it acts like a heat sink... slows down the cooking on that side or something like that. So if you take the bone out you're losing that buffer and the meat can dry out faster if you're not careful. I've had the same thing happen with boneless shoulders where the thinner parts get way overcooked while the thick part is still under. Maybe try keeping the temp a little lower next time or wrapping it earlier to hold in moisture... seems like that's the trick a lot of folks use.