Would have never guessed pork from the color of that. Wow.
Used red lava salt from Hawaii, so that is where the color comes from.
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Cubes of pork fat goodness
A buddy of mine has been talking to a few of us about buying a new in box Traeger Timberline his wife won it at an office function. Had been keeping my eye on them, but wasn’t chomping at the bit to pay full price.
Pulled the trigger today at 50% off the in-store price. Replaces a smaller 12+ year old model that I only used for smoking.
Debating on my first cook. But leaning towards some Morgan Ranch tri-tip.
Anyone else have one of these? The integrated meat probe is interesting.
Apologies for not having read from the start, if my answer is there I’ll obviously do that …
I’m contemplating starting to smoke fish, especially haddock. I use smoked haddock but since we moved have supply issues, ie there is none. 
I may be able to get a local gourmet food shop te source it (they do sell small amounts of fish) but DIY Ishtar be fun.
Any tips, especially pointers to good idiots’ guides.
PS step 1 would be to buy a smoker lol.
I’ve only smoked salmon on my Traeger. Pretty easy.
Be sure to use light wood like Cherry, Apple, Alder. Some people like Hickory. I used mesquite once because that’s what I had and it wasn’t inedible but it wasn’t enjoyable.
im sure the Tri Tip will be excellent.
that said, my odd two cents: years ago when I was heavily invested in the BBQ world (doing weekend contests all over the Northeast and involved in several forums) the advice was always to cook something fatty to help “season” the smoker, so pork tenderloins (aka fatties), or butts were usually a popular choice. some would also go the route of coating the grates/smoker in some sort of canola oil, warming it up for seasoning, and then cooking 8-12 biscuits. the reason for that was seasoning but you can see if the biscuits cook evenly or unevenly so you can see if you have hot/cold spots in your smoker. hot/cold spots aren’t an issue, in fact they can be used to your advantage but seeing how the biscuits cook across the smoker can give you some insight.
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It’s a picnic shoulder so low and slow.
No experience with Iberico picnics but plenty of butts/shoulders, along with a reverence for all things Spanish. Agree on low and slow. I’d think of doing it much like I’d do a normal shoulder. With a couple adjustments, along with a question about what type of smoker you’re using? (Sorry if you mentioned it up-thread but I’m lazy right now). And the context that I like my meat straight forward - salt and pepper rub, maybe occasionally garlic powder, smoke, nothing else, no injections.
Salt and pepper run, aggressively; you do you, but this is a special cut and I wouldn’t want to create too many flavors that would cover up the pork. But then even with traditional pork shoulders / butts I don’t do more than that.
Temp/smoke- this depends on the type of smoker. If you’re using something like a pellet smoker that delivers a relatively light smoke to begin with, this may not matter as much. With normal butts I’m pretty heavy on the smoke - lots of oak via my Weber Smokey Mountain.
But again with a cut this special I’d be worried about over-powering the meat, so if doing a charcoal-based smoker I’d consider switching to a lighter wood - something like Apple. I may also run it at a higher temp- instead of 225f I’d go like 250f-275f to get it over the finish line a bit sooner.
I’d pull around 200f, lightly wrap and let rest for 20-30 mins. I know there are people who say not to do that as the bark supposedly gets soft, but that’s never been my experience. Then pull and serve.
Finally, I’d try to find a way to save the fat/gelatin that drips off the meat, if you have a way of collecting it without it burning up in the smoker. Not sure if it would be worth it but it would be fun to geek out a bit - separate the gelatin from the fat. Use the gelatin in a stock or soup, and the fat for frying.
Good luck Scott and let us know how it goes! I’m jealous!
Couple of notes I’d add to JT’s post, cause he’s done brought sexy back with his guidance -
I’d watch the temp closely. I haven’t cooked iberico, but I’m guessing it might pattern match to a wagyu brisket, due to the high fat content. I usually pull heavily marbled wagyu off 5-7 degrees sooner than I pull prime, so something to keep an eye on.
I can appreciate the salt/pepper guidance, but might consider adding some brown sugar to the mix. I love the caramelization you get on the bark with sugar, and I don’t think it’ll screw with the shoulder flavors, as a whole… just the brown. Skip injections, etc. Agree with apple wood, but you could probably twist my arm and get me to cook with hickory. Apple WILL change the profile, but I think that fruit/sweetness will be great with an Iberico. I’d be happy using either.
FFS, I’m going to be checking back for updates 
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Worried too much of the fat is rendered off?
Andrew the blasphemer! Just kidding man. You deliver the results, can’t argue with that. Wouldn’t be my first choice but I have no doubt it would be delicious!
No, just cooks differently, for me at least? I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation re: fat content cooking the meat faster or something, but 200+ for wagyu brisket usually just feels different. Man, I wish I had a better answer.
Fair enough
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For sure! Same reason I’m salt/pepper only with Flannery dry-aged. Only reason I’d wonder about adding sugar (maybe 50/50 brown:white) is that the shoulder is big enough that you’re still getting that unctuous, porky goodness because it’s a giant slab of meat?
Am cooking some chops for Pork Chop Thursday, so looked up Wagyu vs prime and got the exact opposite advice. Will ask a buddy when he peels out of Memphis in May to see what a pro would say. I’m just a fat man in Sammamish 
Here’s some real time action! Not smoking, but love Thursdays!
Raw or brown sugar works very well with pork. I use raw sugar in all of my rubs. It helps balance out the salt and rounds out the flavor of the rub, and promotes browning. White sugar generally isn’t recommended because it can burn during long cooks. If you’re worried about the exterior getting too dark, keep the temp a little lower than usual.