My pork shoulder is done 2 hours before guests arrive. I took the temperature of the oven down to 175, but I don't want to dry it out. What to do?

Can someone help? I'm making this recipe:

http://cooking.nytimes...



The pork was cooking way too fast, so I took the temp down to 200. Here I am 2 hours before we're going to eat, and the meat's at 166. We took the temp down to 175, but I don't want to dry it out.

What should I do over the next two hours?

I feel like it's one of those times I want to call my mother, but my mother doesn't cook.

thanks!

Paulette Perhach
  • 3851 views
  • 4 Comments

4 Comments

Susan W.
Susan W. December 12, 2015
I think you'll be okay. You can take it out of the oven at 180 and tent it loosely. With that recipe, you want that crackly crust, so you can always give it a quick broil to crisp it up. Only one more hour to go. :)
 
Susan W.
Susan W. December 12, 2015
Pork shoulder will be very tough at 166. Normally you cook it until it shreds either two forks which happens more like 180-185. Are you following a particular recipe? Pork shoulder contains a good amount of fat and collagen which is why you cook it low and slow for a long time.
 
Paulette P.
Paulette P. December 12, 2015
I'm follow Melissa Clark’s recipe for porchetta at Ny Times cooking. I don't know why the link did copy fully. Going for 180. My hope is slices. I turned the oven back up to 200, and it's currently at 167. Going pretty slowly which is good. For a while it seemed like it was going to hit 180 soon. T-minus 1 hour and 20 minutes to the meal.

Trying to paste the link again: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/dining/13-recipes-for-the-weekend.html?_r=0
 
702551
702551 December 13, 2015
The NY Times recipe

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017068-porchetta-pork-roast

clearly states to bring the internal temperature to 180 F.

Hope it worked out for you.
 
Recommended by Food52

Popular on Food52