Seeking recipe and cooking suggestions for a BF pork shoulder

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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I’ve got a medium-sized Flannery pork shoulder I want to cook this weekend. Don’t have a smoker. Was planning on a 2-3 hours smoke on the Webber in the late afternoon and then putting it in the oven until the next morning.

Questions:
Does one normally trim the shoulder before smoking/cooking?
Anyone have a suggestion for a good rub and or sauce that doesn’t include any kind of sugar?
What’s the best fuel for smoking a pork shoulder on a Webber?
How should the shoulder be wrapped once in the oven?
Does it need to rest between BBQ and oven?
General suggestions/thoughts/ideas on how to achieve the best and most tender pork would be hugely appreciated!!

Thanks in adavnce.
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2

How big is mid-sized?

Pork Shoulder makes excellent pulled pork if you slow cook it in the oven with a nice rub and baste it every hour but it can take 8 hours to get it just right, cooking at only 220 degrees.

3

Do it exactly like I told you to do the ribs…two to four hours of smoke on the Weber and then 225 deg F in the oven for an hour per pound. No trimming as you want the fat for basting.

4

The shoulder is about 8-10 pounds

So it should go on the grill over a pan to catch the fat which is then brushed on as it smokes? Does it get put in a pan, covered in foil and then left to cook for 8-10 hours in the oven while basting every hour, or uncovered in a pan?

Tex, do you have that recipe for the rub? I can’t find it.

Thanks for the fast responses! [thumbs-up.gif]

5

Just straight on the grill, no pan.

Use cherry, hickory, oak or a combination for the smoke.

If I do the oven, I’ll put the smoked shoulder on a wire rack on a deep sheet pan b/c of all the fat that renders. I don’t cover it with foil, but it wouldn’t hurt. I sometimes will mop with a cider vinegar and apple juice mixture.

Let me look for the recipe for the rub and mop sauce.

6

No basting with the drippings, though some people like to use a “mop”. It goes over a pan of water which allegedly helps stablized the temp in the Weber or whatever other smoker rig you’re using. It goes directly from the smoker to the oven, no foil.

Rub recipes are all over the 'Net, or send me a PM with your email and I’ll send you a PDF of Tex’s. It has sugar in it, which you can easily leave out.

Here are a couple of pics of the last one I did.

Just off the Weber.

Out of the oven and perfectly done.

7

Thanks, Bob! PM sent. Nice pics btw.

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Epic image fail, Toddler.

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Just trying to make Cris and Jorge fit in.

11

Here are the directions for ribs that I have posted before and they can definitely be used for a shoulder/butt.

If brining use these ratios for an appropriate amount of liquid to cover the ribs in a gallon ZipLoc bag and make sure to completely dissolve the sugar and salt:

1 cup of kosher salt
1 cup of turbinado sugar
1 gallon H2O

After brining, dry the ribs as thoroughly as possible with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature on a wire rack on a half sheet pan.

Dry Rub…of course there are myriad permutations, but here is what I ran with on these:

8 TSP Dried, Evaporated Cane Juice
3 TSP Kosher Salt
3 TSP Sweet Paprika
1/2 TSP Granulated Garlic
1/2 TSP Onion Powder
1/2 TSP Yellow Mustard Powder
1/2 TSP Finely Ground Telicherry Pepper
1/2 TSP Szichuan Peppercorns

When the ribs are at room temp, apply a fairly thick coating of the rub on all sides. When liquid starts to appear on the sheet pan, it is time to hit the smoker. Since you are the proud parent of a new Weber, I will give the instructions for how I use mine.

Approximately 30 to 40 minutes before you intend to put the ribs on, start some hardwood lump charcoal in your chimney. About half full give or take…this will require trial and error based on your brand and chunk size. When the coals have all started, place them on one side of the grill in a nice mound as close to the wall of the kettle as possible. Keep the bottom vent 100% open and play with the top between 25 and 50% to keep temp around 225 to 250 deg F. As for smoke wood, I use pecan and pecan shell from my parent’s trees. For best results, IMHO, find some pecan/hickory/apple smoking chips and make several foil pouches filled with about a half to full cup worth. Make sure they are very tightly wrapped and poke a couple of holes in each of them. When the coals ash over, place the foil pouch directly on them and wait for smoke to appear. It might not seem like very much, but once the lid is closed, you have a smoker. Throw the ribs on as far away as possible from the fire.

Here is the tricky part…maintaining a decent temp and keep the smoke going uninterrupted. I usually put a new foil pack on every 15 minutes for two hours. That is about as much smoke flavor as is needed for ribs. After that, just add charcoal to keep the heat going. Based on wind, ambient temp, your internal temp, etc…I would say look at six hours for good results. If you don’t want to fuss with all of that, you can of course put them on your wire rack on the sheet pan and put in a 225 deg oven for four hours post smoking.

Mopping:

I get a good glaze on the ribs by applying a mop sauce vs. a traditional BBQ sauce and in the end no sauce is needed. If you want to go this route, mop the ribs every 15 minutes after the smoke has been halted.

Mop Sauce:

1 Cup Apple Juice
1/2 Cup Turbinado Sugar
2 TBS Of Left Over Rib Rub
2 TBS Worchestershire Sauce
2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat to dissolve sugar.