Today I smoked my first pork shoulder, skin and all. Prep work was easy. I cut off none of the fat or skin. I just wanted to let it ride.
I wanted to work on a more savory profile, for a hog roast I had coming up, and thought this would be a decent way to test out some ideas on a big piece of pork that I wasn't going to do much prep to.
First I scored the fat cap/skin about 1/4" , and also lightly scored it all over to give the rub and herbs a place to hide. I first slathered on some olive oil, and then coated in APL's Four Seasons rub(I subbed ground chipotle for cayenne.) Then I applied a herb mix of Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, toasted Fennel seed, Italian flat leaf parsley and Coriander.
Put it on the grate, fat cap down, indirect, on the BGE at 250. Cooked this way until temp reached about 170.
Once it hit 170, I put the shoulder fat cap up in a foil pan, basting every hour with a modified version of APL's Southern Baste. I also kicked the temp up to about 300, and cooked until it hit and 195, and probed tender. It then got a 20 minute rest covered in foil.
The results... Spectacular. Probably the best pulled pork I've ever done. I really enjoyed the savory emphasis over the sweet. The skin was incredible. Never tasted anything like it, but I now understand the term pig candy.
Here's a few pics. Sorry some are so dark.
I wanted to work on a more savory profile, for a hog roast I had coming up, and thought this would be a decent way to test out some ideas on a big piece of pork that I wasn't going to do much prep to.
First I scored the fat cap/skin about 1/4" , and also lightly scored it all over to give the rub and herbs a place to hide. I first slathered on some olive oil, and then coated in APL's Four Seasons rub(I subbed ground chipotle for cayenne.) Then I applied a herb mix of Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, toasted Fennel seed, Italian flat leaf parsley and Coriander.
Put it on the grate, fat cap down, indirect, on the BGE at 250. Cooked this way until temp reached about 170.
Once it hit 170, I put the shoulder fat cap up in a foil pan, basting every hour with a modified version of APL's Southern Baste. I also kicked the temp up to about 300, and cooked until it hit and 195, and probed tender. It then got a 20 minute rest covered in foil.
The results... Spectacular. Probably the best pulled pork I've ever done. I really enjoyed the savory emphasis over the sweet. The skin was incredible. Never tasted anything like it, but I now understand the term pig candy.
Here's a few pics. Sorry some are so dark.
