I just smoked my first pork shoulder yesterday. It turned out absolutely delicious. It was
small, only 5 3/4 lbs (boneless). I brined it overnight then put on a homemade rub
(yellow mustard on the meat to make it stick, then kosher salt, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and paprika). Did it at 6 hrs at 225F till it hit around 160F and stalled. Let it smoke for 1 more hour, then I wrapped it (splashed with apple juice) and finished it up at 250F in the smoker till it got to 205F internal temp. Let it rest wrapped in towels for an hour then pulled it. The wood was a mix of Pecan, Apple, and Mesquite chips in my Masterbuilt 30" Electric smoker.
Overall, it was about 11 hours cook/rest time for the 6 lb shoulder.
I don’t know what took me so long to try one of these. It was easy as hell and absolutely delicious.
I do them frequently for parties - but this past week, I did a full shoulder - Boston Butt and Picnic Ham and accompanied it with smoked pheasants that I brined for two days and then injected with apple juice right before smoking with pecan wood chips. Got the birds to 158F and pulled them…it was a real toss up between them, but the pork shoulder won by a smidge. Gonna make some killer chili with a mixture of the pork and pheasant meats.
Cosstco two pack of pork shoulders? I do the same however i do the snake method on my weber at 225-250 for 8 to 10 hours. My own mix of dry rub and applewood only on the coals. I do both at the same time then when cooled vaccuum seal into dinners.
